SPORTSNET.CA
The World Cup of Hockey will return in September 2011, National Hockey League Players Association executive director Paul Kelly confirmed Saturday.
In an interview Saturday with Hockey Night in Canada, Kelly confirmed an earlier ESPN.com report suggesting the international competition was set to return.
He did not comment on another report suggesting the NHL will continue to open their regular season in Europe.
The NHL and the players’ association have reportedly reached a compromise on how revenues from those international efforts will be divided.
At this point, it is believed that the St. Louis Blues and Detroit Red Wings are among the candidates heading to Europe next fall, with Detroit likely playing in Sweden based on the large number of Swedes in its lineup.
Berlin and Prague, Czech Republic, have been mentioned as possible sites. Helsinki, Finland, which has not hosted the NHL yet, also likely will be on the list.
The agreement is significant because it marked the first major confrontation between the NHL and the NHLPA under new union head Paul Kelly.
The World Cup has been held twice previously. The first was in 1996 and won by the United States, while Canada won the second in 2004.
