Professional Bull Riders Canada’s Elite Cup Series returns to Lethbridge for fourth consecutive season on Feb. 11-12

Posted on 8 December 2021 by Prairie Post

Tickets for the PBR South Country Co-op Showdown, presented by VisitLethbridge.com, at ENMAX Centre on sale now

For the fourth consecutive season, PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Canada’s elite Cup Series will travel to Lethbridge, Alberta, taking over ENMAX Centre on Friday, February 11 and Saturday, February 12 for the PBR South Country Co-op Showdown, presented by VisitLethbridge.com.

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 two nights 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 PBR South Country Co-op Showdown will mark the second event of the 2022 PBR Canada Cup Series. The tour will launch on Feb. 5 in Red Deer, Alberta, with the complete slate of events to be announced in the coming weeks.

Last season, after a near nine-month hiatus competition, the PBR Canada Cup Series launched the 2021 campaign in Lethbridge. Backed by a monstrous 90-point ride, two-time PBR Canada Champion Zane Lambert (Ponoka, Alberta), clinched the event win, surging to the No. 1 rank in the race for the PBR Canada Championship.

Lambert’s efforts inside ENMAX Centre included an 84-point score on Gandy (Skori Bucking Bulls), before he matched 2020 PBR Canada Bull of the Year Catch My Drift (Two Bit Bucking Bulls/K Rose Ranch) jump-for-jump in near picture-perfect form en route to a season-best, 91-point score.

The 2021 PBR event in Lethbridge also feature one of PBR Canada’s 5/5 Bucking Battles, pitting the event’s Top 5 riders against five of the nation’s rankest bucking bulls. Backed by an impressive 88-point score on Hanna Motors Wilford (Skori Bucking Bulls), Australian sensation Callum Miller (Warwick, Queensland) won the special round. 

As the season unfurled, both Lambert and Miller chased history as top contenders for the PBR Canada Championship. However, despite a hard-fought effort on the final days of the season, Lambert and Miller fell short of the year-end title, concluding the season ranked No. 3 and No. 7, respectively. 

Other past PBR South Country Co-op Showdown event winners are: Jared Parsonage (2019 – Maple Creek, Saskatchewan), Dakota Buttar (2020 – Kindersley, Saskatchewan), Brock Radford (2020 – De Winton, Alberta), Ty Ellis (2020 – Sonningdale, Saskatchewan) and Garrett Green (2020 – Meeting Creek, Alberta). 

PBR Canada’s return to Lethbridge 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, Buttar 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 Lambert and three-time Champion Aaron Roy (Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan).

The bull riding action for PBR Canada Cup Series’ South Country Co-op Showdown, presented by VisitLethbridge.com, begins at 7:00 p.m. MST on Friday, February 11 and Saturday, February 12.

Tickets for the event are on sale now and start at $40, standard fees may apply. They can be purchased online at ENMAXCentre.ca and charge by phone at (403) 329-7328. 

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.

About PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Canada:

PBR (Professional Bull Riders), which has events in five countries, has competed in Canada since 1996 where it operates two tours. Joining the Touring Pro Division (TPD), the Cup Series debuted in 2016 as the nation’s first cross-country, nationally televised series. At PBR Canada events riders have the opportunity to earn points towards both the Canadian and world standings.  For more information on PBR Canada, go to http://www.pbrcanada.com, or follow on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pbrcanada and Twitter at http://twitter.c