Bill Daly on Possible World Cup

In an interview with Bill Daly of the NHL by blogger Steve Lepore of Puck The Media, Daly is asked about a possible return of the World Cup of hockey:

"BD: I do. I couldn’t tell you exactly when because I know its tied up with our relationship with the PA and our collective bargaining agreement, but yes. I think, again, historically that’s been a very valuable property for the league and the players’ association. I anticipate there will be a return of the World Cup in some form and that’s something that’s going to be discussed with, and resolved with, the players’ association. They’ve got other priorities right now. They’re working on them, and I certainly understand that." ~ Puck The Media

Thoughts:

1. As has been the focus of this blog before, we still have no way of knowing exactly what format a World Cup of hockey would follow to allow competitive games while still trying to be inclusive of as many nations as possible.

2. Some of the basis for furthering this idea in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement could come from the World Hockey Summit being Held in late August. One of the topics on the summit agenda is:

"Integrating the World Cup of Hockey into the international agenda and to consider a consistent rotation between the IIHF World Championship, the Olympics and the World Cup." ~ CHL

3. The only way the World Cup would be that different from the World Championships is if: A) More nations were included in an expanded tournament format. This is problematic because there are not really that many competitive hockey nations outside of the top 8. B) If it’s held during a time when the most players can participate. Unlike the World Championships which occurs during the Stanley Cup finals, having the World Cup in August will avoid player participation conflict. This will allow for the quality of play to be higher overall because all the top talent will be available.