For the first time in a dozen of years next weekend, the world's best hockey players will compete for their countries with something other than an Olympic gold medal on the line.
The World Cup of Hockey kicks off in Toronto on Saturday, marking the return of an event previously held in 1996 and 2004. While non-Olympic international hockey has a slightly irregular history, it could become a more permanent fixture on the calendar moving forward as the NHL reconsiders its stance of letting its players participate in the Olympic games.
Though it may be difficult to replicate the overall Olympic environment, it doesn't mean the World Cup is without merit.
"As players playing these events where it's best-on-best, it's exciting for the players to play in," American winger James van Riemsdyk said. "There's no reason to think that it can't be a successful thing and something that we do more consistently."
This tournament can trace its roots back to the Canada Cups of the 1970s. The Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union created an appetite for more best-on-best international hockey.
There were a couple of factors in the genesis of the Canada Cup that no longer apply today. Professional players could not play in the Olympics, meaning Canada and the U.S. had to send teams of amateurs instead of their best NHL players. While this policy was part of what made the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" so memorable, it also led to a string of Soviet gold medals through the '60s, '70s and '80s.
Thus, the Canada Cup became the only way for fans to see true best-on-best international hockey.
It didn't exactly stick to a set schedule, with editions in 1976, 1981, 1984, 1987 and 1991, but it did accomplish the goal of pitting the best players in the world against one another with national pride on the line. Canada won four of the five events, with the Soviet Union claiming the championship in 1981.
The Canada Cup was "retired" in the early 1990s, replaced with the inaugural NHL-organized World Cup of Hockey in 1996. Bill Guerin, now the Penguins' assistant general manager, made his senior international debut in the event, and said older players on the U.S. roster shared their memories from previous Canada Cups and came into that tournament using previous international defeats as motivation.
"This was the first time that we really had a shot, we really could take a crack at it," Guerin said. "And we did. We had a great team."
Some players, notably Czech goalie Domenik Hasek, chose not to participate in the late August-early September tournament, but Guerin said it still meant a great deal when the United States beat Canada in the best-of-three final.
"It was amazing," Guerin said. "The intensity was incredible. That's the one thing I absolutely do remember, is that a tournament that started in August and ended in September was some of the most intense hockey I had ever played in my life."
The year before the 1996 World Cup, though, the NHL announced that it had reached an agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to allow its players to compete in the Olympics, starting in the 1998 Nagano games.
So when the 2004 World Cup rolled around, fans had already seen a pair of memorable Olympic tournaments in 1998 and 2002. While the 2004 edition was more profitable than the 1996, according to USA Today, it had the dubious honor of wrapping up a day before the NHL announced a lockout that would eventually wipe out the 2004-05 season.
And, thus, the World Cup was on a 12-year hiatus, until this weekend. In the interim, we've seen three more Olympic tournaments, including Canada's unforgettable overtime win in Vancouver in 2010.
The NHL has yet to announce whether its players will be allowed to compete in future Olympics. Players seem to be in favor, but with the next two editions in South Korea and Beijing, the NHL could be reluctant to interrupt its season and have players risk injury for games that take place in the middle of the night in North America.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who said prior to the Stanley Cup final he expects a decision to be made around the end of this year, cited out-of-pocket costs as a significant sticking point.
"I would guess that from an owners' standpoint, if the IOC and the IIHF aren't going to pay what they've paid for the past five Olympics _ which is most but not all of the out-of-pocket expenses, it still costs us money to go _ that almost becomes an easy show-stopper and you don't even need to get into the other discussion," Bettman said.
Either way, Bettman and the NHL have plans to expand the World Cup beyond this iteration. The league has plans for a North America vs. Europe series in 2018, as well as expanded qualifying for the 2020 edition to have national teams replace the two all-star teams in this year's edition.
Still, it's not the Olympics. Guerin said that even though he tries not to compare the two, the Olympics are tough to beat.
"All the other athletes being around, being in the Olympic Village, the Olympic spirit," he said. "I think just the true competitive spirit of the Olympic Games, it goes back thousands of years."
American center David Backes, who played in Vancouver and Sochi, added that it could help the sport to be associated with a big event like the Olympics.
"Whether you're a hockey fan or not, it might pop on to your screen when you're in some non-traditional hockey market," Backes said. "To be able to sell the game that way, to be as Team USA not just as a hockey team but as a larger congregation at the Winter Olympics, is something special.
"Just the feeling, the aura of the Olympics is something that I haven't seen replicated anywhere else but in Vancouver and Sochi when I was able to be there."
Backes wasn't opposed to the idea of the World Cup, though. Having another high-profile tournament on the calendar just adds to the rivalry between international teams.
Guerin agreed, noting that, for the most part, a lot of the same guys played in the 1996 World Cup, the 1998 Olympics, the 2002 Olympics and the 2004 World Cup. Rivalries developed, and each team wanted to win whatever trophy was on the line.
"Any time you put on your country's colors, it means a great deal," Guerin said. "I don't care if it's the Olympic Games, the World Cup or a weekend tournament. Any time you put that jersey on, it means something big."
