The Pittsburgh Penguins built the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township in part to draw big events, like the 2018 World Junior Championships, to its Pittsburgh-area hockey facilities.

It appears that was not enough to sway USA Hockey to choose Pittsburgh for its 10-country, 20-team junior hockey event.

Buffalo won the bid Thursday, beating out Pittsburgh and St. Louis.

USA Hockey was scheduled to hold a news conference today to announce the winning bid.

“We are disappointed, of course, but we feel we made a strong bid,” said vice president of communications Tom McMillan in an email response to the Butler Eagle Thursday night. “We will continue to work to bring major events to Pittsburgh.”

McMillan also confirmed no games of the tournament would have been held at the Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry because the complex “does not have enough seating capacity to host World Junior games.

“Although, some practices may have been held there,” McMillen added in the email.

In September, USA Hockey announced Pittsburgh was one of the three finalists for the championships, which features under-20 national teams playing 31 games over a three-week period.

But Buffalo won out and will host the event again after hosting in 2011 — the last time the United States was the site of the World Junior Championships.

One of the big reasons why Buffalo won the bid was its plan to play at least one of the games outdoors at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

The Winter Classic has been a big draw for the NHL and the matchup between the Buffalo Sabres and Penguins at Ralph Wilson Stadium in 2008 drew 71,217 fans.