PBR Canada’s Elite Cup Series Debuts in Medicine Hat with Fan-Attended Event Oct. 16

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – For the first time in league history, PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Canada’s elite Cup Series will buck into Medicine Hat, Alberta, welcoming fans to Co-op Place October 16 for the PBR Thunderbuck in the Badlands, presented by Robertson Implements and New Holland.

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. 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.

While the league’s elite Cup Series has yet to travel to Medicine Hat, Co-op Place welcomed the PBR for the first time in 2019, hosting a stop on the developmental Touring Pro Division.

Going a perfect 2-for-2, Dakota Buttar (Kindersley, Saskatchewan) captured the inaugural event victory. After finishing second in Round 1, courtesy of an 85-point ride on Broken Trigger (Skori Bucking Bulls), Buttar clinched the win when he recorded the high-marked ride of the event, scored 88.5 points on Spooky Lukie (Two Bit Bucking Bulls) in the championship round.

The golden finish earned Buttar a critical 320 national points, allowing him to surge from No. 12 to No. 5 in the national standings. The Saskatchewan-native concluded the year No. 2 in the national standings, outridden by eventual champion Daylon Swearingen (Piffard, New York) in the final days of the 2019 season.  

Buttar, however, returned determined in 2020, capturing his career-first PBR Canada Championship despite limited competition opportunities.

Delivering one of the most consistent seasons ever on Canadian soil, four-time PBR World Finals Buttar went a torrid 18-for-25 (72%), notably covering a record-setting 11 bulls to begin the year, winning six events en route to capturing the 2020 PBR Canada Championship.

In addition to Buttar, two other accomplished Saskatchewan riders delivered impressive seasons in 2020. Jared Parsonage (Maple Creek, Saskatchewan) finished the year No. 7, and three-time PBR Canada Champion Aaron Roy (Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan), concluded the campaign No. 8.

While Buttar clinched the PBR Canada Championship on the penultimate day of the season, he had to fend off a hard-charging Zane Lambert (Ponoka, Alberta). The two-time PBR Canada Champion was electric at the 2020 PBR Canada National Finals, winning one of the four events, however concluded the year runner-up to Buttar by 240.17 points.

The bull riding action for PBR Canada Cup Series’ PBR Thunderbuck in the Badlands, produced by Blazing Brand Marketing and Productions, begins at 7:00 p.m. MDT on Saturday, October 16.

Tickets for the event are on sale now, and start at $35, taxes and fees included, and can be purchased online at Tixx.ca, or at the Co-op Place Box Office.

In cooperation with local government and through the dual activation of the PBR’s “Be Cowboy Safe” guidelines, and Alberta Health COVID-19 rules and regulations, Co-op Place and PBR will follow all COVID-10 (coronavirus) related protocols for holding fan-attended events.

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 2021 slate of events marks the sixth 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 for the latest event and broadcast schedule.