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USA hosting 2018 WJC

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MrBojangles4 said:
Cleveland - 2 hours away
Columbus - 3 hours away
Detroit - 4 hours away
Buffalo - 2.5 hours

Theres plenty of cities easily within driving distance for the fans who really want to see the competition. Pittsburgh is a hockey town. I believe it will do very well if it hosted in Pitt.
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Agreed. Never been a better time to play it there.
 
I hope Buffalo. I will go again. Last time I think I paid $30/seat for the package. Came out to $1200 for 2 - don't quote me, my memory is not the best. Well worth it. Would do it again in a second.
 
Have no issue with a return to Buffalo, in many ways it makes sense, just get a bigger second arena, still can't get over Russia Sweden at Niagara , what a joke. Would Rochester make sense?
 
CBlake said:
Have no issue with a return to Buffalo, in many ways it makes sense, just get a bigger second arena, still can't get over Russia Sweden at Niagara , what a joke. Would Rochester make sense?
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The 2nd arena in a Buffalo bid would be Harbor center which has a capacity of 1,800 (vs. 1,400 at Niagara's Dwyer). Brand new, beautiful facility physically connected to First Niagara Center.
 
sjci said:
I think Buffalo has the inside track on this. With the HARBORCENTER just built, the hotel will be fully up and running by 2018. And into the fact USA Hockey has developed a great relationship with the organization makes it the odds on favorite. (USA prospects game '12, '14, '15)

The IIHF also awarded the Women's U18 Worlds to Buffalo, which will take place exclusively in the HARBORCENTER complex. I think they are going to see how this tournament goes that will factor in to the equation as well.
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It's not a fair comparison between these cities. Buffalo has it hands down if they're looking for facilites and attendance. I just visited Harbor Center over winter break with my family. It's amazing. Two state of the art rinks, under one roof in FRONT of the First Niagara arena...with a hotel and really nice amenities inside (huge workout complex, awesome bar/restaurant, etc). Actually there are two brand new Marriotts right there...
We also skated outside on an 11,000 sq foot ice surface that is situated on the new Erie canal restoration across the street from Harbor center. That was so cool. I can't imagine another new hockey/entertainment setup in this country..or Canada that is as nice as what Buffalo is opening up right now.
 
SanDogBrewin said:
Boston has the hotel space, not too far Canadian fans to travel and plenty of NCAA team facilities for the teams to practice on.

http://nesn.com/2014/12/bruins-break-ground-on-new-practice-facility-warrior-ice-arena/

Plus a brand new facility would be ready as well.
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Boston has the most to offer for the WJC. It has the most adequate venues (with only a few miles of each other) to host games than probably anywhere in the country. TD Garden, Agganis Arena, Matthews Arena, and Conte Forum could all host games right in the city. It's also travel friendly for Canada and Europe.

However, the tournament would not get butts in the seats. Although Boston is a hockey town, it's a pro sports town. They'd really have to get the media behind the thing.
 
MrBojangles4 said:
How do you know that those 3 cities are the only ones who have submitted bids?

I think it will go to Pittsburgh since it was just in Buffalo. Pittsburgh also has the best choice of a second arena, which is mandatory to have for a host city by the IIHF. Pittsburgh could have the second host play in Youngstown's USHL rink, Johnstowns NAHL rink, or Wheeling's ECHL rink. All of those arenas are within an hour drive from Pittsburgh. Tampa Bay would have to go down to Estero, FL and play in the Germain Arena to have their suitable second arena within a reasonable drive (but still 2.5 hours away). I can't see a Tampa/Miami host.
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Buffalo has a brand new 2nd arena right across the street from the 1st one. I think that's a winner. (I don't care that we "just had one," want more.) ;)
 
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I think Pittsburgh will get it. I am not sure it is the best choice, but still. Could be quite a turnup if there is a highly touted Penguins prospect in a non-NA team. U.S. and Canada will always draw people.
 
Detroit will have a new, beautiful stadium. Also we're very close to Canada. I know 99% of hockey fans here absolutely despise the city but it's actually a really cool place. Been on the up and up for awhile now. Midtown, Corktown, West Village, Downtown/Woodward, and Woodbridge are all great areas now.

Obviously I'm a Homer but... come on ;)
 
As a Pens fan, it would obviously be cool to see it in Pittsburgh, but how would it do though? They don't seem like the type to care as much about international hockey. Being near Canada, Buffalo would be the best choice (the Canada games actually had higher attendances than the American games in 2011), and it did well last time they hosted it. And Tampa is kind of the same for me as Pittsburgh. The Lightning do well there, but will that convert to the WJC too? Many cities are only NHL cities and just don't care about other tournaments, as we have seen from the Montreal WJC.
 
id like for tampa to get it for selfish reasons as my sister lives there but it would be a nice cheap vacation to go down there in the winter and watch some hockey.
 
I live in Cleveland and just started following the WJC 3 years ago so I missed the Buffalo locale last time around. So my vote is for either Buffalo or Pittsburgh. Two hours would be FANtastic.
 
Pittsburgh please. It will force the city to get behind the Penguins' efforts to redo the hill district properly instead of being bullied by "community leaders".
 
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