BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)- Thousands of people from around the world are in Buffalo to watch the next hockey stars battle it out on the ice.
“It’s a must watch, you must come out and support your country,” said TJ Lamureux, who came from Ontario to watch Canada take on Finland. “My little guy plays hockey and I wanted him to support Canada like I always have.”
Canada is one of 10 teams competing in 31 games over the next week and a half during the World Junior Championship.
“I like a tournament like this because the whole world comes together,” said Vinny Merante, from Niagara Falls, NY. “It’s worth every penny.”
Merante attended a USA-Germany game when Buffalo hosted the tournament in 2011.
“The development around the hockey world is all around really cool and it’s only getting better,” he said.
The athletes competing are all younger than 20 years old.
“This is some of the most fast paced action that you’re going to see,” said Don Heins, the director of communications for Pegula Sports & Entertainment.
He said at least 15,000 people bought tickets to see the action opening day.
It’s the chance to see the future of hockey.
“Just about every NHL star has played in this tournament,” said Heins.
That’s one of the reasons Jaime and Adam Bosak brought their two sons to the Canada-Finland game.
“All of these great Canadian players have played for the Juniors and then made it to the big stage,” said Adam Bosak. “The boys play hockey right now and they have aspirations of playing on the big stage one day.”
They hope their sons are inspired and learn important lessons about working hard.
The spotlight isn’t just shining on the athletes. Buffalo is now the first U.S. city to host the tournament twice. The last time was six years ago.
“Canalside was completely under developed in 2011, HarborCenter was just a parking lot,” said Heins.
He told us the addition of HarborCenter is one of the reasons Buffalo got the tournament, as was the option of having the Canada-USA game at New Era Field.
Fans are welcoming the changes.
“This is a perfect tournament for Buffalo to show what they’re worth and to show this new area, the harbor front” said Wayne Roberts, from London, Ontario. “I think it’s a great place to come.”
Roberts told us he plans to go to the outdoor game on Friday even though it’s going to be really cold, he said he’s just going to have to layer up.
Heins said, on Friday they expect to shatter the single game attendance record for the World Juniors, which is 20,000 fans.
