As first reported by CTV’s Paul Hollingsworth, Moncton and Halifax are in the running to host the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship.
The tournament was supposed to be hosted by Russia, but the IIHF stripped the country of the honour for the invasion and war on Ukraine.
Nova Scotia is no stranger to hosting the the World Juniors. Sydney and Halifax shared the hosting duties in 2003. The bidding partnership between Moncton and Halifax has been long rumoured.
With the Avenir Centre opening its doors in 2018 the City of Moncton now boasts a state of the art facility 8,000 seat arena which is arguably one of the best venues east of Montreal.
The World Junior Championship is a tradition like no other. When it comes to the game of hockey Halifax and Moncton have been rivals for what feels like the the beginning of time.
They will be putting that rivalry on hold to showcase the game like no other.
One source also confirms that the Maritime bid will have some tough competition. Saskatoon and Regina are also bidding for the event which is set to start on Boxing Day.
The bids for the host cities are due next week.
The final decision will be made at the end April.
Funding for hosting an event like this within this time frame is incredibly difficult.
Both provincial governments would no doubt subsidize an event in hopes of having a substantial return
and perhaps millions in economic spin offs for both cities and provinces.
Hockey Canada’s decision to host the event in big market cities like Toronto or Montreal hasn’t been successful in recent years.
A return to the hockey crazed Maritimes would definitely generate revenue and excitement towards the event.
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. The World’s best could be coming to Halifax and Moncton in December of 2022.
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