Gary Bettman announces the NHL's return to a beloved tradition
The NHL has not gone to the Olympics in what feels like decades, and for one fleeting moments fans got to feel the Olympic spirit as the NHL put on a tournament.
The tournament was the World Cup of Hockey in 2016, and it was the closest thing to Olympic hockey as we saw. NHL players competed for (mostly) their own countries.
We saw real teams like Canada, USA, Russia, Sweden, Finland and Czech face off, and two special teams called Team North America, comprised of the young and upcoming stars, and Team Europe, a mish-mash of players from other countries. It was highly entertaining hockey.
Bettman confirms on NHL on TNT about the news
The league is attempting to bring back international best-on-best hockey, which Bettman revealed today will probably take the shape of a World Cup. Similar to 2016.
The NHL has more influence over buildings by hosting the World Cup in North American . Also insurance that the NHL and IOC battle on constantly, will not be a problem if all NHL teams are involved as well.
They NHL will also have the ability to influence important decisions that affect the players competing in the competition, as they can select Russia if they like, or perhaps make another U23 team as the first was highly successful.
As Read On Oilers Daily - Gary Bettman confirms the NHL is bringing back a critical feature of hockey
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