NHL has major announcement on future of international hockey

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Liam McCormick
February 2, 2024 (10:32)

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Early this morning, news is flying around the NHL of massive changes to the entire landscape of hockey in the coming years. According to multiple reports this morning, the NHL will be cancelling next year's All Star Game, and will instead be focusing on a return to international hockey, including the Olympics.

First, the NHL is expected to announce a four-nations tournament today including Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States playing in a best-on-best tournament. After that, several insiders are reporting that the NHL is trending towards returning to the Olympics in 2026.

This is fantastic news for hockey fans everywhere. The NHL All Star Game has become an over-bloated mess of forced content, and instead, hockey fans will be treated to the intensity of best on best international hockey, which always seems to produce amazing moments.

These efforts into international hockey will be the NHL's first since the World Cup of Hockey in 2016. The NHL last appeared in the Olympics in 2014, and since then have avoided it as owners fear injury to players in non-NHL games. Apparently, the Players Association had significant pushback under the new direction of Marty Walsh to return to international hockey.