Some more details about the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge that's coming to Swift Current in early November were released yesterday, including the tournament schedule, team groupings, and ticket packages.

The announcements were made at the Innovation Credit Union iPlex, a site that will feature 11 of the tournament's 22 games with the remaining being played in Medicine Hat at the Canalta Centre.

Group B which includes Canada Red, Russia, Sweden, and Finland will play their round-robin games in Swift Current and the iPlex will also host two quarter-final matchups, one semi-final game, and a pair of placement games.

"We believe we got a powerhouse pool," Liam Choo-Foo, co-chair of the host organizing committee in Swift Current, said. "Canada - Russia speaks for itself, Finland recently won the world juniors - they're becoming one of the powerhouses as well. And Sweden is always in the mix... Even between the traditional European rivalry of Finland - Sweden, so we're ecstatic to have the pool we have."

Medicine Hat will play host to Group A that includes Canada White, Canada Black, Czech Republic, and the United States. They will also host two quarter-final games, one semi-final game, and both the gold and bronze medal games.

"Medicine Hat were the initiator of the bid, they need a partner in order to have the capacity to host the tournament, we always knew we'd be there," Choo-Foo said. "Medicine Hat were instrumental in ensuring we had a semi-final game and I can't give them enough credit for that. TSN would much prefer to have had both semi-finals in Medicine Hat, much more easy logistically for them and Medicine Hat really supported Swift Current getting one of the semi-finals."

Swift Current fans will get a chance before the tournament starts to see the other two Canadian teams as pre-tournament games will be played on October 31 in Swift Current and another possible location in the southwest.

"There are three Team Canada teams,' he said. "We're hosting Team Canada Red and the other two Team Canadas will be here for exhibition games so we will have opportunities to see all of our young Canadian kids.

"Right now we will be hosting two (pre-tournament) games, one will be here at the iPlex and we're very close to finalizing the location of the next one. It will not be here, but it will be in one of our surrounding communities."

This will be the first time the event is hosted in Medicine Hat and the second time in Swift Current's history, the first coming back in 1998 when the tournament was in its infancy.

"The whole setup is different right, like Saskatchewan actually won this tournament in 1998 when Swift Current hosted, obviously there is no Saskatchewan team now," he said. "There are three Team Canada teams, even that has changed, where there used to be a Team Canada from the east, one from the central, and one from the west. This is the top 60 kids and they will be dispersed fairly evenly throughout the three teams."

According to a Hockey Canada release past World Under-17 Hockey Challenges have created local economy boosts of up to $6 million, something that Swift Current Mayor Denis Perrault is pleased to hear.

"It's a chance for us to fill our hotels and keep our restaurants hopping and give a chance for our retail sector to shine," Perrault said. "It's a chance for us to really showcase our community and the economic benefit is just icing on the cake."

Ticket packages are on sale now for Swift Current Broncos seasons ticket holders and for minor hockey teams. The early bird public sales begin on May 15 and run till June 18 and full public sales begin on June 19.