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JackSlater said:
I've attended the tournament twice (all games in the big arena packages) and both times it was great. Packed arenas for the Canada games and big crowds for the games that featured other big countries. It's disappointing to see how the tournament is trending. if as the OP says I had to pick an American host, from my perspective I would put it somewhere away from the border. USA Hockey can try to generate some popularity for the tournament instead of leeching off Canadian support and draining the market in Canada. Any of the American finalists for this tournament (St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Tampa Bay) would be good. I suspect that the attendance would be worse than what we are seeing in Buffalo, but at least we would have an idea of what the American market really is. Tampa Bay would be the most interesting because of the Florida weather, and it would be interesting to see how many vacationing Canadians or snowbirds would attend. With the right marketing in Florida I suspect that there could be good crowds. If I had to pick though I would have liked to see something in Minnesota. USA had a ton of players from Minnesota and the state supports amateur hockey, so it seems reasonable to me.

As far as the ideal host, I agree that it should go to a junior hockey market. Quebec City would probably by the most interesting bet as it has never hosted as the main city, has a big arena and supports junior hockey. Halifax would be good again as well. If the tournament goes back to an NHL market then I would like to see Winnipeg host. Winnipeg and Halifax really raised the bar for hosting the tournament and made the scale of the tournament much larger. Hockey Canada may not like losing out on short term money by hosting the tournament in a place like Halifax that has a 10,000 seat arena, but in the long term it is by far the best strategy. Southern Ontario (counting Buffalo) has had the tournament four times in the last eight years. Too much saturation. I would suggest that no Canadian region should have the tournament more than once per 15 years. Atlantic Canada can host (Halifax and nearby New Brunswick cities). Quebec City and someplace like Drummondville can host. Saskatchewan can host. Hamilton would be a more fresh location if the organizers felt compelled to host the tournament in Southern Ontario again. Use these non-NHL markets to let the tournament breathe in the big cities. Also, no more splitting the tournament between big cities like Edmonton and Calgary.
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USA Hockey is not going to generate organic support for this tournament until they can get a legitimate broadcaster to cover it. NHL network simply isn't in enough homes. They need a partner. ESPN is out because it occurs at the same time as college bowl games, so they aren't going to want to touch it, even on ESPN2. They need someone to cover it though, perhaps NBCSportsnet or FoxSports or one of those networks would take it on. Until that happens the promotion for the tournament just isn't there. Not enough people have the ability to closely follow the tournament. Hardcore hockey fans sure, but thats not enough. You need to engage casual fans, and without a TV outlet it does not work.
 
JackSlater said:
I've attended the tournament twice (all games in the big arena packages) and both times it was great. Packed arenas for the Canada games and big crowds for the games that featured other big countries. It's disappointing to see how the tournament is trending. if as the OP says I had to pick an American host, from my perspective I would put it somewhere away from the border. USA Hockey can try to generate some popularity for the tournament instead of leeching off Canadian support and draining the market in Canada. Any of the American finalists for this tournament (St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Tampa Bay) would be good. I suspect that the attendance would be worse than what we are seeing in Buffalo, but at least we would have an idea of what the American market really is. Tampa Bay would be the most interesting because of the Florida weather, and it would be interesting to see how many vacationing Canadians or snowbirds would attend. With the right marketing in Florida I suspect that there could be good crowds. If I had to pick though I would have liked to see something in Minnesota. USA had a ton of players from Minnesota and the state supports amateur hockey, so it seems reasonable to me.

As far as the ideal host, I agree that it should go to a junior hockey market. Quebec City would probably by the most interesting bet as it has never hosted as the main city, has a big arena and supports junior hockey. Halifax would be good again as well. If the tournament goes back to an NHL market then I would like to see Winnipeg host. Winnipeg and Halifax really raised the bar for hosting the tournament and made the scale of the tournament much larger. Hockey Canada may not like losing out on short term money by hosting the tournament in a place like Halifax that has a 10,000 seat arena, but in the long term it is by far the best strategy. Southern Ontario (counting Buffalo) has had the tournament four times in the last eight years. Too much saturation. I would suggest that no Canadian region should have the tournament more than once per 15 years. Atlantic Canada can host (Halifax and nearby New Brunswick cities). Quebec City and someplace like Drummondville can host. Saskatchewan can host. Hamilton would be a more fresh location if the organizers felt compelled to host the tournament in Southern Ontario again. Use these non-NHL markets to let the tournament breathe in the big cities. Also, no more splitting the tournament between big cities like Edmonton and Calgary.
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I certainly agree with all of this, except for the bolded. London and Kitchener are better junior hockey markets in southern Ontario than is Hamilton. Those two cities consistently lead the OHL in attendance by a fair amount. The Bulldogs have only been around as a junior team for a few years now, and if they're keen on hosting in southern Ontario again (which, as you alluded to, they probably shouldn't be) my personal preference would be to reward long-standing and successful OHL cities with the World Juniors. Just my two cents.
 
86Habs said:
I certainly agree with all of this, except for the bolded. London and Kitchener are better junior hockey markets in southern Ontario than is Hamilton. Those two cities consistently lead the OHL in attendance by a fair amount. The Bulldogs have only been around as a junior team for a few years now, and if they're keen on hosting in southern Ontario again (which, as you alluded to, they probably shouldn't be) my personal preference would be to reward long-standing and successful OHL cities with the World Juniors. Just my two cents.
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Nothing wrong with London at all, it just came down to arena size for me. Of course a full arena in London is better than a half full arena in Hamilton. Give the tournament ten years outside of Ontario and I think that they could probably get a big audience in Hamilton though.
 
JackSlater said:
Nothing wrong with London at all, it just came down to arena size for me. Of course a full arena in London is better than a half full arena in Hamilton. Give the tournament ten years outside of Ontario and I think that they could probably get a big audience in Hamilton though.
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Yeah, that's fair. Realistically, when you include Guelph and Niagara into the mix, any two of those cities could realistically partner up and host the tournament with Hamilton / London / Kitchener as the primary host. They're all reasonably proximite to each other and are good junior markets. The same can be said for Quebec and smaller cities like D-ville, V-ville, Shawinigan and Sherbrooke. I'd like to see the tournament make its way to Quebec, Atlantic Canada, and the Prairies before revisiting southern Ontario in any event.
 
I agree with a lot of the comments on here about moving the tournament back to smaller centers. In Moncton here they are building a brand new arena that could be a great fit for this event. There are many other places as well. There is definitely a better atmosphere in a smaller packed arena where fans are closer to the action than in a big NHL type building. Grand Forks was awesome and as far as the USA being host, I think any of the NCAA venues that are big enough would be great host and most likely players that play for the local college team could be on USA or Canada and would make it more interesting to the local fans wanting to see their own players.
 
bbfan419 said:
I agree with a lot of the comments on here about moving the tournament back to smaller centers. In Moncton here they are building a brand new arena that could be a great fit for this event. There are many other places as well. There is definitely a better atmosphere in a smaller packed arena where fans are closer to the action than in a big NHL type building. Grand Forks was awesome and as far as the USA being host, I think any of the NCAA venues that are big enough would be great host and most likely players that play for the local college team could be on USA or Canada and would make it more interesting to the local fans wanting to see their own players.
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Moncton would be a good secondary host if Halifax were the primary host. Moncton, as you know, is a very small city with a population of ~100,000.
 
Seattle/Portland would have been a good choice, could help gauge the markets for NHL expansion/relocation in the near future.
 
I really think they should go to Tampa. The NCAA has had the Frozen Four there, and it has been a great success.

Make the ticket prices reasonable, and I think you'd have A LOT of Canadians and Americans wanting to get away after Christmas for a beach vacation. Added bonus of getting to watch some great hockey, as well.
 
gphr513 said:
I really think they should go to Tampa. The NCAA has had the Frozen Four there, and it has been a great success.

Make the ticket prices reasonable, and I think you'd have A LOT of Canadians and Americans wanting to get away after Christmas for a beach vacation. Added bonus of getting to watch some great hockey, as well.
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That's another interesting idea. Or maybe Vegas? Strike while the iron is hot..... Although there's only 2 arenas in the area, iirc
 
Minnesota. Aren’t 10 or so of the American players from the state? That’s a pretty romantic marketing angle to exploit.
 
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I think Duluth and Minneapolis would be a good spot but only if tickets are under $50.

First key is having two separate towns. You can’t expect one American town to support two groups worth of games.

You can’t go to college towns because this tournament is hosted during the winter break so nobody will be in town.


Let’s be real though. The reason the IIHF keeps giving the US this tournament is because it’s a cheap way of giving Canada another home tournament.
 
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They should go to non-NHL smaller cities for the WJC.

Examples:
1. Madison, WI
2. Ithaca, NY
3. Hartford, CT
4. Spokane, WA
5. Fargo, ND

Obviously, make the ticket prices very, very low.
 
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Ithaca and Spokane I don’t think would be good ideas. Spokane is very isolated and hockey is not a primary sport there. Ithaca has no real hockey base. Sorry Cornell. And it’s harder to get to than Buffalo with just about as bad of weather.
 
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