The Bell Capital Cup, formerly the Bell Canada Cup is an annual ice hockey tournament staged in Ottawa, Ontario between Christmas and New Years It is open to youth teams aged 9–13, from all over the world. The tournament attracts over 500 teams annually was named by Guinness World Records as "the world's largest hockey tournament." Proceeds from the tournament help to fund local minor hockey programs in the Ottawa area.
Contents
Format
The Bell Capital Cup offers twenty one divisions in atom (squirt) and peewee divisions. Nineteen divisions feature boys teams in AAA, AA, A, B and House league divisions (classified as A, B and C) and 2 atom and peewee girls divisions (AA). The tournament provides each team with a 3-game minimum for AA, A, B and House league divisions while teams in the AAA divisions receive a 4-game minimum. The tournament features a round-robin format with the winner of each group advancing to the playoff round. The finals are held at Canadian Tire Centre. The games are played in 20+ venues and 35 rinks, including the Bell Sensplex, the Kanata Rec Centre, the Nepean Sportsplex, the Ray Friel Centre, the Orleans Recreation Centre, the Minto Skating Club, and the Jim Durrell Recreation Centre. Many future NHL stars have played in this tournament, as well as others that have progressed to semi-pro, NCAA, CIS, Major Junior, Junior A or Junior B careers. Notable alumni include: Jeffrey Skinner(Carolina Hurricanes), John Tavares(New York Islanders), Calvin De Haan(New York Islanders), Jesse Winchester(Ottawa Senators), Erik Gudbranson(Florida Panthers), Cody Ceci(Ottawa Senators) and Artem Sergeev, as well as Alexander Ovechkin's cousin, Leonid.
Teams Over the years, there have been many top teams that have travelled from all over the world to participate. These teams include: Skylands Kings (two-time champions), Los Angeles Junior Kings, Detroit Belle Tire, South Florida Golden Wolves, Moscow Dynamo, Jokerit Helsinki, German Eagles, Beijing Imperial Guard, Korea Eagles, HC Vitkovice, Budapest Stars, Torino, Italy and Nice, France, and in 2013, the Hong Kong Ice Scrapers participated for the first time. Hundreds of the teams that participate come from local associations, such as: Canterbury Minor Hockey, Cumberland Minor Hockey, Gloucester Centre Minor Hockey, Kanata Minor Hockey, Metcalfe District Minor Hockey, Nepean Minor Hockey, South End Minor Hockey, As well as many others.
2007 Tournament
The 2007 tournament had 510 teams, 8,145 players, setting a Guinness World Record. $196,000 was raised by the 2007 tournament for local minor hockey associations and charities.