Cold Lake and St. Paul will get to join in some of the fun as well with Bonnyville hosting the World Junior A Challenge in less than two months time.
Hockey Canada has confirmed that both areas will host a pre-tournament exhibition game on December 9th, both starting at 7:30. Canada West will take on the USA at the Cold Lake Energy Centre and Canada East will play Russia at the Clancy Arena.
“The City of Cold Lake is excited that our neighbours in the Town of Bonnyville are hosting the World Junior A Challenge, and we are proud to support them as a sponsoring community,” Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copleand told Hockey Canada. “The exhibition game between Team Canada West and Team USA will be a thrilling start to the event, and we can’t wait for the puck to drop in Cold Lake.”
“Council looks at this as a chance for the community to celebrate their passion at the international level,” said St. Paul Mayor, Glenn Andersen.
Tickets will be ten dollars a piece at both games while kids under 17 will get in for free.
“[St. Paul and Cold Lake] were very early in getting on board and wanting to be partners with us as part of the tournament,” says Comittee member Robb Hunter. “It was just a matter of which teams were going to play where, the best timing for the games and when we were able to get the teams down to St. Paul and to Cold Lake. That was finally announced today and we’re awfully excited to give Cold Lake and St. Paul some fantastic match-ups that we’re really looking forward to.
“To think about how in St. Paul you’re going to get Canada vs. Russia on a Friday night and in Cold Lake you’ll get Canada vs. the United States. It gives me the chills a little bit thinking about the match-ups in our pre-compeition games. Then of course things get going for real in Bonnyville on December 11th it’s a very exciting time of year.”
Since the first World Junior A Challenge in 2006, more than 260 NHL draft picks have played in the tournament. Canada West has won gold four times (2006, 2007, 2011 and 2015), captured a silver medal three times (2008, 2009 and 2012) and won bronze in 2013. Canada East has won four silver medals (2006, 2007, 2010 and 2011) and won bronze in 2008.