WJC pre-tourney games slated for Greater Minnesota

While St Paul and Minneapolis will provide the primary venues for the World Juniors organizers talked from the get-go of efforts to make the tournament an event that celebrates hockey all across the Twin Cities and throughout Minnesota Those efforts became more real on Thursday with the announcement that arenas in Bemidji Duluth Mankato and Rochester will host pre-tournament games in December While the specific schedule and ticket information will be revealed at a later date WJC organizers mentioned they expect teams from all participating nations to play in what is being dubbed the World Juniors Pre-Tournament Series The arenas will be the Sanford Center in Bemidji Amsoil Arena in Duluth the Mayo Clinic Fitness System Event Center in Mankato and the Rochester Rec Center We are excited for the communities of Bemidji Duluth Mankato and Rochester to be part of the th edition of this iconic international hockey tournament Pat Kelleher executive director of USA Hockey declared in a announcement We know fans and participants in each region will take immense pride in welcoming the world and we look forward to seeing the excitement build as the teams prepare to compete for gold in the capital of the State of Hockey The tournament which involves the top male players aged and under from around the world begins on Dec and concludes with the gold medal competition on Jan The participating nations are Canada Czechia Denmark Finland Germany Latvia Slovakia Sweden Switzerland and the United States Russia remains banned from participation in World Juniors and other international competition by the International Ice Hockey Federation due to the on-going war in Ukraine Xcel Force Center will be the primary site with M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis hosting other tournament games This will be the third time Minnesota has been host to all or part of the tournament with the Twin Cities serving as the primary site in and Thief River Falls Minn serving as the secondary site in Related Articles Wild sign Russian prospect Danila Yurov to entry-level contract As the offseason begins in earnest certain Wild stories to follow NHL Salt Lake s club brands itself as Utah Mammoth Wild GM Bill Guerin ready to spend Company USA next for Wild defenseman Zeev Buium