World Junior Hockey Championship will be a boost to Moncton's 'mojo,' says mayor

Co-hosting the 2023 World Junior Hockey Championship with Halifax at the end of the year will provide a much-needed economic and morale boost for Moncton, says the mayor.

"People are very, very excited about this," Mayor Dawn Arnold told CBC Thursday, just hours after Hockey Canada announced the two cities were selected from bids across the country to host.

"It's just a great way for us to get our mojo back."

The under-20 men's tournament was originally supposed to be hosted by Novosibirsk and Omsk in Russia, but the International Ice Hockey Federation stripped Russia of its hosting rights in February due to the invasion of Ukraine.

The tournament will run Dec. 26, 2022, to Jan. 5, 2023, with games played at Moncton's Avenir Centre and Halifax's Scotiabank Centre.

Arnold described it as a "once in a lifetime" opportunity for the city and huge for the tourism industry.

"I hear the lines are jammed in all our hotels already," she said, noting the time of year of the tournament is being held is not typically "super busy … so it will be an enormous boost to them."

We did it! The IIHF World Junior Championships are coming to the Maritimes!