Keystone Cup to Kamloops?

EDIT: It's now official. Click here for the BC Hockey news release.

The Western Canadian Junior B Hockey Championship appears to be headed to Kamloops. The Fernie Ghostriders website had a post on it this morning reporting that the Kamloops Storm's bid for the Keystone Cup was successful. However, a few hours later that post was removed and replaced by one simply stating that Fernie would not host the event. The Kamloops rumour is still posted on the Ghostriders blog. It was known that Fernie, Nelson and Kamloops were the KIJHL teams bidding for the event along with one or two from Vancouver Island.

I made a call to the KIJHL officers and they hadn't heard anything yet. A call to BC Hockey has thus far gone un-returned. I then talked to Kamloops owner Barry Dewar who told me nothing was official yet and they were expecting an announcement this afternoon. Word is that Kamloops and Nelson were the finalists... just like they were the finalists in the KIJHL playoffs this past season. Looks like we may end up with a different result off the ice.

I also put in a call to Coach Will Verner of the Ghostiders. He told me on the record that they were told their bid was not successful. He couldn't officially say anything more at this point.

Seems to me that we're all just waiting for BC Hockey to make it official, but it looks like the Keystone Cup is headed to Kamloops. Tough luck for local hockey fans as it would have been a great show in Nelson. Especially after the event was in Thunder Bay last year, it'd be nice to see it in one of the smaller Junior B communities. However, if they do get it, I know Dewar and the Storm will do an excellent job as hosts.