Carleton Place gears up to host Team Kazakhstan ahead of World Juniors

Excitement is building for hockey fans in Carleton Place as the town will soon host the Kazakhstan Junior Hockey Team during their World Juniors pre-competition period taking place Dec. 17 to 22.

Team Kazakhstan will arrive in Carleton Place in the early morning of Dec. 17. They will be staying at the Comfort Inn and will be practicing at the Carleton Place Arena and working out at the Heritage Community Fitness Centre in between games. The team will eat their lunches at the arena, catered by Smokebox Catering, and they will enjoy dinners at the Thruway Restaurant. 

Jessica Hansen, community programmer with the Town of Carleton Place explained, “We became aware of Hockey Canada seeking bids from neighbouring communities who would be interested in hosting a hockey team during their pre-competition training period.”

She continued, “We submitted our bid in June 2024, which outlined our organizational capacity, our partnerships, and our facilities that would make Carleton Place a successful host for a hockey team. We received word in August that we were chosen to be a host community, and received word in September that we would be hosting Team Kazakhstan.” 

Although the team’s daily schedule is very structured, Hansen shared that there will be a few opportunities for the team to meet residents of Carleton Place.

“We want to showcase our local history. We will have a meet and greet session with local dignitaries on Dec. 17, and we also plan to have them join us at the Carleton Place Jr A game on Dec. 20 for a meet and greet and ceremonial puck drop. Residents are encouraged to keep an eye on the Town’s social media channels for additional information on this.” 

The Town of Carleton Place sees this as a great opportunity for residents to feel and share their sense of community pride as they welcome a team of young professional athletes who would have likely never have heard of Carleton Place otherwise.

“Opportunities such as this don’t come very often, so we are thrilled to be on the map for the IIHF World Junior Championship by hosting a team. Not only does this provide national coverage of Carleton Place, but it also has economic benefits through the team acquiring hotel and meal accommodations in town.”

Team Kazakhstan will also travel to Arnprior on Dec. 19 to play a pre-competition game against Germany, and to Hawkesbury on Dec. 21 to play the Hawkesbury Hawks Jr A Team.