REA on the short list for the WJC.

This was in today's Grand Forks Herald. I am hoping that REA is awarded the WJC because it is one of the best hockey experiences I have ever been able to witness. The championship game between Russian Canada was unbelievable, I have never heard the Ralph that loud ever.

I also think one of the biggest obsticles to the REA getting another World Junior Championship is that Grand Forks are competing with two big metropolitan areas; Buffalo New York and Minneapolis Minnesota. I would imagine that Buffalo is going to look pretty enticing to the World Junior Championship comittee because it is 98 miles from Toronto, Ontario and the Canadians will attend the WJC in big numbers.

GF to compete with Twin Cities, Buffalo for WJC
Brad Elliott Schlossman Grand Forks Herald
Published Thursday, August 21, 2008
USA Hockey confirmed this morning that Grand Forks will be competing against the Twin Cities and Buffalo, N.Y., to land the 2011 World Junior Championship.
Officials will make site visits in September and they are expected to announce a winner in December.

Grand Forks hosted the event in 2005. It was the highest-attended World Juniors ever on American soil.

The Twin Cities previously hosted the tournament in 1982. Buffalo has never hosted it.

"It's a real treat for sports fans in our country to have the World Junior Championship back in the United States," USA Hockey president Ron DeGregorio said. "It's a very special event with an extremely high level of talent."

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.