 Logo of 2016 event | |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1992 |
| First season | 1996 |
| Organising body | National Hockey League |
| No. of teams | 8 |
| Most recent champion |  Canada (2nd title)(2016) |
TheWorld Cup of Hockey is an internationalice hockey tournament. Inaugurated in1996, it is the successor to theCanada Cup, which was held every three to five years from1976 to1991 and was the first international hockey championship to allow nations to field their top players.[1] The World Cup has occurred thrice before on an irregular basis, with theUnited States winning in 1996 andCanada winning in2004 and2016. Following the 2016 tournament, it was uncertain whether the series would be continued, after the cancellation of the 2020 tournament. It is tentatively scheduled to be held every four years, starting in 2028.[2]
The World Cup of Hockey is organized by theNational Hockey League (NHL) and theNational Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA), unlike the annualIce Hockey World Championships and quadrennialOlympic tournament, both run by theInternational Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). World Cup games are played under NHL rules and not those of the IIHF, and the tournament occurs prior to the NHL pre-season, allowing all the NHL's players to be available, unlike the World Championships, which overlaps with the NHL'sStanley Cup playoffs.
The World Cup of Hockey was preceded by the Canada Cup, which began in1976 in a combined effort fromDoug Fisher ofHockey Canada andAlan Eagleson of theNHL Players' Association.[3] Taking inspiration fromsoccer'sFIFA World Cup, Eagleson proposed a new tournament that would bring together all the top hockey–playing nations. After successful negotiations with hockey officials from theSoviet Union in September 1974, Eagleson began arranging the Canada Cup tournament, which debuted in 1976.[4][self-published source] It was the first international ice hockey tournament that allowed hockey nations to field their top players, as theWinter Olympics was nominally an amateur competition at the time and the annualWorld Championships clashed with theStanley Cup playoffs.
The tournaments, held every three to five years, took place inNorth American venues prior to the start of theNational Hockey League (NHL) regular season. Six teams competed in each edition. Of the five Canada Cup tournaments, four were won by Canada, and one by the Soviet Union in1981.
In 1996, the Canada Cup was officially replaced by the World Cup of Hockey. The Canada Cup trophy was retired. The tournament expanded to eight teams: as the national teams ofCanada, theUnited States, theCzech Republic,Finland,Russia andSweden, popularly dubbed as theBig Six,[5] were joined byGermany andSlovakia. The United States defeated Canada in the finals to winthe inaugural event.
Eight years later, the second installment of the World Cup of Hockey took place in2004, just prior to the2004–05 NHL lockout. Canada won its first tournament championship, defeating the Czech Republic in the semifinals and Finland in the final match.
On January 24, 2015, NHL commissionerGary Bettman announced the2016 World Cup of Hockey to be held in September 2016 atAir Canada Centre in Toronto. The 2016 edition featured a slightly modified format: alongside the Big Six countries, there were two all-star teams, consisting ofTeam Europe and an under-23Team North America. Canada again won the championship, defeating Team Europe in the finals.
A 2020 edition was planned to include a European qualification tournament to determine some participating nations.[6] In January 2019, plans for the tournament were abandoned due to the pending expiration of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the NHL and theNHL Players' Association.[7][8] In August 2019, it was reported that a World Cup could take place in February 2021 if the CBA could be extended or renewed;[9] however, this was ruled-out by the NHL later that year.[10]
In February 2024, the NHL announced plans to hold the next World Cup in 2028 and every four years after that.[11][12] The NHL hosted the4 Nations Face-Off in lieu of a World Cup in February 2025. On February 12, 2025, the NHL again announced that the tournament would return in February 2028, launching a commitment to send NHL players to the2030 Winter Olympics. It was mentioned that the Olympics and World Cup are going to rotate every two years starting with the2026 Winter Olympics and the teams will be solicited by the league and theNHLPA.[13][14]
In 2004, Canadian American architectFrank Gehry designed a new trophy for the tournament. It is made from a composite alloy of copper and nickel as well as solid cast urethane plastic.[15] The trophy was criticized by the sports community, including theToronto Sun's headline "What is that?"[16]
| Year | Final host | Champion | Final score(s) | Runner-up | Semifinalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 |  Philadelphia (game 1)Montreal (games 2, 3) | United States | 3–4 (OT), 5–2, 5–2 | Canada |  Russia, Sweden |
| 2004 | Toronto | Canada | 3–2 |  Finland |  Czech Republic, United States |
| 2016 | Toronto | Canada | 3–1, 2–1 | Europe | Russia, Sweden |
| 2028 |
| Team | Titles | Runners-up | Semifinals | Total (top 4) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 2 (2004,2016) | 1 (1996) | — | 3 |
| United States | 1 (1996) | — | 1 (2004) | 2 |
| Finland | — | 1 (2004) | — | 1 |
| Europe | — | 1 (2016) | — | 1 |
| Sweden | — | — | 2 (1996,2016) | 2 |
| Russia | — | — | 2 (1996,2016) | 2 |
| Czech Republic | — | — | 1 (2004) | 1 |
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