Buffalo Sabres Could Host 2018 World Junior Championships

Could the Buffalo Sabres and USA Hockey once again bring the IIHF World Junior Championships to Buffalo, NY?

We could find out soon – and it might not be that far off, as Buffalo was recently named one of five ‘finalist’ cities for the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championships.

Buffalo, of course, has already played host to a World Juniors tournament back in 2011.

Games were held at both HSBC Arena and Dwyer Arena, but that wouldn’t need to be the case if the 2018 tournament comes here. First Niagara Center could play host to some of the games, with the rest being played on the First Niagara Center rink at HARBORcenter. Teams could also easily use Rink 2 of HC for practices if needed.

Simply put, this would make it easy for the IIHF to put the tournament in Buffalo.

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Teams, media and even visiting fans could stay at one of the multiple hotels downtown: from the Marriott at HARBORcenter, which will be in full swing by then, the Courtyard by Marriott just steps away – where players stayed during the NHL Combine this year – or even the Avant or Adam’s Mark.

All the games could be played at FNC and HARBORcenter, which would make it easier for fans, media and players with virtually no travel required.

Combine this with the fact that over the years, Buffalo has proven itself to be a hockey hotbed. From 71k+ fans at the 2008 Winter Classic, to hosting multiple USA Hockey All-American Prospects games, the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championships, the 2015 IIHF Women’s World U-18 Championships, the IPC Sledge Hockey Championships, the Pegulas doing everything possible to improve the city…. as well as the fact that Buffalo is consistently at or near the top for hockey TV ratings, even when it’s not the Sabres playing – we’re watching.

The final piece of this puzzle – and one that is a small factor to some, but large in business and arguably the one thing that the other finalist cities don’t have – is an extremely close proximity to Canada.

Canadian fans were a huge draw at the 2011 tournament; a quick trip over the border made it easily accessible for fans throughout Ontario to come down, whether for a game or the entire tournament. It also made it easy for Canadian media to travel, too, and Buffalo is a big enough city to be able to handle having the tournament again.

One interesting factor would be to see just what the cost of tickets for a 2018 IIHF World Junior Championships in Buffalo would be.

Just for comparison’s sake, here’s some information about ticket costs for past tournaments:

The 2011 tournament, hosted by the Buffalo Sabres at HSBC Arena and Dwyer Arena (Niagara University) offered fans three ticket package options. The most expensive totaled $1,240 and included lower bowl seats for all games at HSBC Arena, admission to the 100 Level Harbour Club and tickets to games at Dwyer. The middle package offered lower bowl seating for all HSBC Arena games and cost $833 per ticket. The lowest package put up a cost of $493 and included upper-bowl seating for all games at HSBC Arena, including the medal rounds.

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Compare that to this past year, where the tournament was held in both Toronto and Montreal.

Packages for all 19 games held in Toronto ranged from $626 to $1,746; for Montreal packages (13 games), the cost was between $431 and $1,191.

Then we look at the upcoming tournament, to be held in Helsinki, Finland.

Things are going a little different in Helsinki; whereas fans wishing to purchase tickets in Buffalo had to buy individual seats for each game, meaning that all fans in the rink had to vacate & reenter after each game, that won’t be the case in Finland.

Instead, they’re doing venue-based day tickets, so a single ticket will allow fans to view all games played on that day in a single venue. Tickets vary based on what point of the tournament you’re looking at: for the preliminary round and quarterfinals, it’s between 11 and 29 Euros ($12.05 and $31.77 USD). Semifinals will put you up 39 Euros, or $42.73, and the final day costs 49 Euros, or $53.68 USD. Prime seating categories are also available for lower bowl seating, and discounted tickets for those under the age of 20 are also available.

So how much would a 2018 IIHF World Junior Championships package in Buffalo cost? It’s hard to say, but perhaps we’ll see in good time – and perhaps the folks in Helsinki have a great idea.

Using “day tickets” rather than individual game tickets would make facilitating the event much easier. As someone who had a package of tickets to all the games at HSBC Arena, I remember every day – leaving one game, walking out of the arena only to get back in line for the next one, sometimes having to wait halfway around the building in the cold of winter.

Using the day-long ticket system would significantly alleviate this problem and make it easier for fans and security, and if Buffalo is awarded the 2018 tournament, could be something to look into.

The other city options are: Chicago, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh and St. Louis. The list could be shortened in the coming months, with a final decision to come presumably by the end of 2015. It would be great to see these other cities also get a chance at hosting this event, but Buffalo would undoubtedly do a top-notch job of it, too.

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