The World Cup of Hockey returns next year in Toronto, but NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman yesterday insisted that this "doesn't necessarily mean the league will skip" the '18 Pyeongchang Games, according to Larry Lage of the AP. Bettman, appearing at a joint NHL-NHLPA news conference for the World Cup, said, "I don't think one has anything to do with the other." Lage noted while Bettman "didn't sound enthused about the idea of the league's players going to Pyeongchang ... he acknowledged being intrigued by the prospects of taking the sport to the other side of the world" for the '22 Games. Bettman: "The possibility of being at an Olympics in China is something we have to look at very carefully. ... Not to diminish South Korea, but in terms of sheer magnitude, it's not the same as China." IIHF President Rene Fasel said that he is "working on a date to begin Olympic-related discussions" with Bettman and NHLPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr. Lage noted NHLers participating in the Games "enjoy the experience, team owners don't like shutting down their league for two-plus weeks in the middle of the season while hoping their stars don't get injured" (AP, 9/9). Bruins D Zdeno Chara said that it is "clear which of the two competitions has the most intensity." Chara: "It’s impossible to replace the feel of the Olympics. There are so many other sports involved and they are such a special event in the world. (The World Cup) is probably going to rank somewhere between the World Championship and the Olympics" (USA TODAY, 9/10). The GLOBE & MAIL's James Mirtle notes the World Cup will run for two weeks "during NHL training camps," and there "will be 16 or 17 games, including a best-of-three final," all played at Toronto's Air Canada Centre. Ticket revenue, which "should easily top" C$40M, "won't affect the NHL's salary cap or become part of hockey-related revenues." Instead, it is "pocket change the owners and players will split 50-50 and then divvy up among themselves" (GLOBE & MAIL, 9/10).
DUMP & CHASE: In Toronto, Bruce Arthur writes of the World Cup, "No matter what, they can't really screw this up." It "won’t be perfect," but will "still hold the prospect of the world’s finest hockey players." However, the tourney "lacks the history of the world juniors" and will feel "manufactured, at least to start." The "only way to screw up the World Cup would be to try to use it to replace the Olympics, in a fit of greed and pique" (TORONTO STAR, 9/10). YAHOO SPORTS' Josh Cooper wrote calling yesterday's gathering a news conference "would be unfair -- it was an event and a big one at that." It included "spotlights, videos and even children leading the game’s biggest stars onto the podium, holding the player’s country flag and a television audience" in Canada and the U.S. Bruins G Tuukka Rask: "I wasn’t really expecting anything, but it’s definitely good to see this volume of people here and people being interested in this tournament." Cooper noted ESPN's Steve Levy MC’d with Sportsnet’s George Stroumboulopoulos, and Levy’s presence at the event "was as interesting as any." ESPN won the broadcast rights to the World Cup, which "will bring NHL-style hockey back to the network." This "likely added to the overall pomp and circumstance" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 9/9).
