The NHL Could Potentially Bring Back The North America vs World All Star Game Format In 2021
Earlier today Gary Bettman put the dagger in any hopes that there would be another World Cup of Hockey by February 2021. I think everybody can agree that international hockey is awesome. The World Juniors is always some of the best hockey to watch every year. The World Cup back in 2016 was incredible to a North American 23U team that was arguably the most entertaining team of all time. And then Olympic hockey outside of 2018 when the NHL didn't send their players is always incredible. So everybody can agree that international hockey kicks ass, but the NHL is a business so naturally they are going to fuck everything up because money becomes an issue. The league can't figure out how to make the next World Cup happen financially and they also can't figure out how to make it happen in terms of scheduling. So no matter what, we won't be getting another World Cup any time soon. There's also still not a guarantee that the NHL will be sending players to the 2022 Olympics, which would make that tournament just as forgettable as the 2018 Olympics.
So all of that news sucks ass. HOWEVA...there was some good news to come out of Gary's mouth today. Or at least the possibility of some good news.
Wyshynski - As for February 2021, the NHL plans to hold its annual All-Star Game at a site yet to be determined, but potentially with a different format that would include international teams.
"If you go back in history, we did North American vs. the World at one point in time," said Bettman. "The fact is that we could be doing something with an international flavor."
MOOD:
Obviously if I had my choice, option 1 would be for the NHL to go to the 2022 Olympics. Option 2 would be for another World Cup at some point in the next 2 years. But if we can't get either of those? I will gladly take another North American vs World All Star Game to finally get those international rivalries brewing in the NHL again.
And this is exactly what the All Star Game needs. We do this same thing every couple of years or so. The NHL goes with the same format for a few years and everybody starts to bitch and complain about it being boring. When the 3v3 tournament format was first announced a few years ago, everybody loved it. Even if guys still weren't going to go all out, at least it was something new and different to spice things up a bit. And then you had the whole John Scott saga and for the first time in a long time, hockey fans were in agreement that not everything the league does is terrible. But after a few years of that? Nobody cares about the All Star Game again. The format is stale and boring again. But the last time we had a North America vs World All Star Game was 2002. Half the fans weren't even born by then so it'll be brand new to them, and the other half of the fans will love it for the nostalgia factor. You might only be able to get 2 or 3 years out of that format before people stop caring again but that first year is going to be awesome and the 2nd year will kick ass as well.
Goddamn I miss late 90s/early 2000s hockey.