PBR Canada’s Elite Cup Series Debuts in Red Deer with 2022 Season Launch Event on Feb. 5

RED DEER, Alta. (December 20, 2021) – For the first time in history, PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Canada’s elite Cup Series will buck into Red Deer, Alberta, launching the 2022 season for the nation’s premier series on February 5, with the PBR Red Deer Classic, presented by Tsunami Water Solutions, at the Peavey Mart Centrium at Westerner Park.

PBR Canada’s Cup Series regularly features Canada’s best riders alongside some of the league’s top international athletes, squaring off against the rankest bucking bulls from across the nation.

For one night only, fans will witness exhilarating 8-second rides and wrecks throughout the action-packed event as the PBR’s courageous bull-riding athletes face off against their 2,000-pound opponents.

The first-ever PBR Canada Cup Series event in Red Deer comes on the spurs of one of the most exciting, and historic, battles for the PBR Canada Championship in history.

After a dominant season, including four event wins across all levels of competition and a victory in one of the division’s special 5/5 Bucking Battles, Dakota Buttar (Kindersley, Saskatchewan) entered the 2021 PBR Canada National Finals with a firm grip on the No. 1 ranking in the race for the 2021 PBR Canada Championship, and accompanying $50,000 bonus.

However, a groin injury initially sustained at the final regular-season event of the year proved too much for Buttar to battle, inevitably sidelining him from competition the last day of the campaign.

With the title decided on the final outs of the year, 2018 PBR Canada Champion Cody Coverchuk (Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan) mounted an incredible come-from-behind surge, erasing Buttar’s 53.66-point lead, to conclude the year No. 1 in the nation, capturing his second career national championship.

The Saskatchewan contender clinched the title, and his share of the record $175,000 purse paid out at the year-end event, with an impressive 89.5-point ride aboard annual PBR Canada Bull of the Year contender Finning Lil Shorty (Flying Four Bucking Bulls). 

Coverchuk is now one of just three riders to have won the coveted PBR Canada Championship in multiple seasons, joining the likes of two-time title holder Zane Lambert (Ponoka, Alberta) and three-time Champion Aaron Roy (Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan).

The debut of the PBR Canada Cup Series in Red Deer follows two developmental Touring Pro Division events in the city in 2015 and 2016, both won by Garrett Green (Meeting Creek, Alberta). 

The bull riding action for PBR Canada Cup Series’ Red Deer Classic, presented by Tsunami Water Solutions, begins at 7:00 p.m. MST on Saturday, February 5.

Tickets for the event go on sale Wednesday, December 22 at 10:00 a.m. MST, and start at $30, standard fees may apply, and can be purchased online at TicketsAlberta.com, at the Westerner Park Box Office, or charge by phone at 1-866-340-4450.

All PBR Canada events are subject to change, planned in accordance with directives issued by relevant government and health authorities given the evolving regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2022 slate of events marks the seventh season for the PBR Canada Cup Series as a unified competitive series traveling across the country and broadcast on TSN.

Stay tuned to PBRCanada.com and follow the tour on Facebook (PBR Canada), Twitter (@PBRCanada), and Instagram (@PBRCanada) for the latest event and broadcast schedule, results, news, stats and more.