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Rene Fasel & Co. offer their solutions to increasing WJC attendance in Montreal

Hockey Canada never asked, but Rene Fasel & Co. obliged them anyway with Tuesday’s creative, headline-grabbing and utterly head-slapping suggestion from Helsinki to sell more tickets at the Bell Centre for next year’s world junior tournament.

“Maybe there should be more French-speaking players on the Canadian team,” offered Finland hockey president Kalervo Kummola, while Fasel - the dentist and IIHF president - nodded alongside Kummola.

Before this one ends up in the bin where it belongs, it should be noted that, right now, ticket packages for the upper reaches of the Bell Centre -- the cheap seats -- are pretty much sold out for next year. Whether this one turns into a repeat of last year, when the 21,000-plus arena ended up short (and sometimes several thousands short) of a sellout, will hinge on how readily the expensive lower-bowl section sells, and there’s plenty of good seats available there if you have upwards of a few grand throw around. And unlike last year, at least you might have a chance of getting your money’s worth: Montreal in 2017 will host the medal round, both semifinals and two of four quarterfinals (and at substantially higher prices, those nosebleeds starting at $696 this time around, compared to a $431 entry point in 2015).

Fasel noted in his accompanying end-of-tournament press wrapup how this year’s edition in Finland attracted a European attendance record of over 200,000 for the event, in a pair of rinks that seated just 13,000 and 8,000: “[The organizers] did not try to make money. They wanted to fill the arena.”

That’s the most salient point here (along with noting Ottawa’s 453,000 record attendance in 2009, which Toronto/Montreal didn't come close to last time and won't again). At this point, a quick browse of Toronto’s packages, with its less desirable games, reveals plenty of seats available. A tournament that’s been a money pit for Hockey Canada may well turn out to be a case of simple misjudgement of supply and demand, though let's wait till next winter dawns to draw conclusions. Perhaps by then, at least according to Fasel's logic, it’s more kids from Mississauga, Barrie and Oshawa that’ll be needed most on Team Canada.