from Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star,

The rebooted World Cup of Hockey has plenty to overcome to prove it’s a relevant sporting tournament in an already crowded local sports calendar.

Still, 184 of hockey’s best forwards, defencemen and goaltenders in the world begin assembling this week in training camps in Canada, the United States and Europe.

“Every tournament has a different taste and a different prestige to it,” said Leafs winger James van Riemsdyk, who skated twice for Team USA at the Olympics and will be making his World Cup debut. “I remember watching those World Cups growing up. It’s best-on-best, and any time you have best players in the world playing against each other, that sense of pride you have playing for your country definitely resonates.”

Training camps open Monday in Ottawa (Canada), Montreal (North American players 23-and-under as of Oct. 1), Columbus (USA), Prague (Czech), Helsinki (Finland), Gothenburg (Sweden), St. Petersburg (Russia) and Quebec City (for European players not from Sweden, Finland, Russia or Czech).

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