As of just recently announced the World Cup of Hockey will be finally returning in 2025 since it was last played in 2016. The long-awaited return of the event has been postponed by the NHL and Players Association due to Covid originally in 2020. It was originally announced to be held in the early parts of February of 204 but was later announced that it will be pushed back to 2025.
A statement released stated “Unfortunately, in the current environment it is not feasible to hold the World Cup of Hockey at that time. We continue to plan for the next World Cup of Hockey, hopefully in February 2025.” Still, with this announcement in mind and in the future many Canadian fans and teams like the Maple Mustangs have excited for the future to come as more events like these and the Olympics can have a much greater impact now with the growth of Canadian talent to put on a show
For those unaware, the World Cup Of Hockey is an international ice hockey tournament. Inaugurated in 1996, it is the successor to the Canada Cup, which was held every 3 to 5 years from 1976 to 1991 and was the first international hockey championship to allow nations to field their top players.
The World Cup of Hockey is organized by the National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA), unlike the annual Ice Hockey World Championships and quadrennial Olympic tournament, both run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). World Cup games are played under NHL rules and not those of the IIHF, and the tournament occurs prior to the NHL pre-season, allowing all the NHL’s players to be available, unlike the World Championships, which overlap with the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs.
Favorite to win the Tournament
“The last one was quite a while ago and two it puts into perspective the different types of players and their skill levels from each country” – Noah Dipaola
The World Cup of Hockey consists of 7 teams which are Canada, Unites States, Finland, Europe, Sweden, Russia, and the Czech Republic. Shocker to none when asked what team would win the next upcoming tournament it wasn’t surprising. Not only due to the current country we live in but due to the increasing amount of natural talent coming out of Canada and how seeing older players finish off their careers and playing with new up-and-coming young talent helps push the passion of hockey in Canada and how important it is to these younger players.
“Being able to see Canada’s finest any time rather it be the Olympics or it is the World Cup of Hockey is an honor for not only for them to represent Canada but for hockey fans and them to be an inspiration for us to grow the game we love” – Tommy Buttice
“Seeing guys like Sidney Crosby, John Tavares, Brad Marchand, and Ryan O’Reilly playback in 2016 and hopefully play again in 2025 with the new wave of Canadian talent is something else as we’re able to see generation after generation grow and develop into unreal players ” – Julian Buttice
Being able to see these top NHL players not only on the big stage but supporting their home country and representing it in front of the whole world not only brings us together but helps motivate the younger generations of players and can bring many memories that will always be remembered
This is a major step in the right direction not only for the tournament itself as it is a major factor in Canadian hockey, but hopefully, bring in support to see big-name NHL players back on stage supporting their home country since the 2014 Olympics. Due to arguments in the 2018 Olympics in Pyeonchang South Korea between the NHL and the International Olympic Committee over who would cover costs such as travel, insurance and accommodations and now 2022 due to Covid-19, lessened season which made the league restrict players from participating.
With the tournament returning and venues allowed to hold full capacity again. Here are some of the speculated arenas that will be hosting these games if decided to have multiple venues used
Until the time comes in February 2025, the Maple Mustangs and others around the country will continue to do what they love the most, play and watch the game of hockey. They will watch every game they can of what team(s) they support no matter the outcome and continue to wait for that one magical season of the year when hockey season starts up to join their teams again and wait for the weather to get cold enough to play in the chilling outdoors.
For now and forever will these players and many more continue to look up to Canadian hockey players and practice and use the movies they did in the big leagues whenever they can in their own games. You can expect when that time comes in February to dawn the red and white maple leaf they will be there rooting for every single player on that roster to once again hoist that championship cup.