from SportsBusiness Global,

The NHL will begin its "largest effort yet outside of North America" next month when it holds exhibition games in China, "part of a newly launched long-term plan to grow the game and league globally," according to Ian Thomas of the SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. It is not the league's first attempt.

The NHL held a series of int'l games between '00 and '03, and another series between '07 and '11 but those efforts "were curtailed" by the '04-05 and '12-13 lockouts. The new effort, which will cost the league an estimated tens of millions of dollars, is "promising a long-term presence" through grassroots programs and assistance in building hockey infrastructure as well as games and potentially future World Cup of Hockey events, rather than the previous years' one-off games.

The NHL is targeting 10 to 15 countries, focusing "primarily on those already strongly interested in the NHL and hockey," such as Sweden and Finland.

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