About 560 volunteers to help with 2022 Memorial Cup festivities

About 560 volunteers have stepped up to ensure events and festivities at the 2022 Memorial Cup go off without a hitch in Saint John.

"An event like this would be totally impossible without volunteers and Saint John is the place to get them,” said Tom Donovan, an event organizer. "We’re going to put one heck of a show on."

The last names of all participating volunteers have been posted on a front window at the event’s "volunteer lounge" inside Market Square.

As of Thursday afternoon, Donovan said a handful of volunteer positions were still available primarily for activities happening outside.

While there was strong enthusiasm for people wanting to help, COVID-19 threw a bit of wrench into the event’s volunteer recruitment efforts. For starters, the event was postponed from early June to late June.

"It's a huge undertaking to manage the move alone, but then you have to manage all the volunteers who were expecting to work two weeks earlier and (we) had to ask them to move,” said Donovan. "So COVID gave us a big challenge, yes.”

This year's event will include several themed street closures, a community ball hockey tournament, three nights of fireworks, concert stages, along with all the tournament's hockey games inside TD Station.

The theme for this year's event is "One for All." Game one takes place on Monday, but special events connected to the Memorial Cup will begin Saturday.

Full coverage of the 2022 Memorial Cup can be found on TSN and TSN.ca.