WJC looks at Buffalo, NY...

A lot of the same arguments could be made for Grand Forks, North Dakota. Traffic is light, lots of hotels in town. There are also plenty of people that will be willing to voluteer. Also, isn't that hard flying here or Fargo either. If I am not mistaken the WJC that was held in Grand Forks, ND was the best attended WJC ever in the USA.

World junior hockey championships give WNY a close look
By John Vogl - News Sports
Traffic is light. The restaurants are great. The hotel space is adequate. There are plenty of volunteers.

Oh yeah, the hockey facilities and atmosphere are top notch, too.

All in all, the folks from USA Hockey departed Western New York on Thursday very impressed with the area’s bid for the 2011 world junior championships.

As announced last month, Buffalo is among three finalists to host one of amateur hockey’s premier events in December 2010 and January 2011. Members of the USA Hockey committee are in the process of visiting the three cities — Buffalo, Minneapolis and Grand Forks, N. D. — and they toured Western New York on Wednesday and Thursday.

They left feeling certain the area can accommodate an influx of visitors from all over the globe.

“It’s an international event, so we really want to put on our best face when it comes to managing and running this type of tournament so that we have the opportunities in the future for more of them,” said Mike Bertsch, assistant executive director of marketing and communications for USA Hockey.

Bertsch said his organization plans to make its decision by the first part of October. The event, which is a 10-nation tournament featuring the best players under age 20, is estimated to bring $6 million into the host community.

While all aspects of an area must be suitable to host the world juniors, hockey facilities are among the most important. The committee thoroughly inspected HSBC Arena and Niagara University’s Dwyer Arena, and they easily passed the tests.

“Dwyer Arena is an excellent facility, and it can do an excellent job as being the second site for this tournament,” said Jim Johannson, USA Hockey’s assistant executive director of hockey operations. “From a team standpoint, it comes down to how functional the facilities are, and both facilities would do an excellent job fulfilling the standards the teams need.”

Though the committee members were impressed with Western New York on its own, they quickly concurred that having hockey-crazed Canada — and in particular, Toronto — right up the road was a boost for Buffalo’s bid.

“It’s very important,” Johannson said. “We want this to be a USA Hockey event, but we certainly understand our neighbors to the north are passionate hockey fans and a big part of the fabric in this Buffalo and Toronto area. We’re well aware of the significance they would play in this championship.”

Buffalo’s involvement in USA

Hockey and its ability to host large events made it a finalist. The area has hosted the NCAA Frozen Four and several national tournaments in recent years, and good reviews led America’s hockey body to look here for its marquee tournament. The event runs for 11 days, so having a solid core of volunteers is important.

“Obviously, we all know the great fan base that they have here in Buffalo,” Johannson said. “Not only the Sabres, but it’s a very strong USA Hockey youth hockey area.”

The Sabres are leading the bid process. Minority owner Larry Quinn has stressed to the committee that Buffalo would fully embrace the event, even though it’s played during the NHL season and at the beginning of the NFL playoffs.
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