Saskatoon, Winnipeg team up in bid to host World Junior Hockey Championship

Saskatoon and Winnipeg have submitted a joint bid to host the International Ice Hockey Federation, World Junior Hockey Championship, in 2019.

Hugh Vassos is a member of the bid committee representing Saskatoon.
 
He was part of a delegation that made a formal bid presentation to the Hockey Canada site selection committee in Calgary on Tuesday. 

“We took a close look at it through Saskatoon Sports Tourism and determined this was something we wanted to pursue,” said Vassos.

With the fate of the bid now in the hands of Hockey Canada, the delegation is waiting to see if it advances to the next stage in the selection process.
 
“At this point, we don’t know where we stand and won’t for a while,” Vassos said.

Vassos said there’s a lot to gain from being the chosen city, or in this case, cities.

The last time Saskatoon hosted the event, in 2010, the economic benefit was measured somewhere in the range of $80 m.
 
In the meantime, there are still a number of big, pressing questions hockey fans will have to wait for an answers on, should Saskatoon and Winnipeg be the successful bidders.

For instance, many are wondering who will have the honour of hosting matches involving Canada, not to mention the big gold medal game itself.

“We’re not at liberty to share details of our bid presentation since we’re very much in a competitive environment,” Vassos said.

So when will he find out?

“I can’t put a timeline on Hockey Canada’s decision making process, but we anticipate that we will hear sometime before the end of the fall,” Vassos said.