Up to 14,000 out-of-towners trekked to Buffalo three weeks ago for the NCAA Basketball Tournament's first two rounds, considered a huge success in showing off the city.

Come December, that could be seen as a small crowd.

Six or seven times as many visitors — perhaps as many 100,000 — will flock here from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 for the 2011 World Junior Hockey Championship, organizers believe.

The world juniors feature the top under-20 hockey players from 10 nations, with dozens of future National Hockey League players expected to skate here.