The Ralph bids for 2011 WJC

RWD's favorite college hockey beat writer Brad Elliott Schlossman is reporting that Ralph Engelstad Arena has submitted its bid to host the 2011 World Junior Hockey Championship. Personally I am thrilled at the opportunity to watch some more World Junior Hockey and I am hopeful that the REA bid is successful. The the 2005 WJC was one of the most exciting hockey tourney I have ever witnessed as a hockey fan and filled the void left by the NHL lockout of 2004-2005. I was at the championship game and I have never heard the Ralph as loud as it was during the Canada Russia final.

Ralph Engelstad Arena has submitted its bid to host the 2011 World Junior Hockey Championship, a tournament that features the best under-20 players in the world.

Its proposal calls for the Moorhead Sports Center to be the satellite site.

USA Hockey says that 26 entities have expressed interest in hosting the tournament, although it was unsure how many of those would submit bids.

USA Hockey will select an undetermined number of finalists this fall and then visit the potential sites.

The winning city is expected to be announced in late December.

Grand Forks has one big factor working for it: In 2005, the city teamed with Thief River Falls to host the most successful WJC outside of Canada. It was far more successful than the previous three tournaments on U.S. soil — Minneapolis in 1982, Anchorage in 1989 and Boston in 1996.

Its proximity to the Canadian border was key. The tournament is huge in Canada and thousands of Canadian fans made the short drive to Grand Forks to attend the event.

Canada won the gold, beating Russia in a game that featured the last two NHL MVPs — Canada’s Sidney Crosby and Russia’s Alexander Ovechkin.

“Ralph Engelstad Arena learned a tremendous amount from the 2005 event and we’re ready to apply these lessons learned in 2011,” Ralph Engelstad Arena general manager Jody Hodgson said. “Our bid will be different from others in that we have successfully hosted the event before, made a significant financial guarantee to USA Hockey, as well as provided financial opportunities for charitable hockey organizations in Grand Forks, East Grand Forks, Moorhead and the state of North Dakota.”

There also is a big factor working against Grand Forks. The 2011 World Juniors is only the third International Ice Hockey Federation tournament to be placed in the U.S. in the last 12 years.

The previous two — the 2005 World Juniors and the 2009 World Under-18 tournament — were both placed in North Dakota. Fargo will host the Under-18 tournament in April.

So, USA Hockey may want to avoid awarding three straight bids to North Dakota.

Ottawa will host the tournament this winter, 2009, and Saskatoon, Sask., will host it in 2010. Canada also will be host in 2012 at a site to be determined.