Six Communities In N.S. And N.B. Will Host World Junior Exhibition Games
HALIFAX — The pre-tournament schedule for the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship has been announced, with six communities slated to host games from December 19-23.
In total, 11 games will be played throughout New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in advance of the World Juniors.
The province of New Brunswick will host five matchups, with games scheduled in Bouctouche, Moncton, and Quispamsis. All three medallists from the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship – Canada, Finland ,and Sweden – will play pre-tournament games in New Brunswick.
Canada will open its exhibition schedule with games at Avenir Centre, in Moncton, on December 19 and 21, facing Switzerland and Slovakia, respectively.
Six exhibition games will take place in Nova Scotia: in Antigonish, Halifax and Truro. The final pre-tournament game will be a rematch of the 2022 World Juniors gold medal game, with Canada and Finland taking to the ice at Halifax’s Scotiabank Centre on December 23.
“This year’s World Juniors will celebrate hockey across the Maritimes, and we are thrilled to have six communities host games leading up to the tournament,” said Dean McIntosh, vice-president of events and properties for Hockey Canada. “We cannot wait to see fans in each community cheering on the 10 teams as they prepare to compete for gold starting on Boxing Day.”
Among the matchups, the United States will face Finland in Quispamsis on December 19, Germany will play Austria in Antigonish on December 20, and Latvia on December 22 in Bouctouche, and Truro will host Slovakia and Austria on December 23.
Ticket information for pre-tournament games will be available at HockeyCanada.ca/Tickets in the coming days.
Steve MacArthur is the Regional News Director for Nova Scotia at Acadia Broadcasting, Huddle content partners.