Another major hockey event in Alberta?
After the events of the past few weeks, that's now a certainty.
On Monday, NHL officials confirmed that the 2028 edition of the World Cup of Hockey would be played in Canada and Czechia. Calgary and Edmonton would play host to the Canadian-based games while Prague will serve as the host of all European-based games. Scotia Place, which is set to open in September 2027, will act as one of the two host arenas alongside Rogers Place, while the O2 Arena in Prague will be the third host arena.
But as I stated above, this isn't exactly Alberta's first rodeo when it comes to hosting hockey events this decade.
In just under a year's time, Edmonton and Red Deer will welcome the 2027 edition of the IIHF World Juniors. This will not only serve as the third time in seven years that Edmonton serves as host of the World Juniors, having previously hosted in 2021 and 2022, but it will also act as the fifth time in the same time period that Canada hosts the tournament; the 2023 and 2025 editions of the tournament were hosted by Halifax/Moncton and by Ottawa respectively.
For Czechia, it will be the second time in eight years that the nation hosts a major international hockey tournament, having previously welcomed the 2020 edition of the World Juniors.
Why return now?
That's a reasonable question to ask.
The last time the World Cup was hosted was in 2016, which saw Canada win the tournament on home soil. But an inability to make progress on the relevant discussions kept the NHL and NHLPA (NHL Player's Association) from ensuring that a 2020 or 2024 edition could take place. In fact, that 2016 tournament was the last time the world's best would go head-to-head at the international level until the Four Nations Face-Off took place in 2025.
Now it's a different story. Relations between the NHL and NHLPA have warmed considerably over the past few years, and we've seen the success of best-on-best international tournaments over the past few years. It's also worth noting that the NHL wants to host best-on-best tournaments in the four-year periods between the Winter Olympics; the 2028 World Cup would fall right in between the Milan Olympics and the 2030 edition, set to be contested in the French Alps.
Who's playing? And who's running the show?
It remains to be seen which teams will play at the 2028 World Cup.
But it's worth taking part of that statement with a grain of salt. The tournament will be contested by individual countries alone and that there will be no Team North America or Team Europe at the World Cup.
In terms of which countries will participate, it's likely that seven of those nations will be Canada, the United States, Sweden, Finland, Czechia, Germany, and Switzerland. The identity of the eighth nation is unknown, with the door for Russia to return to the tournament being left slightly ajar. At the same time, Slovakia has been noted as a potential occupant of that eighth berth available for World Cup play.
As of this writing, no official announcement has been made regarding the participants at the 2028 World Cup.
Unlike the Winter Olympics, the World Cup will be run using NHL rules and five-on-five overtime. The NHL and NHLPA will also be organizing the World Cup without assistance from the IIHF, though it will consult the association to allow internationally-based players to play in the tournament.
When is it happening? Which stadiums are hosting which games?
The 2028 World Cup is set to take place in February 2028. Like with the Four Nations Face-Off and the Winter Olympics, the NHL will pause its season to accommodate the World Cup and ensure that players selected to national teams can be excused from team activities to represent their country.
Both Calgary and Prague will host six preliminary round and one elimination matchup each, while Rogers Place will host the semifinal and the final.
Ticketing information has not been confirmed at this point in time.