Ex-TSN broadcaster believes NHL/IIHF should follow FIFA's footsteps for World Cup + Olympics

If the NHL and IIHF stay the course in terms of Olympic participation, then the hockey world won't have a chance to see a best-on-best event for another 4+ years.

The NHL and it's players need a best-on-best event to grow the game, and one way to do that is having a World Cup of Hockey regularly, not every eight to twelve years.

Former Hockey Night in Canada and TSN broadcaster Dave Hodge believes that the NHL and IIHF should follow in the footsteps of FIFA when it comes to having a World Cup, as well as the Olympics.

"Soccer does it right. The sport's biggest event is the World Cup, and the Olympic tournament is for young players. A World Cup of Hockey is the way to go for the NHL and every 4th year, the World Junior event becomes part of the Olympics. My two cents," Hodge said in a tweet on Wednesday.

For those who aren't too familiar with soccer, FIFA holds a World Cup every four years, with 32 teams placed into eight groups of four. Now granted, the NHL doesn't have international breaks like European and other soccer leagues do that allow for World Cup qualification. With that said, the IIHF or the NHL, whoever decides to run the World Cup, would have to come up with the number of teams they could ideally have and how to award spots in the tournament.

The most logical idea that I can personally think of would see the top sixteen ranked teams by the IIHF be placed into four groups of four, with the top two in each group following the round robin advancing to the play-off round (QF, SF, Bronze Medal Game, Gold Medal Game).

As for the Olympics, Hodges' idea would essentially see the NHL no longer participate, but rather the World Juniors would become the Olympic tournament every four years. Whether that means the World Juniors in December/January would see the winning team's get Olympic medals or the tournament would move to February during the Olympics, that remains unclear.

For their participation in the Olympics, FIFA has sixteen teams go to the Summer Games every four years, but there is an age restriction. It is basically a under-23 tournament with three overage players, but all players involved are still professionals.

No matter what happens with the Olympics in the future or potential World Cups, hockey as a whole needs best-on-best competition to grow the game, and for non-traditional hockey nations to see that they can one day achieve their goal of playing in an elite tournament, winning a medal.

Soccer does it right. The sport's biggest event is the World Cup, and the Olympic tournament is for young players. A World Cup of Hockey is the way to go for the NHL and every 4th year, the World Junior event becomes part of the Olympics. My two cents.— Dave Hodge (@davehodge20) December 22, 2021

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