Much has been written about the Hockey Canada and the attendance problem at the 2017 world junior championship in Toronto and Montreal.

The empty seats have become a story, particularly in Montreal, where fans haven’t been willing to pay NHL prices for junior hockey. There were reports that Hockey Canada had cut prices for Canada’s semifinal against Sweden on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre, but if they did, it didn’t seem to help early in the game.

They may have cut prices in Montreal, but the crowd for the Canada-Sweden semi remains disappointing pic.twitter.com/d9j6Rjsd0D — Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) January 5, 2017









Semifinal game and Canada is playing at Bell Centre. Pretty empty. pic.twitter.com/RIXgDtRw0U — Sami Hoffrén (@shoffren) January 5, 2017





By the second period however, the crowd started to fill out a little more.

Crowd has filled in some pic.twitter.com/5q3Il68u0U — Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) January 5, 2017





Attendance at the 2015 tournament in Montreal was sub par and Hockey Canada vowed to lower ticket prices and re-assess their packages for this year’s tournament. Whatever they did, didn’t seem to work with fans in either Montreal or Toronto.

Earlier this week, Hockey Canada – once again – has said they’ll look into the pricing for the 2019 tournament scheduled to be held in Vancouver and Victoria, B.C.

Vancouver Giants owner Ron Toigo, one of the organizers for the 2019 tournament, said he’s not phased by the attendance woes.

“I’m sure they’re disappointed there,” Toigo told the Vancouver Province. “Toronto has so many things going on. You think of everything they’ve had there over the last couple of years. And I think they got broadsided by the outdoor game (NHL Centennial Classic at BMO Field). The Maple Leafs and the NHL didn’t do them any favours.

“As for Montreal, it really is a Canadiens town.

“One thing about Vancouver is that we are the best event city in the country. We’ve shown it over and over again. Look at every Grey Cup we’ve had here. Look at the Olympics. Look at the Rugby Sevens. This will be successful.”

With so many other options for entertainment dollars in cities like Toronto and Montreal, maybe Toigo is right and Hockey Canada should look towards comparatively smaller centres with larger hockey venues.