Canada opens 2017 World Juniors against Russia, faces U.S. on New Year’s Eve
MONTREAL, Que. and TORONTO, Ont. – Canadian hockey fans’ calendars just got very busy Dec. 26, 2016 to Jan. 5, 2017 with Friday’s release of the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship schedule.
Among the highly-anticipated match-ups are Team Canada’s tournament-opener on Boxing Day against Russia at 8 p.m. ET at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre, and the classic Canada-U.S. match-up on New Year’s Eve at 3:30 p.m. ET to close out the team’s preliminary-round action.
Montreal, meanwhile, will ring in 2017 at the Bell Centre with defending gold-medallists Finland as they take on the Swiss in the 5:30 p.m. ET game.
“The release of the official schedule reinforces just how close we are to welcoming the world in Montreal and Toronto this December,” said Scott Smith, chief operating officer, Hockey Canada. “The preparation by our staff and host-committee members in our two host cities is well underway, with volunteer recruitment in full swing. The release of the schedule allows hockey fans in Canada and around the world to make more concrete plans to take in this holiday tradition and watch the future NHL stars battle it out for international honours right here on Canadian ice.”
Team Canada headlines Group B at this year’s event, joined by Latvia, Russia, Slovakia, and the United States. Preliminary-round games for Group B will be played in Toronto.
Montreal hosts the preliminary-round games for Group A, which features defending champions Team Finland as well as the Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland.
“It was unbelievable, the cities we were in, Montreal and Toronto, they were so good and the fans were so loud and the energy in the buildings was electric” said Connor McDavid. “It was definitely some of the best memories I’ve had playing hockey and the Canadians will need the fans just as much in 2017.”
The four quarter-final games will take place on Jan. 2, 2017, and be split between both cities, with Team Canada playing the 8 p.m. ET quarterfinal in Montreal, pending qualification. Montreal will also host both semifinal games on Jan. 4, and the bronze- and gold-medal games on Jan. 5.
Montreal launches sale of mini-packs
As part of the schedule release, the sale of mini-packs for Montreal games has launched with packages available for as low as $69 plus fees.
Smith reminds fans that as with all Hockey Canada events, proceeds from ticket sales at the 2017 World Junior Championship go back into supporting the growth and development of the game across Canada – from grassroots to high-performance
A third-party study shows the 2015 world juniors resulted in over $80 million in economic activity in the host provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Meanwhile, the event’s Legacy Plan directly impacted over 30,000 hockey players from the grassroots to elite levels, and 5,500 coaches through programming support.
For more information on Canada’s National Junior Team, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca, or follow along via social media on Facebook, and Twitter.
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