The world's premier junior hockey tournament won't be held in London and the Waterloo region next year.
Despite a strong joint bid from the two cities, the 2023 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship will be hosted by Halifax and Moncton, it was announced Thursday. The event, which features the best junior hockey players from several countries, was initially to be hosted by Russia in 2023, but was removed due to the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces.
“While we are disappointed in this news, we appreciate the work and support of our local partners to submit this bid," said Tourism London Director of Sport Tourism Jarvis Zanth. "London is the strongest junior hockey community in the country and would no doubt make a phenomenal host city. We won’t rest in our pursuit of bringing the World Juniors to London and look forward to working with Hockey Canada to bid again in the future.”
The 2023 World Junior Championship will begin on December 26, 2022 and run until January 6, 2023.