Finalists Named For 2018 World Junior Championship

USA Hockey has announced the three finalists for its choice to host the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Buffalo were selected from a group of over a dozen applicants to be granted site visits by the selection committee. Other notible sites that applied but weren’t selected were Arizona and Tampa Bay.

The committee is currently doing a site visit in Buffalo, the home of the 2015 All-American Prospects Game on Thursday. Afterwards, the group will head to the other two finalists before meeting once again to make a final decision.

The choice is expected to be announced in late November or early December.

Of the three finalists, only Buffalo has hosted the event before back in 2011. Both Pittsburgh and St. Louis are hoping to host the event for the first time.

The 2018 World Junior Championship will mark the sixth time that the two week tournament will be held in the United States. Should it be selected, Buffalo would become the first American city to host the event twice.

This year’s event takes place in Helsinki, Finland before returning to North America in 2017 when Toronto and Montreal host the tournament for the second time in three years.

The next time it leaves North America is in 2020 when the Czech Republic will host.