Today it was announced that Buffalo was selected over the likes of Pittsburgh and St. Louis to host the World Junior Hockey Championships in 2018. The announcement doesn’t come as a surprise to many around the league as owner Terry Pegula has done a lot for the area surrounding the First Niagara Center to make it an appealing spot in Buffalo.
This is apart of a string of events being held in Buffalo recently, hosting the NHL combine this past year and in 2016 as well as hosting the NHL draft in 2016. Buffalo last hosted the tournament in 2011 when Russia won gold.
The biggest news of the day wasn’t actually about the announcement of the World Junior coming to Buffalo. It was the possibility of an outdoor game featuring USA vs Canada being held at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
Not just any World Junior Championships? Word is that 2018 WJC will likely feature outdoor game at Ralph Wilson Stadium: USA vs. Canada.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) December 3, 2015
Ralph Wilson Stadium holds a bit over 70,000 people, so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of crowd this game will attract. The World Junior Championships are growing in popularity, but it’s still surprising to see such a large venue selected.
