Toronto
The NHL is heading back to the Olympics.
Commissioner Gary Bettman announced today during the league's all-star festivities that its players will be allowed to compete at the 2026 Winter Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy, and at the 2030 Games, which is currently without a host city.
“We know how important international competition is to our players,” said Bettman.
“We made it,” IIHF president Luc Tardif added. “That’s two years work and more intense the last six months."
The NHL went to the Games five times between 1998 and 2014 — the last best-on-best men's tournament — before skipping the 2018 event for financial reasons.
The league was set to return to the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, but backed out because of COVID-19 concerns.
“For years, the players have embraced the opportunity to compete for Olympic gold,” NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh said. “We are excited that today’s announcement makes it a certainty for our members in the 2026 and 2030 Olympic Winter Games.”
The NHL also announced a four-team international tournament for 2025 that will include Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland.
The Four Nations Face-off will be held next February in two yet-to-be-named cities in Canada and the United States.
"We thought this was a great way to kick off the (international) calendar that we agreed on," said Bettman.
The league last held a World Cup in 2016. That event featured an under-23 Team North America and Team Europe made up of small hockey powers.
Banner image: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, centre, shakes hands with IIHF president Luc Tardif, right, as NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh looks on during a news conference in Toronto on Friday Feb. 2, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2024.
