VIDEO: The Memorial Cup visits Prospera Place to celebrate the winning bid to host in 2026

With the majestic trophy by the podium, the president of the Canadian Hockey League officially offered his congratulations to Kelowna for winning the right to host the Memorial Cup in 2026.

Dan MacKenzie suggested Kelowna won the bid for many of the same reasons so many of us have chosen to live here.

"The city is a beautiful city and the infrastructure elements are strong," said MacKenzie.

But after sitting in on the deliberations he said it went well beyond that.

"What the community legacy is going to be and how the city is going to get behind it."

The bid committee, headed up by Steve Thomson and Dave Rush, now becomes the host organizing committee.

"There's a lot of work to do and we have hit the ground running," said Thomson, the former MLA.

"We know we're going to deliver the best event possible."

Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas got the chance to hold the cup in his hands at the event.

"Today is a very exciting day for Kelowna," he said. "We are absolutely thrilled to welcome this prestigious event to Kelowna."

When he took to the podium, Rockets owner and General Manager Bruce Hamilton pointed to the Memorial Cup beside him.

"All I'm glad to see is this is back in our house," he said, recalling his team hoisting the cup in 2004. "Fond, fond memories of the night we won it."

Hosting the tournament again is exciting for Rockets fans.

But, as the team focuses on putting the best possible team on the ice as hosts of the 2026 tournament, they have to accept the possibility that the team may have to trade away some talented players in the meantime.

Hamilton doesn't rule it out.

"Well there would be a potential for that," he said. "But you need a partner to dance with in order to do that, and I still have a lot of confidence in our hockey club for this year."

Players whose names get mentioned are fan favourites like Andrew Cristall and Caden Price.

Hamilton sounded confident about how competitive the Rockets can expect to be when the Memorial Cup is on the line in Kelowna, but fans should expect some wheeling and dealing.

"We were well down this path in 2020," he said.

"This time we have two trade deadlines to go through."

Confidence that the host community can put a competitive team into the tournament is one of the things the selection committee considers.

"The team has to be good," said MacKenzie. "The feeling was, they're going to have a really strong team."

Half-season Rockets tickets are on sale as of today and there's now an added incentive.

Along with your seats, you get the first chance to buy packages to see the Memorial Cup tournament in person.