The NHL announced that its foray back into international competition will be a scaled down tournament involving four nations in February of 2025.
The proposed event would feature a team from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the US. While it’s a step down from the World Cup of Hockey event, it presents a return to the international stage for the NHL prior to the 2026 Winter Olympics.
“We’re hopeful to have an international tournament in February 2025,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in Sweden last week. “We’re working with the players’ association on the construct of that. Then, after that, we would like to be in a regular rotation between the Olympics and the World Cup every other year. That obviously involves us having an agreement to go to Milan [in 2026], and that is still a work in progress.”
NHL players haven’t participated in the Olympics since 2014 after negotiations between the league and IOC broke down nearly 10 years ago. As such, hockey fans have been devoid of a true “best on best” tournament for two full Olympic cycles.
Players such as Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and more have yet to represent their countries internationally since turning pro on the world stage. A fact that hasn’t been lost on the newest generation of star players.
“It would mean everything to me,” said McDavid. “I feel like guys my age haven’t had the chance to play hockey at the biggest stage. The Olympics, World Cup or any type of ‘best on best.'”
The NHL plans to stage the next iteration of the World Cup of Hockey in 2028, with the goal of hosting an event every 4 years, interspersed between Olympic games.
Photo: Jenn G. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.