The National Hockey League (NHL) announced the return of the World Cup of Hockey on Wednesday, 12 February. The tournament was inaugurated in 1992 and has only been held thrice at irregular intervals, in 2004 and 2016.
It was uncertain if the tournament would continue further after the 2016 edition concluded for unknown reasons. However, the NHL has announced its return in 2028. Unlike the 2016 edition, it will not feature teams based on continents like Team Europe which was a blend of players from different European countries. This year, the teams will be based on individual countries.
The tournament is expected to take place in North America or Europe with at least eight teams competing for the title. Garry Bettman said, “We couldn’t be more excited about making a reality Olympics, World Cups, Olympics, World Cups on a regular schedule of the best hockey players in the world representing their countries,”
“We know the full-blown World Cup, this is simply a sampler, is going to be sensational.”
The NHL and NHLPA will work together on the 4 Nations Face-Off which was earlier pushed back because of uncertainty on Russia’s participation in the event due to the ongoing war.
The same question remains regarding their participation in the World Cup too. Marty Walsh, NHLPA executive director said, “I’d love to see our Russian players paying in these tournaments again,”.
“They’re incredible hockey players. The issues are political. Not political as far as the NHLPA; it’s world politics we have to get through. I’m hoping that as we get closer to the Olympics, closer to the World Cup, we will start seeing Russian athletes back in the competition.” he added.
Both organisations will soon announce additional details on the event like tournament dates, schedule, teams, locations and broadcasting information.
World Cup of Hockey is an ice-hockey tournament that has only been held thrice till now with America winning the inaugural title in 1992 and Canada claiming the other two in 2004 and 2016. The competition is a successor of the Canada Cup which took place every three to five years.
NHL has not played in the Olympics since 2014 and regarding its participation in the next Winter Olympics Walsh says, “We’re going to the Olympics, the agreement’s on paper. We haven’t signed it yet. We’re still working through it. It’s a large agreement. There’s no obstacle. There’s no real big obstacle. It’s just a matter of putting pen to paper.”
It has been made clear that the World Cup and the Olympics will rotate every two years starting from the 2026 Winter Olympics. This could be a huge development in the world of ice hockey, now that the players have a clear picture of the tentative dates of the major tournaments.
Also Read: The Face Of Norway’s Ice Hockey: Top 3 Players Of All Time
