When Canada withstood a fierce comeback to defeat Russia 5-4 in the International Ice Hockey World Junior Championship final last January, 19,014 fans packed the Air Canada Centre in Toronto to witness.
The scene was breathtaking, featuring dramatic hockey, an electric atmosphere and the world’s best young players locked in an epic battle. If Canada is the birthplace of hockey, Toronto is the mother ship. The setting and the circumstances were made for each other.
That said, if you can embrace the Blues’ new marketing theme, if you will consider this to be a “Heartland of Hockey,” you might appreciate what it would be like for St. Louis to present such a compelling, international spectacle. Holy Ballpark Village!
The St. Louis Sports Commission and the Blues are trying to make it happen, partnering in the pursuit of the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship. Among the three cities under final consideration — with Buffalo, N.Y., and Pittsburgh — St. Louis representatives play host to the USA Hockey committee members over the next two days, making a final pitch. The award is expected to be announced in early December.
“It would have a scope and the ability to touch our city and region at a level we really haven’t done since the 1904 Olympics,” Blues president Chris Zimmerman said.
Sports Commission president Frank Viverito added: “It’s pretty exciting to think about. This would be one of our very biggest events. You look at all we’ve done, with all the NCAA championships and postseason things, but this is way up there.
In hockey terms, St. Louis has not staged a Stanley Cup Final game in 45 years, not since 1970. Hockey wasn’t a medal sport in 1904, so the city never has held an Olympic hockey championship. The IIHF event would be the next best thing.
Consider eight of the first 10 players selected in the last June’s NHL draft participated in the World Juniors five months earlier. That group included the top two picks, Connor McDavid (Canada) and Jack Eichel (USA).
Moreover, 92 players in the IIHF tournament had been drafted previously by NHL teams. The Blues claimed three representatives, including USA center Robby Fabbri, Russia center Ivan Barbashev and Finland goalie Ville Husso. More recently, Fabbri scored the game-winning goal in the Blues’ season opener this month.
When the 2018 IIHF championship comes around, there are certain to be additional Blues prospects involved. What’s more, several St. Louis products could be playing, including promising young’uns like Clayton Keller, Logan Brown, Brady Tkachuk or Trent Frederic.
In terms of economic impact, the event would dwarf most others St. Louis has held, and come at a time — late December, early January — when the boost is most welcome. Ten nations participate in the World Juniors, a 31-game tournament conducted over 2½ weeks.
Under the St. Louis proposal, six games would be played at Family Arena in St. Charles, spreading the excitement around the area. Additional plans call for a regional junior tournament to be conducted in association with the IIHF event, bringing players and families in from neighboring states. That translates to more out-of-towners patronizing hotels and restaurants that are normally at low capacity. That translates into more excitement. That translates into more impact.
Attendance for the 2015 championships held in Montreal and Toronto topped 365,000. Some of the bigger events the SLSC has helped secure for the city have generated estimates of some $10 million to $12 million. Viverito suggested the IIHF event might double the pleasure.
“You’re talking about an event over an extended number of days,” he said. “And it’s especially good because it’s just all incremental. That’s a big difference from events that you bring in during the summer, when hotels are 75 percent full anyway.”
That said, economy is not the reason for the season.
“I even hate to talk about the business side of it, because that kind of trivializes it,” Viverito added. “It’s what we do, it’s the business side and it’s of great value. But that’s not the lead on the story.
“I think, more than anything, it helps grow the sport of hockey here, and it makes me happy to see how much the Blues care about that, how passionate they are in pursuing this for the city.”
A grow-the-sport initiative might represent a compelling rationale for USA Hockey, in the same manner it helped spur the United States Golf Association to take its U.S. Open to the Pacific-Northwest for the first time last summer.
The IIHF moves the championship around to different countries each year. This winter, the 2016 version is set for Helsinki, Finland. Next winter, it returns to Toronto and Montreal, with Montreal hosting the final segment.
USA Hockey has been the host federation on five occasions and has awarded past championships to Minneapolis (1982), Anchorage, Alaska (1989), Boston (1996), Grand Forks, N.D. (2005) and Buffalo (2011).
The tournament has never been to middle America, not even close. There are more than 4,000 kids playing amateur hockey in the St. Louis area. There are some 140 teams, 25 of which play at the AAA or Central States level.
The Blues are all in for a number of reasons, Zimmerman said. No question, attracting events for Scottrade Center is in ownership’s best interest. The organization needs the eggs, so to speak.
But securing an international event with the dynamics of the IIHF championship, investing in that kind of attention and prestige, can only be good for the future.
“We recognize that growing the game and getting young kids on the ice and excited about the game is what our future is about,” Zimmerman said. “And oh yeah, by the way, that’s also what USA Hockey cares about.”
St. Louis sports fans can only hope that leads to a happy marriage, and that the city’s reputation as a wholesome, family-friendly sports town can land the 2018 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.
“You really want to paint a picture of a market that would do an especially good job with an event like this,” Viverito said. “That’s the impression you want to give, and that’s the special points about St. Louis that are in place.”
