August 21, 2008   COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Hockey announced today that it has narrowed the list of potential sites to host the 2011 International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-20 Championship to (alphabetical order): Buffalo, N.Y., Grand Forks, N.D., and Minneapolis - Saint Paul.   “The World Under-20 Championship is a spectacular event that we're extremely pleased to be hosting again,” said Dave Ogrean, executive director of USA Hockey. “We had interest in this event from more than 20 different entities across the country. We've narrowed the field to three very worthy finalists and look forward to reaching a decision before the end of the year."   The 2011 IIHF World Under-20 Championship (otherwise known as the IIHF World Junior Championship) is a 10-nation tournament featuring the top men's ice hockey players in the world under the age of 20. "It will be a real treat for sports fans in our country to have the World Junior Championship back in the United States," said Ron DeGregorio, president of USA Hockey. "It's a very special event with an extremely high level of talent." "The last time we hosted the World Junior Championship back in 2005, fans got to see players like Phil Kessel, Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin to name just a few," said Jim Johannson, a two-time Olympian who serves as USA Hockey's assistant executive director of hockey operations. "The bottom line for hockey fans is, outside of the Olympics, the World Junior Championship is probably the best international tournament they'll ever get to witness." The United States has hosted the event four previous times, including in Grand Forks, N.D./Thief River Falls, Minn. (2005), Boston (1996), Anchorage, Alaska (1989) and Minneapolis - St. Paul (1982).   NOTES: The IIHF World Under-20 Championship was founded in 1977 ... USA Hockey will conduct site visits with each of the three finalists in September ... The International Ice Hockey Federation granted USA Hockey the rights to host three IIHF World Championships in May of 2007, including the 2009 IIHF World Men's Under-18 Championship (which will take place April 9-19, 2009, in Fargo, N.D. and Moorhead, Minn.), the 2011 World Under-20 Championship and the 2012 World Women's Championship ... Tony Rossi, vice president of USA Hockey and a member of the IIHF Council, oversees all aspects of international competition for USA Hockey.