FOG BLOG SPORTS LOG: MONCTON WORLD JRS. DREAM COMING TRUE WITH GAMES THERE AND IN HALIFAX NS!

Moncton set to see world juniors dream come true Hotel, business groups say they expect city to be busy over typically slow period Moncton is preparing to welcome thousands of people downtown for the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship that begins on Boxing Day.

"It's been a long-held dream and really a big part of why we wanted to build the Avenir Centre in the beginning," Mayor Dawn Arnold said in an interview. "It came a little bit quicker than anyone anticipated."

The tournament, co-hosted with Halifax, will see 14 games take place in Moncton's downtown arena, which opened in 2018.

The United States, Finland, Switzerland, Latvia and Slovakia are playing at the Avenir Centre. Some days will see two games per day. Practices are also taking place in the building.

Team Canada games, and the tournament finals, take place in Halifax.

Canada played two exhibition games in Moncton this week. Arnold called the atmosphere at those games "electric." Dave Saldanha, the arena's general manager, said about 8,000 people attended the game Monday against Switzerland. He said about 8,500 took in the game Wednesday evening against Slovakia, essentially hitting its capacity for a hockey game.

"The crowd is into it, the public is into it, and I think it's a very positive indicator of what's to come with the tournament," Saldanha said.

Various public events are planned during the tournament, including for new year's.

The city's hotel and downtown business association say the tournament represents a welcome change from tough times during the pandemic. "It's a breath of fresh air," Christian Cyr, general manager of Chateau Moncton Hotel & Suites, told Information Morning Moncton. "The last couple of years I've been very difficult."

Cyr, who leads the region's hotel association, said occupancy rates are normally 15 to 20 per cent during the period between the holidays.

Cyr said hotels are about 70 per cent booked heading into the world junior tournament.

Patrick Richard, the executive director of Downtown Moncton Centre-ville Inc., said some businesses are adding staff, hours and TVs because of the tournament.

"We typically see this is kind of a slower week," Richard said of the time after Christmas. "We're going from zero to 90 pretty quick here. So businesses are excited." The crowds, he said, will be a welcome change after slowdowns and closures during the pandemic.

But it also takes place amid growing concerns about the number of homeless people in the city and public safety.

Richard's organization was one of four business groups that warned at the start of the month that the economic viability of downtown was at risk because of crime, drug use and homelessness. Richard said there has been some progress since then.

"It's definitely difficult to say at one side of our mouth that there's there's a crisis in the downtown … and then at the same time we're welcoming the world, but I think those two things can [co]-exist," Richard said.