RBC Road to the World Juniors Pre-Tournament Schedule Announced for 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship

MONTREAL and TORONTO, Nov. 18, 2016 /CNW/ - With the help of some of Canada's most-loved Team Canada alumni, Hockey Canada and presenting partner RBC announced the schedule for the RBC Road to the World Juniors at multiple events this morning. This pre-competition tour of 10 games ahead of the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship will extend the excitement of world-class hockey outside of the two tournament host-cities, Montreal and Toronto.

To celebrate the pre-tournament games, RBC also announced an extension of its Canada 150 initiative by giving almost 100 young Canadians in the host communities $150 with one simple request: use the money to help do acts of good in their communities. This is part of a larger campaign celebrating Canada's 150^th anniversary.

Eight cities across Ontario and Quebec will play host to international teams, featuring 10 games from Dec. 19-23, before the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship officially begins Dec. 26 in Montreal and Toronto.

"As a long-time supporter of hockey and amateur sport in Canada, RBC is thrilled to provide the opportunity to present the world's best young hockey players to fans in smaller communities," said Matt McGlynn, senior director, Brand Marketing, RBC. "We're also pleased to use these games to help celebrate Canada's 150^th anniversary by extending our #Make150Count campaign to local youth to help them make a difference in their communities."

RBC ROAD TO THE WORLD JUNIORS SCHEDULE

Dec. 19, 2016	Canada vs. Finland	Bell Centre	Montreal QC
Dec. 19, 2016	Slovakia vs. Sweden	Ed Lumley Arena	Cornwall ON
Dec. 20, 2016	Russia vs. Denmark	Rogers K Rock Centre	Kingston ON
Dec. 21, 2016	USA vs. Switzerland	Tribute Communities Centre	Oshawa ON
Dec. 21, 2016	Canada vs. Czech Republic	Canadian Tire Centre	Ottawa ON
Dec. 22, 2016	Latvia vs. Denmark	Centre Multisport	Chateauguay QC
Dec. 22, 2016	Slovakia vs. Finland	Palais des Sports	Sherbrooke QC
Dec. 22, 2016	Russia vs. Sweden	Rogers K Rock Centre	Kingston ON
Dec. 23, 2016	USA vs. Czech Republic	Rogers K-Rock Centre	Kingston ON
Dec. 23, 2016	Canada vs. Switzerland	Air Canada Centre	Toronto ON

"A tremendous amount of work and planning goes into bringing an international event such as the IIHF World Junior Championship to Canada. But whether it's World Juniors or one of our national events, Hockey Canada works closely with our partners such as RBC, the host-communities, and our provincial Members to ensure we are positively impacting the greatest number of people we can," said Tom Renney, president and CEO, Hockey Canada. "These players provide inspiration to Canadians to take up the game; to work with RBC to bring this level of competition and the ensuing development programs to so many communities across Ontario and Quebec allows us to showcase these young stars of the game, while building on our nation's passion for hockey."

Ticket packages for the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship are still available in both cities HockeyCanada.ca/Tickets.

For more information on Hockey Canada, Canada's National Junior Team and the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow on social media via Facebook and Twitter or Twitter.com/HC_Men.

SOURCE RBC

Brian Findlay, 416-802-4062, [email protected]; Jackie Braden, RBC Communications, 416-974-6286, [email protected]