from Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star,

The World Cup of Hockey could be the kind of best-on-best tourney that fans eat up. Speaking of leverage, it also gives the NHL an alternative and way of wresting away control from the Olympics. Hockey is considered one of the jewels of the Games, but it disrupts the regular season, and most importantly, at least from the NHL’s point of view, it does not add to its bottom line. That’s basically what Bill Daly, NHL deputy commissioner, said on Sportsnet’s Hockey Central @ Noon on Thursday.

“I do think that the success that we are going to have with the World Cup does bear on the equation of future Olympic participation, it has too,” said Daly. “Because I think the tournament that we’re designing jointly with the Player’s Association is going to be fantastic and in my opinion, the best hockey tournament with the highest level of hockey talent that’s ever existed in the world.”

“There are exciting opportunities to promote the sports around that tournament, and obviously there are some financial rewards, that will come out of that tournament, and some of those things are not available through the Olympic vehicle,” he added....

Even without official confirmation, most sportsmediaoutlets in the U.S. welcomed the reports of ESPN’s potential return to professional hockey. For all the criticism it receives, there is no doubt having the U.S. behemoth have some stake in hockey is good for the sport south of the border.

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