MANALAPAN, Fla. — Is it 2028 yet?
After the Olympic men’s hockey tournament in Milan last month, who can wait for the World Cup of Hockey in two years?
“I think what you saw in the Olympics is an indication of what you’ll see in the World Cup of Hockey,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said Monday, when the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association announced Calgary, Edmonton and Prague as the World Cup host cities.
In some ways, the World Cup might be better than the Olympics.
We don’t know all the details yet, including whether Russia will compete. But we know there will be eight teams, not 12 like the Olympics. There shouldn’t be mismatches like there were in the preliminary round in Milan. Team Finland defeated Team Italy 11-0, and Team Canada won 10-2 against Team France.
“Obviously, the hockey got better as the Olympics progressed,” Daly said. “We’re going to start in a situation where the hockey’s pretty good right away — not pretty good, really good, right away.”
In the round robin, four teams will play in Prague, four in Calgary. In each pool, the first-place team will get a bye into the semifinals, while the second- and third-place teams will play an elimination game for a spot in the semis.
The semifinals and the final will be in Edmonton.
The past two best-on-best tournaments have come down to overtime between Canada and the United States. At the 4 Nations Face-Off last season, Connor McDavid scored for Canada. In Milan, Jack Hughes scored for Team USA.
