Greg Douglas

Special to The Desert Sun

It is hardly a secret that the almighty dollar speaks volumes when it comes to getting the International Ice Hockey Federation’s attention.

The IIHF honchos were expected to award Edmonton and its shiny new state-of-the-art NHL arena the right to stage the 2019 world junior championship tournament when suddenly a $10 million guarantee changed their thinking.

The pledge came from British Columbia Premier Christy Clark and without blinking, the international hockey powers announced that Vancouver and Victoria would be co-hosting the 2019 junior games.

“The government support separated us from Edmonton,” said a glowing Ron Toigo at an elaborate news conference Thursday at Rogers Arena, home of the NHL Canucks. “I honestly thought our bid would come in second.”

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Toigo owns the Western Hockey League Vancouver Giants who successfully hosted the 2006 world junior tournament. Toigo and co-chair Barry Petrachenko of BC Hockey, with more than a little help from their political friends, led the charge for the 2019 commitment from the IIHF.

Scene and heard

Since 2006 Canada has been awarded the IIHF world juniors five times. Montreal and Toronto host the 2017 tournament Dec. 26-Jan. 5. Team Canada opens the preliminary round against Russia on Boxing Day at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre with medal rounds beginning Jan. 2 at Montreal’s Bell Centre.

In the 39-year history of these under-20 showdowns, the upcoming games shared by Montreal and Toronto mark the 12th time Canada has been the host country. The tournament goes to Buffalo in 2018 before returning to the west coast of Canada in 2019.

Here and there

The party is just getting over in Ottawa, scene of one of the most joyous sports scenes in the history of the nation’s capital on the heels of the Grey Cup celebrations. Early-morning rain and freezing temperatures hardly hampered a downtown parade in the aftermath of Ottawa’s stunning overtime victory against Calgary last Sunday in the Canadian Football League championship game.

“The weather preceding the parade symbolically washed away 40 years of anguish,” wrote Wayne Scanlan in his Postmedia coverage. “Where once they cried, longtime Ottawa football fans can finally laugh.”

Calgary was heavily favored to capture the 2016 Grey Cup but had to score 10 points late in the fourth quarter to force overtime. With 41-year-old quarterback Henry Burris at the controls, Ottawa scored the only touchdown in OT for a dramatic 39-33 victory that has been described as an all-time classic in CFL history.

Short hops

Toronto FC became the first Canadian team to advance to the Major League Soccer championship game after eliminating the Montreal Impact in the MLS Eastern Conference final. The two-game series attracted a combined 96,000 fans with millions more watching on TSN and its affiliated television stations around the world. Toronto FC hosts the powerful Seattle Sounders for the MLS Cup on Dec. 10 for what is being described as “a fantastic advertisement for the game in Canada” by Vancouver Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi.

End zone

Milos Raonic has been named Tennis Canada’s Male Player of the Year for a sixth-straight time. After rising from 14th to a career-high third in the world, Raonic just completed his best season on the ATP World Tour with an outstanding win-loss record of 52-17.

Greg Douglasis a member of the British Columbia Hall of Fame in the media category. He can be reached at drsport@telus.net.