Bettman, Fehr pump up World Cup
WILL ANYONE WATCH?: Commissioner avoids questions about NHL participation in 2018 Winter Olympics
It’s 8,000 kilometres from the cobblestone streets and restored buildings of Toronto’s hip Distillery District to Rio’s famed sunsplashed Copacabana Beach, one of the most publicized venues at the 2016 Summer Games.
Of course, for Gary Bettman, the Olympics — and specifically, the inclusion of NHLers at the winter edition in two years — is much further away than that. At least for the time being, anyway. All of Canada is in an Olympic state of mind these days, but the same can’t be said of Bettman. The NHL commissioner has solely set his sights on next month’s World Cup of Hockey and nothing else.
On Wednesday, Bettman and NHLPA head Don Fehr headlined a news conference in the Distillery District to promote the upcoming World Cup, which runs Sept. 17 to Oct. 1 at the Air Canada Centre. As they outlined all the hype and hoopla that will accompany the tourney, both of these hockey power brokers cited a desire to see this event bloom into a regular occurrence.
Bettman maintained that the World Cup and Olympics are an apples-and-oranges comparison. And it’s easy to see why.
With the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the potential participation of NHLers in a sixth consecutive Games is in jeopardy partly because the International Olympic Committee is leaning toward not paying the out-ofpocket expenses for players.
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the IOC has covered costs such as transportation, accommodation and insurance for the past five Games.
“The Olympics and the decision have nothing to do with this,” Bettman insisted on Wednesday, referring to the World Cup.
“We’re not focused now on the Olympics. We haven’t had any real subsequent discussions. And the fact of the matter is, there are a whole host of issues that need to be resolved, a lot of them beyond our control ...
“Based on what we’re hearing from the (International Ice Hockey Federation), they’re probably going to want a decision or at least subsequent discussions in the winter because they want to have some time to deal with their individual federations no matter what the decision might be.”
That being the case, the question must be asked: With fans caught between a Rio hangover and a potential Blue Jays baseball pennant race next month, will the World Cup of Hockey gain any traction in efforts to whet the appetite of the sporting public in the coming weeks, especially in the at-times fickle Toronto market?
The concept of the 2016 World Cup has been criticized on a number of fronts, the most harsh of which suggests the event is nothing more than a global money grab by the league and the union for a series of so-called exhibition games. As a result, there was no shortage of furrowed brows when Bettman said 90 per cent of available tickets — sold in strips — had been gobbled up, adding the expectation is for every tournament game to be sold out.
With a limited number of single-game ducats going on sale at Ticketmaster on Thursday, the litmus test of Bettman’s proclamation will come via the eye test when we see how many actual fans have settled in the ACC seats.
Still, there is no denying the NHL and NHLPA are going all out to make the tournament a success, both inside and outside the arena. Consider that the Distillery District will be turned into World Cup Fan Village starting Sept. 16, featuring foods of the world, free concerts, and a life-size bubble hockey game in which fans will be the actual players in 3-on-3 contests.
Asked about possibly competing head-to-head against the Blue Jays, Bettman replied: “It just enriches the sports environment here. We embrace that.”
He only hopes the fans do the same when it comes to the World Cup of Hockey.
And with the potential of seeing Team North America’s Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel on the ice at the same time, they very well might.