BRING ON THE WORLD
Even Premier John Horgan is getting excited about the upcoming World Junior Hockey Championships in Victoria and Vancouver, which are just two weeks away
One of Canada’s most feverish holiday traditions is scheduled for Vancouver and Victoria on Boxing Day — and no, it’s not discount shopping.
Rather, it’s the opening of the 2019 world junior hockey championship, with pucks set to drop at Rogers Arena and the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in the first games of the celebrated under-20 tournament. Ticket sales have been brisk and politicians and business leaders are eager to see financial spinoffs from the tournament.
Ron Toigo, president and majority owner of the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants as well as co-chair of the 2019 world juniors host committee, expects the buildings will be full of Canadians pulling for a common cause.
“I think it’s really one of the real great opportunities, where Canadians actually do pull together and kind of wrap themselves around the flag,” Toigo said. “It’s a great environment.”
The Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance calculated that the 2006 world juniors hosted in Kamloops, Kelowna and Vancouver generated about $41 million in economic activity, according to Hockey Canada. Toigo, who was the head of the 2006 tournament, said the 2019 championship will be even better, financially speaking.
Bill Eisenhauer, the City of Victoria’s head of engagement, put the projected economic impact of the tournament in Greater Victoria at $10 million. The City of Vancouver directed inquiries on its projected economic benefits to Hockey Canada.
Staff at the governing body did not respond on Tuesday to requests for information. Hockey Canada has previously said the 2015 world juniors brought $80 million in financial spinoffs for host cities Toronto and Montreal, citing “regional economic impact studies.”
Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart said he was “so excited” the tournament was coming to the city.
“I remember, as a kid growing up, it was actually more of
a highlight to watch the world juniors than it was to watch the Stanley Cup. There’s so much energy and excitement about that tournament, and Canada does very well, so it makes it even more fun to watch,” he said Tuesday during a break at a council meeting.
Stewart said it’s worth spending city cash to attract events like the world juniors.
“It’s great that we’re hosting it here, and the amount of economic stimulus it brings to the city is also important. People from all over British Columbia and also from the U.S. are going to come and spend some money while they’re watching these things,” he said.
Charles Gauthier, president and CEO of the Downtown Vancouver Business
Improvement Association, said events like the world juniors give the city positive exposure.
“It’s our hope that the world juniors will lend an elevated sense of vibrancy to the city, as well as bring tourism dollars to the downtown core in the form of hotel stays, shopping and dining out,” Gauthier said.
The 10 national teams taking part in the tournament’s 31 games will be divided between the two host cities. Canada, Russia, Czech Republic, Denmark and Switzerland play their round robin games in Vancouver, while the United States, Sweden, Finland, Slovakia and Kazakhstan play theirs in Victoria.
Victoria will host two quarter-final playoff contests, with the remainder of the medal
round games coming to Vancouver’s Rogers Arena.
Some of Canada’s biggest household names made their world hockey debuts during past tournaments, including past and present Vancouver Canucks stars Pavel Bure, Elias Pettersson and the Sedin twins. This year’s tournament rosters include Canucks prospects Mike DiPietro and Quinn Hughes, but there are no B.C.-born players competing.
Kingsley Bailey of Vancouver Ticket said the world juniors is one of the most exciting tournaments going and he said he’s been getting calls from out-of-towners interested in attending.
“It’s huge. I just got a call last week from Houston, some calls from Smithers, some calls from Saskatchewan, a lot
of calls from Alberta. These are people who normally aren’t going out of their way to go see sports, but they don’t mind coming to see the world juniors,” he said.
Victoria’s games are all sold out, but those interested in single game tickets can sign up at hockeycanada.ca for ticket alerts.
Single tickets were still available as of Tuesday for games in Vancouver, including several that feature Team Canada. Gold medal game tickets are also available for anyone interested in shelling out up to a couple of thousand dollars per seat.
Bailey offered some advice for those already dreaming about attending the final.
“Here’s the dilemma . ... If they want to go to the gold medal game and they’re
coming in from some of those outlying areas, it’s best to buy early. But there’s a potential problem. If Canada’s squad somehow gets beat by the Americans, by the Russians, by the Swedes … that $500 ticket is now going to be worth less than half of that,” he said.
“I’m not a betting man, but 10 years ago, 20 years ago, I’d bet on the Canadian-U. S. program for the final. But now you just don’t know,” Bailey said.
“That’s the whole thing about this tournament. On any given day, any team can win this.”
The tournament runs from Dec. 26-Jan. 5.