[Rumour] 2016 World Cup of Hockey in Toronto

[sureLoss]

Pierre LeBrun @Real_ESPNLeBrun · 2h
Sources saying World Cup of Hockey now more likely to return in Sept 2016 rather than Sept 2015...

Pierre LeBrun @Real_ESPNLeBrun · 49m
NHLPA and NHL met on World Cup yesterday and will meet again during Cup finals...

Pierre LeBrun @Real_ESPNLeBrun · 42m
Nothing decided 100 percent but I think one of the World Cup ideas being discussed is having the whole tourney one city. Like a Super Bowl

Pierre LeBrun @Real_ESPNLeBrun · 41m
Or at very least limit how many venues are involved compared to 2004 when WCup was all over the place...

Pierre LeBrun @Real_ESPNLeBrun · 1m
Toronto Maple Leafs have made it clear to NHL/NHLPA they would like to host 2016 World Cup of Hockey but still no official decision on that

[Northendzone]

Thunder Bay and red deer say what the heck......

[Tyler]

That's a really cool idea! Man, John Collins is doing a hell of a job for the NHL!

[EricCartman]

Woot no more olympics in the middle of the NHL season!

[btimbit]

In September? KHL season starts in September, would be a shame if they don't let players go to a world cup

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by EricCartman

Woot no more olympics in the middle of the NHL season!

I agree, who wants to see hockey played at it's highest level.......

[Tyler]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

I agree, who wants to see hockey played at it's highest level.......

Say hello to the World Cup

[Joborule]

Wouldn't completely rule out NHL Olympic participation yet. If the IOC gives the NHL what they want, they'll still go over there, since having a major international tournament every two years helps the league. And the World Cup of Hockey isn't going to be as huge as Olympic hockey is currently; at least to start. They'll get better exposure through Olympics, while World Cup would benefit from that and thus lead to even more money.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by EricCartman

Woot no more olympics in the middle of the NHL season!

2016 isn't a Winter Olympics year...

Happy to hear about this news though. The best part of 2004 WC was that it helped to take the sting out of losing out in the finals.

[EricCartman]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

2016 isn't a Winter Olympics year...

Happy to hear about this news though. The best part of 2004 WC was that it helped to take the sting out of losing out in the finals.

Wasn't the NHL looking for a replacement for the Olympics because they didn't want to participate in it?

Count me in the few that didn't like the interruption in the middle of the NHL season for the Olympics. It just ruined the flow of the season. Hard to see the owners wanting in as well, especially with the players getting injured (see Tavares).

[Mike F]

How is the Superbowl (1 game) an appropriate model for a World Cup of Hockey (multi game tournament)? Do you spread out the schedule so much that all games are in MLG, or do you put a bunch of games in non-NHL rinks? Neither is a good choice.

There's no way this goes ahead without multiple Canadian cities, as well as New York and maybe one more American city.

Too many big players amongst ownership and governors as well as corporate interests to make it completely limited.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Should one city be hosting this?

[Tsawwassen]

Originally Posted by Mike F

There's no way this goes ahead without multiple Canadian cities, as well as New York and maybe one more American city.

As long as Calgary gets the final game, any lesser game, forget about it.

[Tsawwassen]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Pierre LeBrun @Real_ESPNLeBrun · 42m
Nothing decided 100 percent but I think one of the World Cup ideas being discussed is having the whole tourney one city. Like a Super Bowl

Pierre LeBrun @Real_ESPNLeBrun · 41m
Or at very least limit how many venues are involved compared to 2004 when WCup was all over the place...

Forget about 1 city, the logistics of that are ridiculous. Never mind the amount of venues, just have it played on 1 continent. The 96 and 04 World Cups were played in North America and Europe.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

You could easily do it all in one city -- and one arena, too. Here's the schedule from the 2004 World Cup:

All Times Eastern

August 30

Czech vs. Finland - 1:00 pm

August 31

Germany vs. Sweden - 1:00 pm
USA vs. Canada - 7:30 pm

September 1

Czech vs. Sweden - 1:00 pm
Canada vs. Slovakia - 7:30 pm

September 2

Finland vs. Germany - 1:30 pm
Russia vs. United States - 7:30 pm

September 3

Germany vs. Czech - 1:30 pm
Slovakia vs. United States - 7:00 pm

September 4

Sweden vs. Finland - 1:30 pm
Russia vs. Canada - 7:30 pm

September 5

Slovakia vs. Russia - 7:30 pm

September 6

Quarter-Finals - Finland vs. Germany - 1:00 pm

September 7

Quarter-Finals - Czech vs. Sweden - 1:00 pm
Quarter-Finals - United States vs. Russia - 7:00 pm

September 8

Quarter-Finals - Canada vs. Slovakia - 7:00 pm

September 10

Semi-Finals - United States vs. Finland - 7:00 pm

September 11

Semi-Finals - Czech vs. Canada - 6:30 pm

September 14

Final - Finland vs. Canada - 7:00 pm

[lazypucker]

Maybe model after the FIFA World Cup, have games in multiple cities in a single country, and rotate between different countries every 4 years?

I would imagine this will be just an 8 to 12-team tournament, so I suppose Toronto/Ottawa/Montreal will work (Calgary/Edmonton/Vancouver will have to wait for next time)...

[Tsawwassen]

The 1996 World Cup could have been scheduled the same way. There was only 1 day where 3 games were played. Still, a tournament like that should be spread out in various cities. I think Hockey USA would want their team to play some of its games in the USA.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

I think giving the entire tournament to one city has several big benefits.

(1) It adds prestige to the event. I think every World/Canada Cup has had a game in Montreal or Toronto/Hamilton. If you rotated it around, it would become a bigger deal in the host cities and you could sell out tickets very fast.

(2) Along those same lines, it's something else that the NHL can offer its club cities on top of all-star games, draft, etc. Once the event gains some momentum, a borderline market could use hosting it as a way to leverage season ticket sales.

(3) There's zero travel. I'm sure the NHLPA had some concern with the travel aspect last time around.

(4) Because they can see every game in person, it's a great way for all the bigwigs and NHL executives to see a lot of the top players all together, and get together themselves as well.

[Tsawwassen]

Completely opposite opinion, it's a disadvantage to have the tournament in 1 city.

It's a presitige event and a bigger deal when the games are across the country/continent. Tickets sell out just as fast.

All star games and drafts are 2-4 day events maximum. Having a 2 week event, various clubs would like to share in that.

The reason the PA had travel concerns last time round was the games were on 2 different continents, North America and Europe. Travel on 1 continent is not an issue with the PA.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by Tsawwassen

Completely opposite opinion, it's a disadvantage to have the tournament in 1 city.

It's a presitige event and a bigger deal when the games are across the country/continent. Tickets sell out just as fast.

All star games and drafts are 2-4 day events maximum. Having a 2 week event, various clubs would like to share in that.

The reason the PA had travel concerns last time round was the games were on 2 different continents, North America and Europe. Travel on 1 continent is not an issue with the PA.

When you look at the 2004 event, only two out of four games sold out in Minnesota (and none of the games went to the standing room max of 18,664). Only three of the five games in TORONTO sold out. Both games in Montreal sold out. I went to all four Minnesota games. It was $30 a ticket.

Contrast that with the World Juniors where the Calgary/Edmonton event sold out in, what, 12 seconds? The Toronto/Montreal event sold out in a matter of hours.

This is a tournament with best-on-best NHL stars. It should sell out in seconds and I think if you limited it to one or two teams/cities they would be able to put their marketing muscle behind it like Calgary/Edmonton did at the World Juniors and sell it out instantly.

The World Juniors are bigger than the World Cup and it shouldn't be that way. A big reason I think is the prestige of hosting the tournament (and the TSN hype machine, of course).