NHL hopes tourneys will bring exposure

COLUMBUS, OHIO — The World Cup of Hockey is back with a new format as the NHL seeks to create the best tournament in the world to launch a series of new international events.

In the fall of 2016, the World Cup will feature a Young Stars team made up of Canadian and American players aged 23 and under along with Team Europe, a group of all-stars from countries not represented. Those teams will compete with Canada, the United States, Russia, Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic at the Sept. 17-Oct. 1 tournament in Toronto.

The NHL, NHL Players’ Association and International Ice Hockey Federation had to agree on all those details and finally came to a consensus that all-star teams made for better competition than the more traditional choice of eight nations.

The NHL’s long-range plan includes a Ryder Cup-style North America vs. Europe series in 2018 and a more expansive 2020 World Cup that could feature North American players with German, English, Irish, Italian or French heritage playing for those countries to grow the game in those nations.

Having Team Europe means an all-NHL group made up of players from countries such as Slovakia, Switzerland, Slovenia, Latvia, Germany, Austria, Belarus, France, Denmark and Norway.

The goal was to make sure stars like Slovak Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins and Slovene Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings got to play.

Team Europe, which could also have players like Austrian Thomas Vanek of the Minnesota Wild, Latvian Zemgus Girgensons of the Buffalo Sabres and German Dennis Seidenberg of the Bruins, would be able to compete with Canada and the United States.

In 2020, the idea is to have a qualifying tournament featuring some of the other traditional hockey-playing countries along with others, like the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Ireland.

Eligibility restrictions would be relaxed so that Canadian and American players who don’t make those teams can play for a nation of their ancestry.

The league expects this World Cup to generate more than $100 million US in revenue.

All profits count outside of hockey-related revenue and is split 50/50 between the league and NHLPA.