Minnesota could join the fray of major U.S. sports markets competing to host the 2018 World Junior Hockey Championships.
According to the Pioneer Press, the Minnesota Wild have had internal discussions about bringing the event to the Twin Cities, but the group has not yet reached out to USA Hockey with a proposal.
The 2018 tournament will be held in America, and according to the USA Today the group plans to start the bidding for the tournament soon with the hope of naming a location in the fall.
The annual tournament starts the day after Christmas and run into early January. More than 366,000 people attended the event this year, which was held in Toronto and Montreal.
Several other cities and markets are already courting the event. Organizers from Detroit were in Colorado Springs to meet with USA Hockey officials on Thursday. The Red Wings new downtown arena would be completed by then.
Buffalo, which was the last American team to host the event in 2011, is interested again. Both NHL teams in Florida – the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers – are interested as well, along with Pittsburgh and Arizona amongst others.
The Pioneer Press notes Minnesota has hosted the tournament twice before. In 2005, the event was split between Thief River Falls and Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Minneapolis hosted it once in 1982.
The United States have won the tournament three times – most recently in 2013. Wild draft pick Mario Lucia and Gopher defenseman Mike Reilly were on the team.
