NHL, NHLPA hoping to create consistent schedule for best-on-best international events

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Cooper Godin
August 23, 2023 (1:57 PM)

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It's been nearly seven years since the puck dropped on the last best-on-best international event, which was the 2016 World Cup of Hockey in Toronto.

The NHL couldn't come to an agreement with the IOC for the 2018 Winter Olympics and plans to return in 2022 were cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns.

Players across the NHL are wanting to represent their country at a best-on-best event and it looks like the league and NHLPA are wanting to create some sort of consistent schedule going forward.

While speaking to the media in Sweden on Wednesday, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said that both sides are working at having a consistent best-on-best schedule starting in 2025. The league wants to have an international event in 2025, potentially the World Cup of Hockey but could be formatted differently, and then return to the Olympics in 2026.

Daly said it's important to the league and the players to have these types of events regularly and it appears that we could have best-on-best events every two years.

"So if we do a '25 international tournament, we do the '26 Olympics, the '28 World Cup of Hockey, the '30 Olympics, the '32 World Cup of Hockey, and so on," Daly said. "That's the goal."

When asked about what the international event in 2025 could look like, Daly responded with:

"I don't know exactly what form it will take. The goal is to make it an international competition of some sort. It's going to obviously be heavily NHL-centric in terms of the player base, maybe entirely NHL. We'll see what form it takes, but that's something we're working on with the Players' Association."

The IIHF's ban of Belarus and Russia makes it tricky to navigate a potential World Cup of Hockey in 2025. It's possible that the countries could participate under a neutral flag, but everything is up in the air regarding their involvement due to the war in Ukraine.

Which international hockey event do you like watching the most? Let us know in the poll below!

Source: NHL.com

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POLL
AOUT 23 \| 50 ANSWERS NHL, NHLPA hoping to create consistent schedule for best-on-best international events What is your favourite international hockey event?
Winter Olympics	17	34 %
World Juniors	21	42 %
World Championship	5	10 %
World Cup of Hockey	7	14 %
List of polls

NHL, NHLPA hoping to create consistent schedule for best-on-best international events

It's been nearly seven years since the puck dropped on the last best-on-best international event, which was the 2016 World Cup of Hockey in Toronto.

What is your favourite international hockey event?