The made-for-…players(?) pilot program begins.
I know a lot of hockey fans. I don’t know a lot who are particularly excited about the 4 Nations that begins tonight in Montreal with Sweden vs. Montreal.
Part of that is probably just the unfamiliar, discomfort with change, all that. Part of it is probably how few teams are involved. I’m sure lots will come around. Maybe I’ll even come around.
Over the years, almost as much as “salary cap” and “hockey related revenues” and “cost certainty,” we have heard how “the players really want to have a best-on-best tournament.” (Silly me, I thought that was the Stanley Cup playoffs…)
What they really want is to the national team thing, the Olympic-type thing, though the league has always understandably onted that the IOC gets all the glory and revenue without the risk — John Tavares’ Olympic injury while on the Islanders’ dime a prime example.
So the NHL has been aiming to force the issue by creating a tournament it can control. A bit like the Canada Cup and World Cup of yore. Tonight begins the first post-Russian-invasion-of-Ukraine step in that effort. And what a coincidence, though this as seen as a precursor to NHL players finally returning to the 2026 Olympics next year, the league has chosen this occasion to confirm and announce a 2028 World Cup will happen.
Enjoy. And if you’re not taking a break, feel free to chat up the games here.