The Hockey World Cup could replace an alternative type of tournament, in February 2025

Hockey – illustration photo.

Henderson (USA) – If the next edition of the Hockey World Cup takes place in the future, it will not take the form of a classic tournament such as the Olympic Games or the World Cup. Without further details, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told overseas reporters, AP reported. The elite Canadian-American competition plans to organize the next edition of the World Cup in February 2025 together with the players' association NHLPA.

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“We're focused on an alternative type of tournament that takes advantage of the unique international nature of our sport,” Daly said Tuesday at an NHL and NHLPA media event. “We are working on it together with the players' association with the idea that it would be held in February 2025,” added Gary Bettman's representative.

Daly did not specify the specific form of the tournament, but according to AP it should not be a “typical” World a cup that would feature eight teams and last 16 days.

So far, the last World Cup took place in 2016. According to the original plans, the next year was to come in 2024. After the war conflict in Ukraine, which was unleashed by Russia, the NHL and the NHLPA had to reconsider their intentions. A number of European countries, including the Czech Republic, refuse to compete against the national team, and the organizers still want the Russian hockey stars to compete in the tournament.

That is why they are currently working on the date of February 2025, i.e. a year before the Olympic Games in Italy. According to Daly, part of the negotiations on the World Cup is the provision of conditions for the start of players from the NHL at the Olympics in 2026. During the last extension of the collective agreement, the representatives of the competition and the players' association agreed that hockey players from overseas will start under the five rings. An agreement with the International Olympic Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation is now awaited. NHL players last appeared at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.

“We hope to agree on a regular rotation where we have the World Cup in 2028, the Olympics in 2030, the World Cup in 2032 and the Olympics in 2034,” Daly said. He wants to have the conditions clarified by the beginning of next year.