The World Cup of Hockey is an international

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

tournament. Inaugurated in 1996, it is the successor to the

Canada Cup The Canada Cup (french: Coupe Canada) was an invitational international ice hockey tournament held on five occasions between 1976 and 1991. The brainchild of Toronto lawyer Alan Eagleson, the tournament was created to meet demand for a true worl ...

, which was held every 3 to 5 years from

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

and was the first international hockey championship to allow nations to field their top players. The World Cup has occurred thrice before on an irregular basis, with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

winning in 1996 and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

winning in 2004 and

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. Following the 2016 tournament, it is uncertain if the series will be continued, after the cancellation of the 2020 tournament. The

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

will attempt to hold the next edition of the World Cup in 2025. The World Cup of Hockey is organized by the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) and the

National Hockey League Players' Association NHLPA (french: AJLNH) is the labour union for the group of professional hockey players who are under Standard Player Contracts to the 32 member clubs in the National Hockey League (NHL) located in the United States and Canada. The association re ...

(NHLPA), unlike the annual

Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual ...

and quadrennial Olympic tournament, both run by the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 ...

(IIHF). World Cup games are played under NHL rules and not those of the IIHF, and the tournament occurs prior to the NHL pre-season, allowing all the NHL's players to be available, unlike the World Championships, which overlaps with the NHL's

Stanley Cup playoffs The Stanley Cup playoffs (french: Les séries éliminatoires de la Coupe Stanley) is an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League (NHL) consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series to determine the league champion and the winner ...

History

Canada Cup

The World Cup of Hockey was preceded by the Canada Cup, which began in

in a combined effort from Doug Fisher of Hockey Canada and

Alan Eagleson Robert Alan Eagleson (born April 24, 1933) is a disbarred Canadian lawyer, hockey agent and promoter. Clients that he represented included superstars Bobby Orr and Darryl Sittler, and he was the first executive director of the NHL Players Ass ...

of the NHL Players' Association. Taking inspiration from association football, soccer's FIFA World Cup, Eagleson proposed a new tournament that would bring together all the top hockey–playing nations. After successful negotiations with hockey officials from the Soviet Union in September 1974, Eagleson began arranging the Canada Cup tournament, which debuted in 1976. It was the first international ice hockey tournament that allowed hockey nations to field their top players, as the Ice hockey at the Olympic Games, Winter Olympics was a strictly amateur competition and the annual Ice Hockey World Championships, World Championships clashed with the

. The tournaments, held every three to five years, took place in North American venues prior to the start of the

(NHL) regular season. Six teams competed in each edition. Of the five Canada Cup tournaments, four were won by Canada, while the Soviet Union won one, that being in 1981 Canada Cup, 1981.

World Cup of Hockey

In 1996, the Canada Cup was officially replaced by the World Cup of Hockey. The Canada Cup trophy was retired. The tournament expanded to eight teams: as the national teams of Canada men's national ice hockey team, Canada, United States men's national ice hockey team, United States, Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team, Czech Republic, Finland men's national ice hockey team, Finland, Russia men's national ice hockey team, Russia and Sweden men's national ice hockey team, Sweden, popularly dubbed as the Big Six (ice hockey), Big Six, were joined by Germany men's national ice hockey team, Germany and Slovakia men's national ice hockey team, Slovakia. The United States defeated Canada to win 1996 World Cup of Hockey, the inaugural event. Eight years later, the second installment of the World Cup of Hockey took place in 2004, just prior to the 2004–05 NHL lockout. Canada won its first tournament championship, defeating the Czech Republic in the semifinals and Finland in the final match. On January 24, 2015, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced the 2016 World Cup of Hockey to be held in September 2016 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The 2016 edition featured a slightly modified format: alongside the Big Six countries, there were two all-star teams, consisting of Team Europe (ice hockey), Team Europe and an under-23 Team North America (World Cup of Hockey 2016), Team North America. Canada again won the championship, defeating Team Europe in the finals. The 2020 edition was planned to include a European qualification tournament to determine some participating nations. In January 2019, plans for the tournament were abandoned due to the pending expiration of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the NHL and the National Hockey League Players' Association, NHL Players' Association. In August 2019, it was reported that a World Cup could take place in February 2021 if the CBA could be extended or renewed; however, this was ruled-out by the NHL later that year. The league will attempt to hold the next edition of the World Cup in 2025.

Trophy

In 2004, Canadian American architect Frank Gehry designed a new trophy for the tournament. It is made from a composite alloy of copper and nickel as well as solid cast urethane plastic. The trophy was criticized by the sports community, noting the ''Toronto Suns headline "What is that?"

Tournaments

Titles

(*) Host

References

* Müller, Stephan : International Ice Hockey Encyclopedia 1904-2005 / BoD GmbH Norderstedt, 2005 {{Main world cups World Cup of Hockey, Ice hockey tournaments Recurring sporting events established in 1996 World cups in winter sports