There are things in this world you can set your watch by.
Super Soccer, tax time, Canadian North Balsillie Cup, Canadian North Rec Hockey Tournament ...
Only one of those things is happening this year and it's the one we don't really want to think about this year.
This past weekend should have been the Balsillie Cup, the first of the two big senior men's hockey tournaments in the spring. Both the Yk Oldtimers League and Yk Rec Hockey League finish their season before each of the tournaments begin and both leagues use that as the playoffs, so to speak.
(The rec league has actual playoffs to determine league champions but most players look at the tournament as the real playoffs.)
I could whine but that would get me nowhere because I would simply be doing what a lot of you want to do but know that it would be pointless. We're all in this together if we whine loud enough, it won't make it go away any sooner.
It is rough, though, because both of these tournaments are big economic drivers for the city, much like anything else which brings in dollars and cents for small businesses, which help with the bottom line. With the cancellation of both tournaments, there went hotel rooms, meals at restaurants, tabs at bars, cab fares ... you get the idea.
That's what a lot of people don't recognize about these tournaments and others like them. Sure, people like to go to the Multiplex on a Sunday during tournament time and drop $50 or $60 on the beverage garden because the options are limited in Yellowknife on a Sunday are limited. But it's more than that.
The out-of-town contingent always makes up the majority of both tournaments and they come with money in their pockets. I had a funny conversation with a player from Fort Simpson once upon a time who said if they were playing for the prize money, they'd be bankrupt by the time the semifinals rolled around.
The players don't do it for the money. They do it because it's a chance to come to Yellowknife, play in a big tournament that holds a lot of prestige (just ask the Gjoa Haven Snowy Owls when they returned home with back-to-back B division titles) and enjoy themselves. For a lot of people, Yellowknife is the big city.
Same goes with the school tournaments – those kids who make the trip in from the small communities see Yellowknife as a chance to get out on the town and mingle. They come ready to bombard the Capitol Theatre, McDonald's, Pizza Hut and Wal-Mart. Some even come with money, an empty suitcase and a shopping list from mom and dad when they head to Wal-Mart with the instructions to stock up and stuff whatever they can fit into the bag.
Now, a young person spending a couple hundred bucks at Wal-Mart won't ruin the store's bottom line because Wal-Mart in Yellowknife will pocket another $200 by the time you finish reading this sentence. However, they have to get to Wal-Mart and if they aren't staying at the Super 8, they're probably going in a taxi. That's a cab fare for the driver. They'll probably stop off at another store to get the good stuff along the way and load up on sugar before being told it's lights out in their makeshift hotel room at St. Pat's High School.
It all adds up and there's a lot of money that won't be changing hands this year. That's probably a good thing because of the germs but cash isn't king anymore. It's all about the tap.
So remember that when you go shopping. We may be down on our luck tourism-wise right now but it's doubly bad at this time because there's no hockey.