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World Cup Of Hockey Exceeding Expectations, Bettman Pleased With Developments
The '16 World Cup of Hockey hosted perhaps its two most-anticipated preliminary games yesterday -- Canada-U.S. and Sweden-Finland -- and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the idea behind the revival of the tournament was to "remind people of what a great event this is." Appearing on Sportsnet's coverage of Canada's 4-2 win over the U.S., Bettman said, "After a decade of not having the World Cup, we wanted to bring it back big, bold and exciting. ... I think we've done that being here in Toronto with the legacy programs and the fan village and all the competitions and concerts and everything that we're doing." All tournament games this year are being played in Toronto's Air Canada Centre, and Bettman said league officials have talked about spreading the games to other cities in the future. However, he said, "We don’t think there are too many cities that could pull off 16 or 17 games in a two-week period. We knew, when you’re in Toronto, you could do it." Bettman added, "We’re going to evaluate and re-evaluate, think about what we can do to make this event even better going forward” ( "Canada-U.S.," Sportsnet, 9/20 ) <strong>.</strong> TSN's Pierre LeBrun noted there is "talk of maybe two cities hosting" games for future tournaments. TSN's Darren Dreger noted the next World Cup is slated for September '20, but "there could be a lockout that month" if either the NHL or the NHLPA "decides to opt out" of the current CBA in '19 ( "Insider Trading," TSN, 9/20 ).
