A nice world junior write up:
A tough act to follow
January 8, 2003
When is a World Junior Championship not really a world championship? Any time it's held outside of Canada.
The 2003 WJC, held in Halifax, N.S., from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5, was a smashing success. The best WJC ever.
Sellout upon sellout – and not just for games involving the host team – set a new standard for this event that will be hard for future host countries to match. A WJC attendance record was set as more than 240,000 fans attended games, about 70,000 more than the previous mark (set in 1999 in Winnipeg). The Canadian sports network TSN established its all-time ratings record when the gold medal game peaked at more than four million viewers.
Indeed, this tournament enjoys unparalleled status whenever it's held in Canada, as each year it increasingly becomes a holiday tradition for millions of Canadians to include watching WJC games as part of their seasonal celebrations.
Next, year the tournament moves to Helsinki, Finland – a country with a population of about six million and a strong appetite for hockey. There is always additional mystique for the WJC whenever it is held in Europe, with the drastic time zone differences leading to a wacky television schedule. For Canadians, at least, the 2004 championship will still be part of their festive agenda.
Things will get really interesting two years down the road, however, when the WJC returns to North America – this time in North Dakota. North America is the market everyone in the hockey industry, whether it's the NHL, equipment suppliers or corporate sponsors, counts on when the issue of growing the game comes up. Therefore, in this context, it's important that the WJC, as a signature event for displaying potential future pro talent, is played.
Who can forget the debacle the last time the tournament was held in the U.S.? It was 1996 in Boston, when even the medal games were played in near-empty buildings.
This raises the question of apathy for this event in the U.S. Consider, for example, that there was virtually no representation from US media outlets during the 2003 WJC in Halifax. There were no American reporters – zero, save for a Canadian freelance writer feeding material to USA Today – on site until the U.S.'s semifinal game against Finland.
Though USA Hockey doesn't come right out and say it, clearly, it must be disappointed with the complete lack of interest from American media in this tournament.
"It's not a surprise," says Chuck Menke, media director at USA Hockey. "The fact is the (WJC) event simply doesn't have the presence in the United States as it does in Canada. Here in the U.S., hockey isn't the national sport and there's a lot of other competition. It's difficult for us to promote this event.
"The other thing is you've got to have a team that performs," adds Menke. "US media follow a winner." (The US junior team has won three medals in 27 years, none of them gold.)
When announcing Grand Forks, N.D., as the 2005 host city in December, USA Hockey president Walter Bush had this to say: "The World Junior Championship is the crown jewel within international hockey circles, and serves as a launching pad for nearly all the top players in the National Hockey League and Olympic Games."
Hmm, a crown jewel that doesn't draw flies from the U.S. media doesn't exactly bode well for 2005 in North Dakota. This point, and remembering Boston, you'll have to excuse us if we remain a little skeptical.
On the surface, North Dakota doesn't immediately spring to mind as a hockey hotbed, and therefore seems something of peculiar choice for the next North American host city for the WJC.
But when you look closer at USA Hockey registration number for the region, which also includes Minnesota and South Dakota, it actually is the third-largest hockey district in the country, with almost 50,000 total players.
This "Minnkota" market actually has a very strong and rich tradition in hockey, says Menke. The University of North Dakota in Grand Forks has had a strong hockey presence for decades. Moreover, the tournament will be played mostly out of the brand new, state of the art, 11,800-seat Ralph Engelstad Arena.
"There's definitely strong heritage there. Plus the proximity to Winnipeg and the Canadian border, will help attendance at this event and make it a success."
We hope so. After Halifax, WJC fans don't want another Boston.
And given all the attendance woes in U.S. NHL cities, the sport itself can ill-afford it.
AI
