NHL owners and the NHLPA "want to establish a long-term international schedule," all "with an eye to selling the game around the world," according to David Shoalts of the GLOBE & MAIL. The schedule could include the Winter Games, a World Cup of Hockey every two years, the annual Int'l Ice Hockey Federation World Championships and "participation in a club competition such as soccer’s Champions League." Discussions have "included making this a 12-year plan that would outlast" even the CBA. NHLPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr said, "We have a sport (in which) 30 per cent of the players, more or less, come from Europe. We have well-developed hockey markets, knowledgeable fans, professional leagues over there." He added, "We have an opportunity (to sell NHL hockey) if we can figure out how to develop a real, long-term international calendar. You can imagine a wide variety of potential events that would go into that." Shoalts notes while the NHL, NHLPA and the IIHF "have not officially come to an agreement on the tournament," which was last played in September '04, they are "far enough along that Toronto is expected to play host, and the tournament is likely to be staged" in the fall of '16. However, "much remains to be settled, including the format of the tournament" (GLOBE & MAIL, 11/19).
HUGE UNDERTAKING: ESPN.com's Scott Burnside wrote the World Cup of Hockey "might be the single most important enterprise the league will undertake in coming years." The NHL hopes to "revive the tournament amid great fanfare," which will join the Olympics and provide "best-on-best tournaments on a rotating two-year cycle, with the World Cup revived in ’16 and the Olympics to follow in ’18, and so on." But regardless of whether the Olympic "experiment ends or not, it behooves" the NHL and NHLPA to get it "not just right, but perfect." Burnside: "You can't just tell people the return of the World Cup is important and demand that they show up or tune in. You have to show them" (ESPN.com, 11/18).
SPEEDING UP THE GAME: The CP's Stephen Whyno reported NHL GMs yesterday decided to "end the practice of having the ice scraped but not resurfaced at the end of regulation." NHL Senior Exec VP/Hockey Operations Colin Campbell said that the decision was made because games "were being delayed anywhere from just under five minutes to just under seven" (CP, 11/18).
