WASHINGTON — Trying to create Olympic-like excitement without the hassle of a mid-season shutdown, the National Hockey League unveils the third World Cup of Hockey Saturday in Toronto with global aspirations.
Eight teams will stage a two-week event at the Air Canada Centre, home of the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs, with plans for more international events in the next few years despite no deal being set for NHL talent at the 2018 Pyeongchang or 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
"I'm not sure one will necessarily be related to the other," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Wednesday. "We're going to use the tournament as a relevant platform to see what kind of success we have."
Critics call the World Cup, previously staged in 1996 and 2004 but with 40 years of roots and heritage, a money grab by the NHL to produce better terms in talks with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
"We haven't had a discussion with the IIHF for a couple months now on where they stand, so I expect over the next two weeks we will get a briefing," Daly said on the event website. "The IIHF will be present in Toronto for this tournament, so I guess we'll have a better sense of where we're going with the Olympics in the next little while."
Canada will be favored in the Cup, played on an NHL-sized rink and also featuring Sweden, Russia, the United States, Finland, the Czech Republic, a European all-star side and Team North America, an under-23 side with rising stars that boast speed and stamina.
The pre-season event keeps the NHL from closing down for two weeks at mid-season as it has every fourth February since NHL talent first played at the Olympics in 1998.
"If you make it regular, I think it can be a lot bigger," Daly said. "We're committed to this tournament. We will do it again on a regular basis. How that fits in with the Olympics is really the question that I can't answer."
It's one that matters greatly as Olympic hockey would be greatly diminished without the elite talent.
Cup revenues go to the NHL, whose owners have complained about not even getting to show Olympic highlights of team stars who risk injuries that threaten Stanley Cup title runs to play for gold medals. It's a fine line much like the FIFA World Cup and global football clubs must walk.
"There are issues we have to address, but we have time to do that," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said last month. "We probably don't have to focus on that for at least another six months."
Bettman made it clear the idea for the NHL is for the World Cup to become the base for overseas NHL regular-season games and even an event styled like Ryder Cup golf, a potential Europe versus North America all-star series.
NHL Players Association executive director Don Fehr says the league and union do not see the revival of the World Cup as a sign NHL players will be kept out of future Olympics.
