<
        >

          Chicago Blackhawks Report

          Chicago among five finalists to host 2018 World Juniors

          • Scott Powers, ESPN Staff WriterJul 28, 2015, 02:55 PM ET
            Close
              Scott Powers is the Blackhawks beat reporter for ESPNChicago.com. He is an award-winning journalist and has been reporting on preps, colleges and pros for publications throughout the Midwest since 1997.
            Follow on X

          USA Hockey named Buffalo, Chicago, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Tampa as finalists Tuesday to host the 2018 World Junior Championship.

          USA Hockey said the field is expected to be narrowed in the next 60 days and will be followed by in-person visits. The host will be selected by the end of 2015.

          “We had interest of varying levels from more than a dozen entities,” USA Hockey assistant executive director of marketing, communications and events Mike Bertsch said in a statement. “In the end, we’re extremely pleased with the group of finalists. The time and effort each put into the materials that were submitted is impressive, and we look forward to continued conversations with each of the finalists.”

          The United States has been the host federation for the World Junior Championship five times since 1977. Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn. (1982), Anchorage, Ala. (1989), Boston (1996), Grand Folks, N.D./Thief River Falls, Minn. (2005) and Buffalo/Niagara, N.Y. (2011) were previous host cities.

          The World Junior Championship includes 31 games held over two and a half weeks in late December and early January. The tournament includes 10 countries and players under the age of 20.

          Helsinki, Finland will host the 2016 World Junior Championship, and Montreal and Toronto will host the event in 2017.