While most around the hockey world revere the return of best-on-best hockey, with this past year's Olympic Games and the upcoming World Cup of Hockey in 2028, a couple key players are questioning the logistics of it.
Though they're undoubtedly excited about the prospect of more international hockey, gold-medal winners for Team USA, Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, gave their thoughts on how the tournament could shake out, location-wise.
"Logistically, how is this gonna make sense? So you're assuming that it's eight teams. Four teams are gonna fly from the U.S. or Canada — wherever they play — to Czechia, which is not close," Matthew said on Wingmen, the brothers' podcast.
"It's gonna be great for the city of Prague to host that, and as a player, it's gonna be really cool and a cool atmosphere, but seems like a lot of travel for that."
The group stage and quarterfinals for the 2028 tournament are set to be hosted by Calgary and Prague, with the final and semifinal taking place at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
Because a good chunk of players who would suit up for the tourney play in the NHL, those set to play the early rounds in Czechia would have to travel to Prague, then return to Alberta should they advance to the final four.
As a compromise, the Tkachuk brothers suggested adding a third country to the mix for hosting duties.
"If you put a gun to my head and said one group has to be in the U.S. or Canada and one group has to be in Europe, I think Prague and Calgary are really good options," Matthew said. "But you almost should probably meet in the middle in the U.S. for the finals. Maybe New York or Boston or something."
Matthew suggested Madison Square Garden in New York as a possible destination for the final, calling it the "greatest arena in the world. It's not even close."
While they thought it would make more sense logistically to meet in the middle on the Atlantic coast for the finals, they also touted the rise of USA Hockey as a reason why an American city should be in the mix, giving the country a chance to show how much the game has grown.
However, Matthew, a former Flame, did admit that he thought Calgary was the right choice to host games, especially with the opening of the new Scotia Place arena downtown.
"First, I'm so happy for Calgary because I think the world of the city, I think it's a special place, I think the fans are passionate. It's gonna be buzzing," he said.
"The new rink. It's gonna be unreal, the rink is so good. Love the Saddledome, but it's time. It's time for a new barn just to kinda catch up with the times and some of the new rinks... I think it's gonna be really good for the city."
