Bridges ready for World Juniors
The return of the World Junior Hockey Championship to Buffalo will bring increased volume at Niagara’s bridges during the next two weeks.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) says it will “make every effort to effectively manage” the area’s four border crossings during the tournament, which runs Dec. 26 to Jan. 5.
During high-volume periods — especially before Team Canada plays — travellers are urged to check border wait times using the CanBorder app, have all identification prepared, and be ready to quickly declare all contents of the vehicle.
In turn, the CBSA will co-ordinate efforts with the Peace Bridge Authority, Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and other agencies and organizations to increase staff at inspection lanes during key games, with motor coach and tour operators to expedite customs inspections and use social media to inform fans of the best times and bridges to cross.
Despite a Buffalo News report which says Canadian ticket sales are way down from the 2010-11 tournament, Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority general manager Ron Rienas urges fans to leave plenty early for games.
“It still is an international border,” he says. “You have to go through the process.”
He says there have been “technical” improvements since the last tournament, and more travellers own NEXUS cards, which allow for members-only crossing in specific lanes.
“The more people on NEXUS, the quicker the border functions,” he says.
Team Canada plays its first game Dec. 26 at 4 p.m. against Finland at the KeyBank Center.
The game against Team USA, normally a New Year’s Eve tradition, will now be an outdoor game Dec. 29, 3 p.m., at New Era Field.
The gold medal game will be Jan. 5, 8 p.m., at KeyBank Center.
Team Canada lost last year’s gold medal game to Team USA 5-4 in a shootout.
Last year’s tournament was shared by Montreal and Toronto.
Rienas believes part of the reason Canadian ticket sales for the Buffalo tournament are down is because fans were burned by the high ticket prices last year.
“I think they’re thinking it’s the same (for Buffalo), and that’s not the case,” he says.
“You can get individual game tickets for quite reasonable prices. But in southern Ontario, that turned a lot of people off last year.”
This year marks the fifth World Junior Championship to be played in the U.S. Buffalo is the first American city to host it twice.