(Photo: submitted by Jason Bullerwell)

Over 100,000 hockey fans came to Moncton, thanks to the 2023 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.

CEO of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Moncton John Wishart says this event was exactly what the City needed after a pandemic, “A very worthwhile and much-needed shot in the arm for the city’s economy, especially the downtown businesses. It has been tough for almost three years now. We came out of COVID and then we hit a patch of rising inflation and interest rates and workforce issues, so the last month, it has really put a lot of cash into the tills of a lot of businesses in downtown Moncton, especially at a time, when they normally don’t have that. It gets them off to a pretty good start for 2023.”

Wishart says hotels that are usually empty at this time of year, reported 90 percent occupancy and restaurants and bars were full almost every night during the tournament.

Co-Chair for Team Moncton Bill Whalen posted to social media about the process with pride, “As a community we delivered. To our partners in Halifax for delivering a world-class event along with us, it’s over to you for the semis and finals. We were proud to share the billing and show the world what Atlantic Canada is capable of delivering. I have never been so proud to call myself a Monctonian.”

The bid to host the World Junior tournament was submitted by Moncton and Halifax just nine months ago.

Wishart says they couldn’t have pulled it off any better.

The semi-finals get underway today, as Team Canada and Team USA go head to head in Nova Scotia. In other games, Austria plays Latvia and Czechia is up against Sweden.

The pre-tournament and 12 tournament games played at the Avenir Centre in Moncton have been completed, but there are still many opportunities to catch the games that will be broadcast in the City of Moncton.

Head over to Downtown Place (150 Canada Street) in Moncton on Jan. 4 to watch the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship semifinals

• • 3:30 – 6 p.m.: live viewing of the semifinal (Sweden vs Czechia) on a giant screen
  • 6 – 7:30 p.m.: live outdoor music
  • 7:30 – 10 p.m.: live viewing of the semifinal (Canada vs United States)