Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid has capitalized on the excitement surrounding the World Baseball Classic to reiterate his desire to see National Hockey League (NHL) players compete in international competitions.
The star player was asked in a press briefing on Wednesday what he thought of the event, which concluded on Tuesday night with Japan’s victory over the United States.
“I think it’s really cool,” said McDavid. That’s what we’ve been asking in hockey for a long time, right? The best against the best. Look, everyone’s talking about baseball and Showdown [Shohei] Ohtani f [Mike] trout. This is something that’s been missing from hockey for a decade.
The NHL has not allowed skaters to participate in the Olympic Games since the 2014 edition in Sochi. At the time, McDowd was 17 years old and still playing junior hockey.
The International Ice Hockey Federation organizes an annual world championship, but it takes place during the playoffs at Pittman Arena.
In 2016, the NHL hosted the World Cup in Toronto. The event brought together Canada, the United States, the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, Russia, a selection from Europe and a team featuring the best North American players aged 23 and under. McDavid was on the last team on this list.
For some time now, the NHL has been flirting with the idea of staging a new World Cup. February 2024 was introduced last August, but the project was publicly abandoned three months later.
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