CALGARY, AB – Hockey Canada announced on Friday that five groups have submitted their bid documents to host the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship. Hockey Canada has received bid documents from the following groups (alphabetical order):

Calgary/Edmonton, AB

Montreal, QC

Ottawa, ON

Saskatoon, SK

Toronto, ON

Hockey Canada had also received letters for intent from London, ON and Quebec City, QC by the deadline, but these two groups did not present any documentation for their bids prior to the March 31st deadline.

The 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship Site Selection Committee will review this documentation and will determine which groups, up to a maximum of five groups, will make in-person presentations in Calgary, AB on .

Hockey Canada began the bid process for the hosting of the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship on by making the bid guidelines available. The 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship will take place in late December 2008 through early January 2009.

Hockey Canada Bid process timelines for the hosting of the
2009 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.

- Deadline for Letter of Intent to submit bid

– Deadline for submission of bid presentations to Hockey Canada

- In-person Bid Presentations to the 2009 Site Selection Committee in Calgary, AB

May 2006

- Hockey Canada’s Board of Directors determines site for 2009 IIHF WJHC,

Hockey Canada was awarded the opportunity to host both the 20 IIHF World Junior Championships in May 2005 at the IIHF’s Annual Congress. The 2012 WJHC bid process will take place at a later date.

The 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship Site Selection Committee is comprised of Bob Nicholson (President, Hockey Canada), René Marcil (Chair of the Board, Hockey Canada), David Branch (President, Canadian Hockey League) and resource person Scott Smith (Hockey Canada’s Senior Vice-president, Business Operations). This committee will review all bids and recommend a site to Hockey Canada’s Board of Directors.

Canada hosted the 2006 IIHF World Junior Championship in British Columbia this winter, an event that broke records in attendance, television viewership and is expected to generate a profit in excess of $9 million. An economic impact assessment by the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA), released earlier this month, concluded that the World Juniors generated economic activity of $41.0 million in the province of British Columbia.

Canada has hosted the IIHF World Junior Championship a total of seven times. Past Canadian host cities were Vancouver/Kamloops/Kelowna, BC (2006),Halifax/Sydney, NS (2003), Winnipeg (1999), Red Deer (1995), Saskatoon (1991), Hamilton (1986) and Montreal (1978).