12:35 p.m.: Commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed an agreement has been reached with the IIHF to send players to the 2026 and 2030 Winter Olympics to media today. Bettman added the league has been given “assurances” that the venue under construction for ice hockey in Milan will be completed on schedule.
9:56 a.m.: The NHL and IIHF have reached a deal to allow players to participate in both the 2026 and 2030 Winter Olympics, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes said Friday. An official announcement is expected from the league later today after the IIHF quickly posted and deleted a post confirming the news on X, formerly known as Twitter, this morning.
Also expected Friday afternoon is an announcement confirming the NHL’s plans to hold a best-on-best international tournament in 2025 between Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States, per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. The tournament will be hosted in Boston and Montreal and will result in no All-Star Game being held next year.
2026 will mark the first time NHL players participate in the Olympics since the 2014 edition held in Sochi, Russia. Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, have already been tabbed as the 2026 hosts, although concerns about the construction timeline for the Olympic rink in Milan may force the ice hockey competitions to be moved to Turin, which hosted the Winter Olympics in 2004.
The host for the 2023 Games has not been named, although Salt Lake City, Stockholm, Switzerland, and the French Alps region have submitted bids. The French Alps bid entered the “targeted dialogue phase” late last year and is the most likely host for the 2030 edition, while Salt Lake City will likely receive the 2034 Games.
Milan will mark the first Olympic appearance for all of the NHL’s next generation of stars, including Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews, Leon Draisaitl, David Pastrňák, Cale Makar, and many others. It’s unclear whether Russia will field a team at the event – they are currently barred from IIHF competition due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the 2025 four-nations-style tournament will be the first true exhibition of best-on-best international play involving the world’s highest-ranking men’s hockey countries since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
No All Star Game? Why? It’s so successful. LOL.
Will Beebs be making those sweaters too?
The all star weekend is a pandering trainwreck unless you are 15 years old or younger, The corrupt Olympics are worse, Shutting down the league for 2 plus weeks because of a meaningless exhibition is mindless!
Playing for your country on the biggest stage in the world every 4 years and having limited chnaces to win a gold medal is not mindless…especially since the players are agreeing to it and all the fans wanted this so it’s a win but the All-Star game? yeah, that’s useless.
Flag waving blah blah blah!!!!! MOST NHL fans don’t want to see the league shut down for 16 days! And the medals are meaningless medallions with little worth.
Also depending on the nation people can get big money for gold medals not included sponsorships
So they are replacing te ASG in non Olympics years with…a different all star game?
I wonder if Gary Bettman will make a statement today about the fact that Michael Buble was under the influence of mushrooms last night at the NHL ALL STAR draft?
Meh, still won’t get me to watch the Olympics. Olympics should be non-professional or nothing.
Oh and I haven’t watched the all star game in decades, no loss there.