The 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship is officially a go and Canada will get a chance to defend its gold medal on home soil.
Hockey Canada and the IIHF announced Thursday that this year's tournament will be held solely at Rogers Place in Edmonton, sans fans. The tournament will operate in a bubble.
The 2021 championship originally was sold out and split between Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta. The WJC is now set to hit the ice with fans — fingers crossed — in both cities in 2022.
The tournament's official start date is still to be determined as the plan going forward is for every game to be played on the main rink. The WJC normally begins on Boxing Day. The one constant that will remain is that the tournament will wrap up on the usual date, Jan. 5.
"We certainly do look forward to giving Canadians a shot in the arm," Tom Renney, Hockey Canada's chief executive officer, said on a call with reporters. "This is an opportunity for us to put our arms around sport, put our arms around our citizenship, recognize that we're doing OK and, through the tradition as the World Junior Championship, give us all a chance to say stay safe, healthy and comfortable in being Canadians around this great event."
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Of course, there are no guarantees that this year's event will happen because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the uncertainties of the times, Hockey Canada is pushing forward, including fielding a team — something that isn't easy to do considering most players aren't playing. The Ontario Hockey League announced Sept. 17 it won't have games until Dec. 1. The WHL isn't scheduled to begin play until Dec. 4 The NCAA does not have an official timetable. The only Canadian Hockey League playing soon is the QMJHL, which will open its season Oct. 2.
"It's not something that we started today, I think it's something that we started months back in conversations with the Canadian Hockey League and understanding that there's different parameters," Scott Salmond, senior vice president of the national team, said regarding building the roster. He added that an announcement is expected next week regarding the camp that usually leads up to the tournament.
"We've done a lot of work collectively. We're still in the final stages of looking at what an opportunity would be to evaluate Ontario and Western Hockey League players and NCAA players," Salmond said. "Understanding that who will be playing, we'll have an opportunity to evaluate players in that sense, and we expect an announcement soon in regards to a plan in November to put in place to be able to evaluate those players."
The pressure will be on Canada to produce a high-end roster considering it will be on home soil — and after winning gold in 2020. While it's expected it won't have the services of projected 2020 No. 1 overall draft pick and 2020 tournament MVP Alexis Lafreniere, a few players could return from last year's squad. Potential returnees include defensemen Bowen Byram and Jamie Drysdale and forwards Quinton Byfield, Dylan Cozens and Connor McMichael. Flames prospect Jakob Pelletier, who was invited to last year's camp but sat out because of injury, could suit up this year.
And it doesn't hurt, considering the current climate, to have one constant behind the bench: Andre Tourigny, an assistant in 2020, is the new bench boss in 2021.
"We know it will be a different situation, but we are excited," Tourigny said. "We review over 80 players on video and we keep evaluating players on video. We have another meeting tonight and we have meetings twice a week and every player evaluation and we're doing video and we're watching players [who] will go in the Q because they're playing. . . . So we do a lot of work and what's really exciting right now is to see everybody's is on it, everybody's excited and everybody wants to make it happen . . . I really love the attitude of everybody [who is] involved."
The bubble experience will be a new one for everyone involved and is expected to be based off the effective template that has been established by the NHL.
To compensate Edmonton and Red Deer for the loss of fans at this year's tournament, the 2022 tournament will also be held in Alberta. Sweden swapped years with Canada and will now host in 2024 in Gothenburg. Russia (Omsk and Novosibirsk) is still slated to host in 2023.
So, while the status of the 2020-21 NHL season remains in flux and no timetable has been officially set, one thing is certain: The 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship will, as always, be must-see TV in December (hopefully).