Bob Nicholson says Hockey Canada will return soon.
Hockey Canada’s president addressed the media on Wednesday night as the world hockey championship came to a close in Halifax after drawing 203,925 fans over 25 games
“This city is the only city that has hosted the world juniors (2003), world women’s (2004) and world men’s, and we would have taken these numbers when we started in a heartbeat,” he said. “We’ll be in Halifax for other events — that’s for sure.”
Halifax took some heat for its attendance numbers during the worlds. The average crowd was 8,157 per game — about 1,000 fewer than capacity — and the Metro Centre didn’t sell out for a couple early Canadian contests.
Nicholson said he was “disappointed” and International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel said he was “very much surprised” that some home games didn’t sell out.
“We’ll have to go back and look at (pricing). Other people have said it was 4:30 start times — so what was the reason?” Nicholson said. “Or was it just that people weren’t educated about the tournament? As the tournament grew, the fans filled the building.”
Trade Centre Ltd. president and CEO Fred MacGillivray said Halifax did “all of the things that make a tournament successful,” and surpassed the target of 200,000 fans.
“Halifax can certainly look at the shiny brass buttons on their vest and say, ‘Job well done,’” MacGillivray said.
