Edmonton and Red Deer are getting another chance to put on the IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championship in 2027. Rogers Place, home to the Edmonton Oilers in Alberta’s capital city, will host 17 games of the Dec. 26-Jan. 5 series, while Red Deer’s Centrium will host 14, Hockey Canada announced Tuesday in Edmonton. Both the semi-finals and gold-medal final will be played in Edmonton. In addition to co-hosting with Calgary in 2012, Edmonton was selected as host for 2021 and 2022, the latter of which Red Deer was supposed to be a co-host. However, COVID-19 restrictions meant the 2021 games were played without an audience and the 2022 games were postponed. “I’m not gonna say Hockey Canada owed them one, but Red Deer and Edmonton really stepped up in ’21, ’22, and ’23 and it was important for us to recognize that support,” said Dean McIntosh, Hockey Canada’s senior vice-president of revenue, fan experience and community impact. “We felt it was time to come back to Edmonton and Red Deer to do this event right.” McIntosh said the two cities are great co-hosts because of their cooperation, proximity to each other and an international airport, and their reputation as junior hockey communities. “While this may be our first collaboration of this scale with Edmonton, we hope that it’s the first of many between our two cities,” Tourism Red Deer CEO Jesse Smith said. Alberta has also invested in becoming a hockey host: In February 2024, the provincial government committed $11 million through 2027 to host hockey events, including the World Para Hockey Championship in Calgary, the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton, matches in the Rivalry Series, and the 2027 World Juniors. “It’s no secret that we’ve been building toward this moment for some time, the chance to host this tournament to its fullest potential – no quarantines, no summer schedules. Just world-class hockey right in the middle of winter the way it’s meant to be,” said Explore Edmonton’s Arlindo Gomes. It’s estimated the event will inject $90 million into the local economy, including the impact of potentially 12 pre-competition games in the middle of December. “Teams will arrive here in Canada as early as Dec. 10 and we’ll be looking at communities like Camrose and Red Deer and Whitecourt and other communities around the province who are prepared to host both team camps as well as games ahead of the event,” McIntosh said. “In the past, we’ve had anywhere from 40,000 to 60,000 fans take in those games as well. It really grows the event beyond just Red Deer and Edmonton.” Information about a priority ticket draw and tournament ticket packages will be released in the coming months, Hockey Canada said. With files from TSN RELATED STORIES:
