The empty seats at Bell Centre for the '15 World Junior Hockey Championship "were not forgotten when Hockey Canada put tickets on sale" for the '17 event this week, as there is a "wider variety of options and some lower prices on ticket packages for the Dec. 26-Jan. 5 tournament in Montreal and Toronto," according to Bill Beacon of the CP. Hockey Canada expected a "bonanza by staging the popular holiday-period event in Canada’s two biggest cities and in two famous NHL rinks -- the Bell Centre and the Air Canada Centre" -- in both '15 and '17. But while there were "healthy crowds in Toronto, where the most of the medal-round games were played, ticket sales fell short of expectations in Montreal, even for Canada’s games." Hockey Canada Exec Dir Denis Hainault on Wednesday said, "It was a successful event, but we can adjust and do better." Beacon noted one step was to release the full schedule "well ahead of the tournament so fans can check which games they want to attend," and another was to make games "more affordable." Additionally, Hockey Canada will use "only the roughly 12,000-seat lower bowl" at Bell Centre for group stage games, "opening up the full 21,287 seats for the knockout stages" (CP, 5/11).
