NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman Officially Announces Return Of World Cup Of Hockey In 2028

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It wasn't exactly a secret, but now it's official: the NHL is bringing back the World Cup of Hockey in 2028 and beyond.

The last time the NHL put on the World Cup of Hockey was way back in 2016, which means that until this year's 4 Nations Face-Off, the league hasn't had any direct involvement in a best-on-best international tournament since then.

However, last year it was announced that the league was headed back to the Olympics for the 2026 Winter Games in Milan and Cortina, and there was also talk of the World Cup making a return, alternating every two years with the Olympics.

However, the announcement came on too short notice to put on the World Cup in 2025, and that's why we've got the 4 Nations Face-Off.

And just hours before the puck dropped between Canada and Sweden to open the tournament, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman made it officially official that the World Cup of Hockey is coming back.

"International best-on-best competition is very important to our players — representing their countries on the ice is in their DNA — and hockey fans love it," Bettman said. "Resuming Olympic participation next season and staging a World Cup of Hockey in February 2028 will provide expanded opportunity for more players to represent more nations in best-on-best competition. With this tournament — and the World Cup’s return to regular rotation — the NHL and NHLPA take a major step in our joint commitment to international hockey."

NHL commisoner Gary Bettman officially announced that the World Cup of Hockey will return in 2028 after a 12-year hiatus. (Photo by Andrea Cardin/4NFO/World Cup of Hockey via Getty Images)

It was also revealed that a bidding process for host cities will begin in the coming months.

This is awesome news. 

International hockey is always entertaining, but without NHLers, certain nations *cough* United States and Canada*cough* are at a significant disadvantage. 

It's nice to see the league recognizing it and doing something by going back to the Olympics and keeping the international hockey balloon in the air by bringing back the World Cup of Hockey in 2028.

This all means that every other year, there will be a best-on-best international tournament featuring NHLers.

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Matt is a University of Central Florida graduate and a long-suffering Philadelphia Flyers fan living in Orlando, Florida. He can usually be heard playing guitar, shoe-horning obscure quotes from The Simpsons into conversations, or giving dissertations to captive audiences on why Iron Maiden is the greatest band of all time.