Quebec escapes from the Junior World Championships in 2023

Just over seven months after the Canadian Hockey League failed to accept its nomination to present the next Anniversary Cup tournament, Quebec City suffered another rejection yesterday, while the Canadian hockey team favored the cities of Halifax and Moncton to present the 2023 World Junior Championships.

Quebec submitted its candidacy jointly with the city of Trois-Rivieres. The city of Ottawa was in addition to joint bids from Regina and Saskatoon as well as London and Kitchener in competition.

“Disappointed”

The chief operating officer of the Quebec Sports and Leisure Group, Martin Tremblay, preferred not to give interviews on the matter, preferring to respond via a press release.

“We are obviously disappointed that our bid was not selected to host the 2023 World Junior Championships and we are very proud of the quality of our proposal. We thank the partners who have worked closely with us, namely the Government of Quebec, Quebec City, Trois-Rivieres City and Trois-Rivieres Lions Organization. We wish both cities the best of luck. selected, Halifax and Moncton, to hold the tournament.”

A meeting between Sports and Entertainment Group and Hockey Canada is scheduled for next week to find out what has turned the balance against them.

The news started spreading in the morning. Amidst a press debate on the sidelines of an announcement in the Saint-Sauveur region, Quebec Mayor Bruno Marchand also expressed his disappointment.

“For us, it’s a disappointment. I think with Trois-Rivières we got a great nomination (and) hockey fans (for) the World Championships that would have been really appreciated and popular and which would have had extraordinary spin-offs. , whether in Quebec or more broadly… I was disappointed,” his reaction was warm.

two small yards

So the tournament will be offered in two junior hockey stands. The Scotiabank Center in Halifax can seat just over 11,000 spectators while the Avenir Center in Moncton can seat 8,800.

The last time World Juniors were presented in Eastern Canada was in 2015 and 2017 in Toronto and Montreal. Both events did not meet IIHF expectations

Does this latest failure hurt candidates willing to present the tournament in an amphitheater the size of the NHL, as was the case with Quebec, or even Ottawa?

To answer that question, Vice President of Events and Property, Dean McIntosh, provided the example of the 2019 tournament in Vancouver and Victoria.

He recalls, “We have attracted over 320,000 supporters. With Victoria, we have proven that this tournament is a success in the youth hockey markets. We have also had success in the NHL markets.” We are certainly excited to hold this event in two youth hockey markets in 2023 but still I have complete confidence in the world that our NHL partners can deliver this event and make it a success.”

This is the fourth time in 30 years that Quebecers have been told not to participate in the Junior World Championships, after 1995, 2006 and 2009.

In 2016, Quebec also considered the possibility of submitting its nomination for the 2019 event but declined it because everything indicated that Hockey Canada wanted to present the championship in the West. Vancouver and Victoria were eventually selected. At the time, Quebec Remparts president Jacques Tangway confirmed that Quebec was focused on trying to host the 2021 World Junior Championships.

Then the epidemic arrived…