Joint bid to hold world junior tourney in Ontario
If successful, games would be played at two OHL arenas beginning in December
WATERLOO REGION Waterloo Region has teamed up with the City of London in a bid to host the 2023 world junior hockey championships.
The bid would see games played at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium and London’s Budweiser Gardens for the tournament, which typically begins on Boxing Day and runs until early January.
The annual tournament, which features the top Under-20 hockey teams from around the world, was originally scheduled to take place in Russia
However, the country was stripped of its hosting rights this past February after invading Ukraine.
That change has forced the International Ice Hockey Federation to switch gears. Hockey Canada has stepped up to take bids.
“We were trying to keep it quiet until there was something we could announce that was for sure,” said Allister Scorgie, director of sport hosting for Waterloo Region. “We’ve submitted a proposal with London. It’s Hockey Canada’s decision and they’re working with all the proposals they have on their plate.”
Other cities that have declared an interest in hosting, or are reportedly in the mix, include Ottawa, Quebec City, Halifax-Moncton, Vancouver-Victoria and Regina-Saskatoon.
Waterloo Region and London, which are about one hour’s drive apart, bid to co-host the 2006 world juniors but lost to Vancouver, Kamloops and Kelowna. London also put in a joint bid with Windsor three years ago, but was passed over for Vancouver and Victoria.
Scorgie said Hockey Canada approached London last month and, after partnering with Waterloo Region, had about a week to submit a bid.
“I think Hockey Canada was looking for a small number of communities that they had worked with before that they knew might be interested,” he said. “There was mutual interest between London and Waterloo Region to put something together. The whole thing is moving fairly fast.”
Waterloo Region must have a partner, since two arenas are needed for the tournament.
The Aud, home of the Ontario Hockey League’s Kitchener Rangers, can hold 7,777, while Budweiser Gardens, which houses the London Knights, seats 9,090. Both clubs are OHL leaders in terms of attendance.
“I think you’ve got the two strongest markets in the OHL in London and Kitchener, or two of the strongest markets in the Canadian Hockey League, for that matter,” said Scorgie.
And that’s one of the selling points. Other things working in their favour are proximity and the rich junior hockey history in each city. “Why not have the best world junior event being played where junior hockey is played?” said Scorgie. “This is where junior hockey lives. The Rangers are the best ticket in town. Southern Ontario is the hub of junior hockey, probably in the world.”
Under the proposed bid, 16 games would be played in London and 15 at the Aud, while half of the 10 teams taking part would stay in each city during the event.
Scorgie didn’t go into details on the cost, other than to say the team is looking at different sources of funding that include sponsorship, ticket sales and help from the provincial government.
When London and Windsor put in a bid to host in 2019, it was reported Windsor was willing to commit $400,000 while London was going to pay $600,000.
“The economic impact is huge,” said Scorgie.
“You’ve got the Aud booked for weeks. It would be a huge shot in the arm as we’re trying to recover from COVID-19 and get the whole tourism sector back on its feet.”
Hockey Canada is expected to pick a winning bid by the end of the month.
“It is a bit unfortunate that what’s happening with Russia and Ukraine is ultimately what led to the opportunity presenting itself,” said Scorgie.
“It’s a sad situation that we’re trying to find homes for events because of a crisis like that.
“But we’d be happy to do it and we’d be excited to do it and I think the community would embrace it if it came here.”