Players have appetite for international tournaments
Bummed.” That’s how Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews put it when asked to react to word that there would be no World Cup of Hockey in 2020 after the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association failed to reach an agreement this week.
“I had a blast playing in it (in 2016),” Matthews said.
“I think all the guys playing in it had a ton of fun. It was my first experience. I hadn’t played in the NHL yet. To be in that kind of setting was pretty spectacular. “I’m pretty bummed about it.” He’s not alone, with Maple Leafs teammate John Tavares echoing those comments about the tournament that had six national teams and two all-star teams: one with North American players under 23 (including Matthews and Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly), and the other from smaller European countries.
“I really enjoyed it,” Tavares said. “It was unique with the changes that were made.
“We saw a highly skilled, highly competitive, entertaining tournament. No doubt it would be like that again, with a great wave of players that have come along.”
Lightning star Steven Stamkos, who played with Tavares on the Canadian team, said he won’t miss the format.
“It wasn’t best on best in the World Cup. It just wasn’t,” Stamkos said. “You had a North American team, a European team. I wasn’t a huge fan of that. It’s not the Olympics.
“Obviously, if there’s a chance to represent your country, you’re going to jump on that opportunity. From a player’s perspective, the Olympics were something we were really looking forward to, and we had that taken away from us.”
There’s still some animosity on the players’ side that the league declined to participate in the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea.
And it’s clear that NHL participation in best-on-best international hockey — either in the World Cup format or the 2022 Beijing Olympics — is now tied directly to collective bargaining and changes either side might want in how the league and the players divide the nearly $5 billion in revenue generated annually.
“There’s a lot looming here in the next couple of years for the health of the league, and us playing ... setting up a good structure for international play is real important to growing our game,” Tavares said.
“Seeing best on best is really important. We don’t see it often. So when it happens, it’s unique and special. I know it’s still on the radar, but with (labour talks) coming up, it’s important to go one step at a time.”
The reason the 2020 World Cup of Hockey was called off before it was even scheduled was the date. The current collective bargaining agreement expires in 2022, but either sides can reopen the agreement in 2020 by informing the other of its desire to do so in September.
Both sides said they couldn’t come to an agreement in time to make the necessary preparations for a World Cup in September 2020. And without guaranteed labour peace, the league was unwilling to proceed. CBA talks continue, however.
“We want to play those tournaments,” Lightning defenceman Victor Hedman said. “The way the CBA looks, a few years down the line, you never know what’s going to happen.”
The league has had four labour stoppages in 27 years — a strike and three lockouts. “It’s early,” said Tavares. “It’s important that communication is happening. (A lockout) is the last thing we want to see again. It’s hard not to look back at history and see what the league has done when these opportunities arise. Trying to be optimistic, but (you have to be) a realist at times.”
The appetite among the players to return to the Olympics is very high.
“It’s amazing, some of the best experiences in my life” Tavares said. “As a kid, you always dream about being a part of that. To be part of the best on best in the world, and representing your country, it’s a real opportunity.”
Stamkos has yet to go to an Olympics. He was injured when Canada won gold in Russia in 2014.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said.
“Selfishly, for me, having missed one through injury and then not getting a chance to go to Korea ... it’s something we players really look forward to.”