Ottawa’s world juniors and Hockey Country give back to hockey across the country

Summary: With the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa coming to close today with the bronze- and gold-medal games at SBP Arena, the host organizing committee and Hockey Canada held a news conference this afternoon to recap the 11 days of the event.

With the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa coming to close today with the bronze- and gold-medal games at SBP Arena, the host organizing committee and Hockey Canada held a news conference this afternoon to recap the 11 days of the event.

Scott Smith, chief operating officer for Hockey Canada, and Cyril Leeder, vice-chair of the host organizing committee, offered their comments on the event, its legacy, the volunteers, attendance and economic impact.

“We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to Eugene Melnyk and Cyril Leeder, vice-chairs of the host organizing committee, for their efforts and their leadership, and the assembly of more than 1,500 volunteers that made this event the success that it has been,” said Smith.

“The host organizing committee led by Eugene and Cyril have engaged the entire hockey and business community in delivering a first-class event. It has been a great experience for all 10 teams,” added Smith.

“It was a unique opportunity to set a number of records and a chance to do it all in one city,” said Smith. “This is a first for Hockey Canada and I believe it’s the first time for the IIHF that they’ve hosted all 31 games in one city. The benchmark has been certainly set by Ottawa and it’s something that we’re very proud to be associated with.”

“It has gone exceedingly well here in Ottawa for our championship,” said Leeder. “Hockey Country fans have responded in record numbers and the volunteers have been simply outstanding. They (volunteers and fans) have done the city proud.

“The event attendance, with the bronze and gold games, reached 453,282 tickets issued – that’s 21 per cent higher than the 2006 world juniors in Vancouver (374,353),” added Leeder. “We’ve also had 20,380 tickets issued for the gold medal game – the fourth single-game attendance record set this year.”

Leeder also noted that the 2009 world juniors will have a significant economic impact on the region. “We are doing a study it through the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance, with the complete results expected in March. We’ve doing intercept surveys in the arenas, at the hotels and restaurants in the community. The economic impact in Vancouver in 2006 was $41 million and with the 2009 attendance being 21 per cent per cent higher, we believe we’ll be close to $51 million for Ottawa.

“In terms of legacy, the dollars generated from this event in Hockey Country go back to various parts of the country to support minor hockey programs at the grassroots level,” said Leeder. “The main benefactors are the 13 Hockey Canada branches across the country. The largest benefactor is the host, the Ottawa District Hockey Association (ODHA). We’re pleased that the ODHA’s legacy will be in excess of $700,000.”

Leeder said that since launching the bid to host the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship on March 21, 2006, it was a community partnership. “We would like to thank our partners in the ODHA, the Ottawa 67’s, and working with Scott Smith, his staff at Hockey Canada and the IIHF. If we had the chance, we’d do it again,” concluded Leeder.

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