The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championship is coming back to Ottawa for the first time in 16 years.
Hockey Canada, the Canadian Hockey League and IIHF announced Thursday afternoon the event is coming Dec. 26, 2024 to Jan. 5, 2025.
Seventeen games, including the semifinals and final, will be at the Canadian Tire Centre, home to the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. Fourteen games will go to the Ottawa 67’s home of TD Place.
Both arenas are in the process of being replaced or significantly upgraded.
Chris Phillips, former Ottawa Senators player and current vice-president of business operations for the team, said he’s excited for the city.
He played in the 1996 and ’97 iterations of the tournament — played in the U.S. and Switzerland respectively.
“To, you know, be a fan of the World Juniors, to be sitting around during the holidays and see the tournaments over the years that have happened in Canada, would have been that much more special to win it on home soil,” he said.
“To watch Canada in the nation’s capital is going to be special for me to be a part of, albeit not on the ice this time, but just to be a part of it in Canada is going to be extra special.”
Michael Crockett, president and CEO of Ottawa Tourism, said the event is a light at the end of a tunnel for operators in the city.
“Tourism in Ottawa has been really hit hard during the pandemic, the convoy, had a really tough time recovering from those things,” he said.
“So this is an event, a massive event, that’s going to bring in visitors, bring in the players, bringing the coaches, the teams. It’s going to have a huge impact on our tourism industry in this community.”
Last hosted in 2009
Ottawa last hosted the 2009 world juniors, drawing more than 450,000 total fans to a tournament remembered for Jordan Eberle’s game-tying semifinal goal with six seconds left.
Canada would go on to win that game and its fifth gold medal in a row. Current 67’s head coach Dave Cameron was an assistant that year.
“Ottawa is undoubtedly a city that rallies behind hockey, as we can remember from the exceptional atmosphere (in 2009),” said IIHF President Luc Tardif in the release.
Ottawa also hosted the world women’s hockey championship in 2013.
World junior pre-tournament games may also be held in surrounding communities. Gatineau, Que., hosted one of the Canadian selection camp games ahead of the 2009 tournament, for example.
Hockey Canada will make that decision.
Halifax and Moncton hosted the most recent world juniors, where Canada’s second straight gold medal win happened under the cloud of Hockey Canada’s handling of alleged sexual assaults.
Crockett said that tournament brought in about $50 million for those two cities and expected something similar, or maybe even higher, for Ottawa.
“We do expect to see a really significant economic impact,” he said.
“You think about that coming into our community and in a couple of weeks over the holidays — it’s a massive injection of economic activity.”
Most major sponsors pulled their support and Hockey Canada’s former CEO and board of directors stepped down.
The 2024 tournament is being held in Sweden. Tickets are not yet on sale for 2025.
The successful bid was a partnership of the Ottawa Senators, the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group that owns the Ottawa 67’s, Ottawa Tourism, Hockey Eastern Ontario, the city and the province, according to the release.
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