NHL's World Cup announcement signals return of consistent international play

MONTREAL — Hockey cities, sharpen your pencils.

The National Hockey League and its players’ association will soon be taking bids from prospective host cities for the 2028 World Cup of Hockey.

Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA chief Marty Walsh’s joint announcement of the tournament — which will build upon the momentum of the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milano Cortina — was made side by side, amid laughs and friendly arm wraps, Wednesday in Montreal.

That the league and its union are on the same page is a wonderful development for the future of international best-on-best hockey. A generation of fans has been deprived.

But the plan is to roll out a robust every-other-February calendar of gimmick-free competition, starting with the ’26 Games.

Gone will be the one-off teaser tourney that is this week’s 4 Nations and the slapdash Europe and North America teams that were included in the most recent World Cup (2016).

European cities are equally welcome to bid on the privilege to host in 2028, as the NHL is willing to shutter regular-season operations for approximately 10 to 14 days in an Olympic-like break.

A minimum of eight countries will participate, with the league open to a play-in format.

The 2028 World Cup will be played on NHL-sized rinks using NHL rules and officiated by NHL officials. Other competition details will be determined in the coming months, as will the bidding process.

As for Russia’s inclusion in the tournament, the NHL is adopting a wait-and-see approach, taking its cues from the International Olympic Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation — the governing bodies that soon must decide on Team Russia’s participation in the 2026 Winter Games.

“It’s bigger than hockey,” Walsh said. “I’d love to see our Russian players playing in these tournaments again. They’re incredible hockey players.

“It’s the world politics that we have to get through. And I’m hoping that as we get closer to the Olympics, as we get closer to the World Cup, we will start seeing the Russian athletes back in the competition.”

The announcement of the 2028 World Cup marks another step in the long-term goal to bake international competition into the hockey schedule.

It’s been way too long, but the decision-makers are finally giving hockey fans what they deserve.

“This just becomes a part of the game over the long term, where fans, players, everyone can look forward to these guys playing for their countries on a regular basis,” said NHLPA assistant executive director Ron Hainsey. “And, honestly, creating moments like Sid did in 2010 with the golden goal here in Canada, that last a lifetime.”

One-Timers

• The NHL has paid close attention to the trend of the U.S. anthem getting booed at recent sporting events in Canada but is hopeful that won’t be the case in Montreal when Team USA plays Thursday and Saturday.

“Hockey represents an opportunity to bring people together,” Bettman said. “In this building, initially, there was some booing a couple of games ago, and the club made an announcement asking people to stop and show respect for two great countries. And it stopped. And that’s what we expect.”

• When Walsh is ready to open negotiations on the next collective bargaining agreement, the league is ready to dive in.

Those talks should commence shortly after the tournament wraps, and both sides were overt in expressing their desire and confidence to bang out a new agreement without fear of labour stoppage.

“We’re going to get to where we're going,” Bettman assured, “and people won’t even notice that we’ve done it.”

• While the players have yet to sign its 2026 Olympic participation agreement, Walsh says it’s simply a matter of crossing Ts and dotting I’s. “We’re going to the Olympics,” he insists.

• As was the case with All-Star Games, NHL players will receive an appearance fee for participation in the 4 Nations Face-Off, and there is an additional prize pool for winners.

“This is for love of country much more than it is for money,” Daly said. 

“Because what they get in terms of an appearance fee and a prize fee pales in comparison to what a normal NHL player gets, and they’re giving up vacation time to do this tells you how much they love the competition.”

• So … does a 72-year-old commissioner have a succession plan? Is he thinking of hanging up the dress shoes?

“Why do I get that question? Am I looking elderly or something? Maybe I am,” Bettman smiled. “I love what I do. I don’t have any plans immediately or even that I've focused on for the foreseeable future to do anything else.”