There are still thousands of tickets available for the World Junior Championships in Edmonton

Edmonton — Strange Summer Timings and Hockey Going in Canada The sexual assault scandal within may be why thousands of World Junior Hockey Championship tickets are still available, the Edmonton professor said on the eve of the tournament.

Dan Professor Mason, who teaches at the University of Alberta's Department of Kinesiology, Sports and Recreation, said that when it takes place in Canada, fans wanting to see said a lot. Home He Teams Hockey Including Non-Canadian Teams He acknowledges that he intends to purchase the Canadian Package He is willing to purchase the game.

"For Latvia vs. Slovakia, for example, to get a ticket to watch a Canadian match, you have to buy a package that includes several other matches, so those matches are also It will sell out," he said on Friday.

"The fact that there are still tickets left for Team Canada indicates that demand for this type of event is much lower than usual."

The tournament will be held in August. It will take place from the 9th to the 20th at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

The first 2022 Championship, held in Edmonton, Alberta and Red Deer, was forced to play due to an increase in his COVID-19 cases among players and officials. He was called off on December 29, just four days later, because he was called off. Forfeit.

This ten-nation tournament of his excludes Russia as his participation is prohibited by the International Ice Hockey Federation due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

About 1,500 tickets are still available on Ticketmaster for the first game between the Czech Republic and Slovakia on Tuesday. There are about 1,300 tickets available for the day after Canada plays Latvia. About 1,500 seats for the finals are available, along with hundreds of other tickets to watch the 11-day tournament.

Mason said the timing of the game may be the reason for so little interest. Tournaments are usually held during the Christmas holidays.

"For the past 30 or so years, TSN has been bringing the world's juniors to his event this holiday season," he said.

``I see it with my family during the (Christmas) holidays, so it's become part of the holiday tradition. They might be making plans to go to the mountains or do something summer-related, and I don't think they're going to give up on their plans to watch hockey."

Also, many people A former Supreme Court Justice of Canada may be waiting to begin his own review of Hockey Canada's governance amid calls for leadership change.

This review comes after Hockey Canada reached a settlement after a member of his team at the 2018 Worlds Juniors was accused of gang sexual assault following a gala event. rice field.

"I think some people were unsure whether to go and decided not to go because of that," Mason said.

Explore, which promotes tourism in Edmonton, Alberta's capital, said in an email that his CEO of Edmonton said in an email that its marketing organization had suspended promotion of the game following the allegations.

"As the host city of the next tournament, Hockey continues to talk to Canadian officials about plans to address the need for change," he said.

Mason said inflation and declining disposable income could be other factors working against the tournament.

"Canada may be more focused on player development than trying to make money from summer tournaments," he said.

This Canadian Press report was first published on August 7, 2022.

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This article was funded by Meta and a Canadian Press News Fellowship.