Cold Lake to start expression of interest system for junior hockey teams

Cold Lake, AB – After the City of Cold Lake has received interest from hockey organizations hoping to bring a junior team to the city, Council decided that it would take a cautious approach and begin an expression of interest process for the 2026/2027 season.

“There continues to be a lot of interest for leagues to use our facilities and have a Junior hockey team call Cold Lake home,” Copeland said. “But with the season fast approaching, we wanted to take a measured approach. The hockey landscape in Canada is changing, there are several new leagues looking to expand, and we need to ensure that any user agreements are a good fit for the City and its facilities.” 

At a special Council meeting held last week, council made the decision to start an expression of interest system for leagues wanting to expand to the community for the 2026/2027 hockey season. 

Council noted that the City has had notable success in attracting tournaments, and that the facilities are well appointed for hosting events and tournaments of all sizes.

“Our philosophy is that we have facilities and we want them to be used to their fullest capacity,” Copeland said. “But we also want to set our user groups up for success and working on a user agreement for this coming hockey season does not leave us the time needed to work out the details. We’ll set our sights on the next season and we will be entertaining expressions of interest that are submitted.” 

As per Council’s direction, the City of Cold Lake will establish an expression of interest system for high level hockey teams wanting to look at Cold Lake for the 2026/2027 season.

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