Looking Back at our History: Ottawa ‘04 & Quebec City ‘08

In this week’s edition of Looking Back at our History, we travel back to the 2000’s era of the CARHA Hockey World Cup. This time around, the Cup travels back to the east in 2004 to our Nation’s Capital in Ontario and then off to historic Quebec in 2008. Join us as we reminisce on these two amazing tournaments!

2004 – Ottawa

Having been to Toronto in 1996 and Vancouver in 2000, the CARHA Hockey World Cup had now become an established international tournament, and the excitement for the next installment was higher than ever before. This time, the Cup travelled back to its home city of Ottawa, Ontario, where the CARHA Hockey headquarters are located. The momentum from the 2000 Vancouver tournament carried right on into the new edition as a whopping 4,500 participants from 126 teams and nine different countries travelled to Canada’s Capital. The local buy-in was also at its highest count as 18,000 spectators came out to take in Canada’s national sport and join in on the party. A total of $15 million was generated in economic impact, making this the most successful CARHA Hockey World Cup to date. During the same year, the NHL had their own sanctioned World Cup of Hockey, which Team Canada won. The two tournaments were unrelated, but the CARHA Hockey World Cup gave recreational players the opportunity to play against international competition and feel as if they were also on the big stage. This tradition would soon carry on into 2008.

2008 – Quebec City

The Cup had now visited Ontario twice and British Columbia once, this time, it was Quebec’s turn to show off their province as Quebec City hosted the 2008 edition of the CARHA Hockey World Cup. Quebec City is one of the most historic places in Canada, where hockey is at the centre of everyone’s attention. This installment of the tournament saw its biggest growth to date as a record-breaking 5,000 players from 135 travelling teams and 11 different countries made their way to Quebec for the experience of a lifetime. Not only did more teams show, but the spectator count grew from 18,000 in Ottawa to an astounding 30,000 spectators in Quebec, making this the largest CARHA Hockey World Cup ever. For a tournament made for recreational hockey players, that number of people is a pretty impressive feat and added to the legend of the CARHA Hockey World Cup. This time around, The Cup would generate just over $19 million in economic stimulation, making this the most successful World Cup yet. Tune in next time as we continue through the timeline of the CARHA Hockey World Cup and lead into Richmond 2022!