OTTAWA – Hockey Canada and the host organizing committee for the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship announced today that they have sold out of the gold, silver and bronze ticket packages for a total of more than 440,000 tickets or 95 per cent of capacity. The host organizing committee also announced a number of ticket availability opportunities and a re-selling program.

All 31 games will be played in Ottawa at SBP, the home of the Ottawa Senators, and the Civic Centre, home of the Ottawa 67’s, over a 10-day period from Dec., to Jan.. The 31-game packages were sold out prior to the 2008 world juniors in the Czech Republic and the remaining 3,500 17-game packages were picked up during the championship and exhausted following Canada’s fourth consecutive gold-medal win on
Jan. 5.

The seating capacity for the 17 games at Scotiabank Place is 325,601 and 137,648 for the 14 at the Civic Centre for a total of 463,249 tickets.

“When Hockey Canada awarded the 2009 world juniors to Ottawa in March 2006, its expectation was that attendance would exceed 450,000,” said Cyril Leader, vice-chair of the host organizing committee. “With still 11 months until Hockey Country’s event, we can confidently say we will surpass our promise to Hockey Canada and make this the best world junior championship ever for the 463,249 fans watching the game live in person or the many more who will watch on TSN and RDS.”

“Congratulations to the Ottawa host organizing committee and all of the fans in Hockey Country for their tremendous support of the 2009 world junior championship,“ said Scott Smith, chief operating officer of Hockey Canada. “We are very pleased that all 31 games will be played in front of capacity crowds, which will make this a memorable event for the teams, players and fans alike.”

The 2006 World Junior Championship in Vancouver, and satellite cities in B.C., announced a sell-out of ticket packages in Vancouver, 330,000 tickets, in May 2005, eight months prior to the event. The 2006 final ticket sales were 374,353.

TICKET OPPORTUNITIES

The 23,249 remaining tickets, balance of seating capacity of 463,249 and the 440,000 sold to date, are in available suites at both venues, and required ticket commitments for the IIHF, Hockey Canada, and sponsors.

Inquiries to purchase suites can be made to Bill Courchaine, director of corporate sales with the Senators, at 613-599-0220.

The host organizing committee is working with sponsors to make a limited number of family ticket packages available to the general public in the fall. These limited family packages will be made available to the general public through the event sponsor.

The 2009 WJC Ticket Marketplace will be launched in November 2008 giving fans who have purchased ticket packages the ability to re-sell games that they cannot attend. The marketplace will be the official ticket reseller for the event and will be the best place for those without ticket packages to purchase tickets.

There will be very few single-game tickets for non-Team Canada games, which will be released much closer to game time. There will be no single tickets available for Team Canada games.

Fans are encouraged to register online as a 2009 WJC Insider at the Ottawa world junior website to ensure they receive up-to-date information on the event, including family ticket packages, the launch of the ticket marketplace and information regarding FanFest and other community events. People interested in volunteering can also register online via the event website.