Another World Cup

[Colin M.]

Would anyone else like to see the NHL organize another World Cup of Hockey like the one they had in 1996? Personally I would gladly trade in a couple weeks of the NHL season (which is too long IMO but this is for another thread) to be able to watch a tournament where the best from Russia play the best from Canada who play the best from the United States and so on. I liked the format from the 1996 World Cup because it gave the fans in Europe a chance to see their best players play in their home rinks. As a Canadian I thought it was neat to see Canada's best players put on the home team's jersey in a Canadian rink. It was a nice change from seeing Canada's best players play on Americian teams.

I know the NHL takes a break for the olympics but that only takes place every 4 years. The problem with the world championships which takes place every spring is that most of the best players are in North America for the playoffs. Because the best players aren't always around it cheapens winning the tournament.

Any thoughts?

[lmanchur.]

Yeah... I think that a tournament like this would help promote the game of hockey not only in Canada and the US, but all over the world... the NHL is already trying to do that with their "North America vs. The World" All-Star Game format.

I heard there were talks of another World Cup in the next few years, but definitely nothing is certain at this point in time... however, the Olympics are coming up again, and that will be the international fix for a year or two, probably... with the CBA ending in 2004, it could be a while until another World Cup is played.

But hey, if you live in Canada and have TSN, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the high quality of play at the World Junior Championships!... in fact, the only thing wrong is that Canada just lost to Russia, and now are 1-1-1.