A lack of sponsorship is behind a move to shift the international women's hockey festival from Burnaby to Calgary.
Hayley Wickenheiser, who put her name to the Burnaby tournament in 2010, said in The Province an offer from WinSport to use their new facilities at Canada Olympic Park and the decrease in sponsorship dollars was behind the decision to move.
WinSport, which oversees the legacy of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, is currently putting the finishing touches to the facility that includes three NHL-sized rinks and an Olympic-sized ice surface.
Although Burnaby Minor was the original host hockey association for the women's festival, there were few perks for the club, unlike the Christmas bantam and Spring Blast tournaments that bring nearly $20,000 back to the association.
Wickenheiser lives in Calgary and said the shift east could result in more teams from Saskatchewan, Ontario and the United States taking part.
While the tournament was held in Burnaby there were a large number of teams from the Lower Mainland.
The invitation to move the festival to Calgary was made in November.
