Twin Cities named Finalist for 2011 World Juniors
by Fiona C. Quick
USA Hockey announced today that the Twin Cities has been named one of three finalists to host the 2011 IIHF World Under-20 Championships. Buffalo, N.Y and Grand Forks, N.D. are the other two finalists. The Twin Cities last hosted the event in 1982 and the event was last held in the United States in 2005 in Grand Forks, N.D. and Thief River Falls, Minn.
“The World Under-20 Championship is a spectacular event that we're extremely pleased to be hosting again,” said Dave Ogrean, executive director of USA Hockey. “We had interest in this event from more than 20 different entities across the country. We've narrowed the field to three very worthy finalists and look forward to reaching a decision before the end of the year."
"The last time we hosted the World Junior Championship back in 2005, fans got to see players like Phil Kessel, Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin to name just a few," said Jim Johannson, a two-time Olympian who serves as USA Hockey's assistant executive director of hockey operations. "The bottom line for hockey fans is, outside of the Olympics, the World Junior Championship is probably the best international tournament they'll ever get to witness."
"It will be a real treat for sports fans in our country to have the World Junior Championship back in the United States," said Ron DeGregorio, president of USA Hockey. "It's a very special event with an extremely high level of talent."
Should Minneapolis and Saint Paul be awarded the World Junior tournament the games and practices would likely be held at a combination of Mariucci Arena, Xcel Energy Center and the Schwann SuperRink facilities in Blaine. USA Hockey Representatives will be making a site visit to the Twin Cities in mid-September to make final evaluations of the location and will provide additional comments at that time.
The International Ice Hockey Federation granted USA Hockey the rights to host three IIHF World Championships in May of 2007, including the 2009 IIHF World Men's Under-18 Championship (which will take place April 9-19, 2009, in Fargo, N.D. and Moorhead, Minn.), the 2011 World Under-20 Championship and the 2012 World Women's Championship.