London, Windsor Set to Make World Junior Hockey Bid

Two cities are looking to team up and bring the World Junior Championship to southwestern Ontario in 2019. According to CBC News, London and Windsor are looking to host the under-20 tournament that is held annually from the end of December to early January.

According to CBC, members of London’s community and protective services committee “endorsed a plan that would see the $600,000 bid cost shared between the city and Tourism London.”

John Winston, the general manager of Tourism London, has put together a plan that calls for the City of London to contribute $500,000 with Tourism London putting forth the other $100,000.

London has played host to two Memorial Cup tournaments since 2005 (with 2014 being the latest). While it’s a much smaller event than the World Junior Championship, London’s lived up to the hype when the spotlight’s been on them.

While it’s up to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) to decide which country hosts the tournament every year as the governing body, it’ll be up to Hockey Canada to choose the winning bid after the IIHF picked Canada to host the 2019 tournament.

The 2019 tournament is set to start on Boxing Day 2018 with the gold medal game going January 5, 2019.

The tournament will be held in Canada for the 11th time since it’s inauguration with the 2017 WJC set to go in Toronto and Montreal for the second time in three years.