Over the past three days, the Blues gave USA Hockey the red-carpet treatment, from meet-and-greets with city officials to tours of the local facilities to fancy dinners and happy hours with stars such as Brett Hull, Chris Pronger and Keith Tkachuk.
But in bidding for the right to host the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championships against a city like Pittsburgh, which boasts a five-year-old rink and can trot out Mario Lemieux, the Blues knew that their presentation had to do something else to set St. Louis apart.
So since the moment Jim Johannson, Mike Bertsch and Dave Fischer from USA Hockey stepped in town Tuesday, the staff of Blues CEO Chris Zimmerman related everything in their presentation to one element near and dear to the heart of the nonprofit governing body of organized amateur hockey in this country: growing the game.
Under the slogan “Heartland of Hockey,” which the visitors called a great name, St. Louis emphasized that its location — an eight-hour drive from 25 percent of USA Hockey’s registered participants — was a key selling point in bringing the 10-nation, 2½-week tournament here.
“We are very much central to what’s happening to USA Hockey and we think it would have a massive impact,” Zimmerman said.
It’s safe to say that the grass-roots theme was felt by USA Hockey officials, who cited several examples: an on-ice presentation Thursday in which a father was teaching his son to skate, the number of children in attendance at the group’s tour of Family Arena and the jerseys of 31 teams within a 500-mile radius of St. Louis hanging inside Scottrade Center.
“We got a full experience here about the pride in this community, both with hockey and also the city of St. Louis,” Johannson said. “‘Family’ has hit us hard in a great way, in a wholesome way, that we do enjoy and love about the sport.”
But there are many other factors that must be addressed if St. Louis is to be selected among three finalists (which include Pittsburgh and Buffalo) to host a tournament that could bring more than 300,000 fans through the turnstiles and upwards of $25 million to the local economy.
USA Hockey had keen interest in hearing about the pending upgrades the Blues have in mind for Scottrade Center, the marketing ideas they have for the event and the financial responsibility the franchise would hold in filling up the seats.
“I would tell you that the checklist boxes were filled out in the last 48 hours,” Bertsch said. “Before we got here, we certainly had some questions about some things that could be built around the program, what the atmosphere would be like, what facilities could be utilized for the Fanfests.
“All of those boxes were checked off and checked off very well in terms of opportunities. Those are opportunities. It takes an organization to make it a reality and it takes a community to engage in. I think we got the answers that we certainly needed.”
St. Louis was the last of the three site visits, and after the group wrapped up here Thursday, it returned to Colorado Springs where it will begin the decision-making process.
Bertsch said the evaluation of the three bids will focus on which one has the right people in charge and whether they can fulfill the promise of making it a first-class event.
“We’re not just looking at a hockey game, although that’s the most important part of it,” Bertsch said. “We’re looking at a festival. This is an opportunity for the Olympics to come to your town.”
A decision from USA Hockey is expected by the end of the year, which Bertsch acknowledged was not far off. It will probably seem like an eternity, though, for a city that put a lot of work into the presentation.
“What we’ve gotten to do over these last several months is tell a story about St. Louis, about St. Louis hockey and about how we come together,” Zimmerman said. “We’re winners no matter what happens. USA Hockey has three great hockey markets to choose from. We have no question which one we know would be the best choice. But we really are winners because we’ve come together.”
