From America with love: will Russia play at the World Cup - 2028

The National Hockey League and the NHL Players Association will organize a new World Cup in 2028, and the North Americans will do it without the help of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). This was reported by journalist Darren Dreger on social media. According to the insider, the NHL has already notified the IIHF of its decision, and the news of the World Cup will be officially announced at the upcoming Four Nations Tournament, which will be held from February 12 to 20 in Montreal and Boston.

Words and speculation

The main question that immediately arises among both domestic and North American fans is whether the Russian national team will receive an invitation to the World Cup. Expectations are optimistic: our hockey players definitely want to be there, and even though it wasn't stated directly, there is indirect evidence to back it up.

First, the absence of the IIHF in the draft makes things much easier: it was the International Ice Hockey Federation that imposed a full ban on Russian national teams in 2022. Our hockey has much simpler relations with the NHL: the league is full of domestic stars, and representatives of the North Americans even visit Russia, despite all the political noise around them. Without officials from the Old World (and the headquarters and the entire top management of the international federation are European), it will clearly be easier for the NHL to invite Russia to the tournament.

Secondly, you don't have to go far - in September, NHL boss Bill Daly already gave details in an interview with The Athletic.

- Historically we have had eight teams," said the official. - Now we want to do a qualifying tournament for two spots out of eight - that means four teams will compete for two spots and six more will get a spot.

When asked whether Russia will be among the 10 invited teams, he answered honestly (but as if with hope) that the situation is dynamic, but that international opinion will not be a determining factor. Furthermore, Daly refused to rule anything out.

Obviously, the NHL boss wants to see Russia at the tournament - and hardly in qualifying. Already after news of the 2028 World Cup broke, The Hockey News suggested that the Iron Six would include the United States, Canada, Russia, Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland, with Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia and Latvia fighting for the two remaining spots.

Finally, the third indirect sign hinting at Russia's invitation is the previous tournament. Or rather, the canceled previous tournament. The World Cup was originally scheduled to be held in 2024, but in 2022 the NHL announced it would be moved first to 2025 and then to 2028. The reason? The obvious one - the Ukrainian conflict and the temporary inability to invite Russia.

Here is how the postponement of the tournament was announced on the NHL website: "Unfortunately, under current conditions it is impossible to hold the World Cup at this time. We will continue to plan the next tournament - hopefully for February 2025."

And here's what a major insider Pierre Lebrun wrote in October 2022 (a few weeks before the postponement): "There are still unresolved issues with the IIHF, and of course Bill Daly and Gary Bettman's conversations last week - what to do about Russia? There are other countries that don't want Russia in this tournament because of the situation in Ukraine. It's a really complicated issue for the NHL and the union, so we'll see where it goes. But the idea of postponing the World Cup is more relevant to me now than it was a month ago."

So the last tournament was essentially postponed because of problems with Russia's invitation. If they announced a new one, and even without Europeans as co-organizers, there is a great hope that the NHL has considered all the risks and knows for sure - Russia will be there.

What kind of World Cup?

Even the main hater of Russian hockey, Olympic champion Dominik Hašek from the Czech Republic, stated about the expediency of the Russians' return to international tournaments.

- Something is going on in Dominik's head," two-time Olympic champion and three-time Stanley Cup winner Vyacheslav Fetisov told Izvestia. - Then he hated the Soviet Union when he lived in Czechoslovakia, then he loved Soviet hockey players, later he came to play in Russia and got a lot of money. His position is a losing one. Because a man can't dash around: he holds either one position or the other. Running around the market does not add to his respect or intelligence. Maybe he's saying that on purpose so we'll talk about him. As a great goalie, he's probably not seen as a great goalie by anyone anymore. As for our return, I hope it happens before 2028. And definitely under our own flag.

The World Cup is a tournament that is not very popular, and it's easy to forget about it - it has been held only three times in the last 30 years. The first World Cup was held in 1996 (USA won), the second in 2004 (Canada), and the third in 2016 (Canada). Russia participated in all three tournaments, but unsuccessfully - only twice reaching the semifinals.

Since 2016, the issue with holding the World Cup came to a pause - too many problems appeared around. In 2020, the tournament was not held because of the expiring Collective Labor Agreement between the NHL and the NHL Players Association, the cancellation in 2024 has already been discussed above.

The NHL now plans a tournament for 2028 and every four years thereafter. Given the "luck" and the floating periodicity of the competition, it's certainly too early to guess, but we'd like to wish them luck.