from Tony Keller of the Globe and Mail,
So if the NHL isn’t crazy about the Olympics or the Worlds, why not create a world championship of its own? Good news: The league is doing just that. Bad news: It’s determined to do so while coming up with novel ways to cheat Canadian fans out of a cathartic national moment.
This fall’s World Cup of Hockey could have been a true world championship. But along with national teams from Canada, the U.S. and other hockey powers, the league is also introducing what a recent press release calls “a new concept in international hockey.”
That brilliant new idea? Young Canadian stars such as Connor McDavid, the kid on the verge of becoming the world’s best player, will not be playing for Canada. No, instead, he’ll be forced to play against Canada, on a multinational hybrid team of players aged 23 and younger. Only the NHL could have cooked this up.
So when Team Under-24-And-Mostly-Canadian faces off against Team Canada-With-An-Asterisk, who are we supposed to wave the flag for? Don’t ask the NHL. It’s not their business.
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