NHL eyeing new international c...

Hockey fans who enjoy international competition featuring the best players in the world have been mostly disappointed for much of the last decade.

We haven't had many of these tournaments involving NHL players. The last time NHL players competed at the Winter Olympics was 2014 when Canada defeated Sweden in the gold medal game. The only international competition with NHL players since the 2014 Olympics was the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

So we've now gone seven years without best-on-best international competition in hockey. Thankfully, that drought likely will end soon.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Thursday the league and NHLPA are working toward creating an international competition in 2025, along with a regular rotation of international tournaments that NHL players compete in.

"So if we do a '25 international tournament, we do the '26 Olympics, the '28 World Cup of Hockey, the '30 Olympics, the '32 World Cup of Hockey, and so on," Daly said, per NHL.com's Dan Rosen. "That's the goal."

An international tournament every two years would be great for the NHL. Sure, there are challenges to shutting down the league for two weeks each February in an Olympic year, but players really want to represent their country and the tournament itself is a great advertisement for the sport.

The list of superstar NHL players who have never competed in the Olympics is a lengthy one. How cool would it be to see Connor McDavid and Canada square off against Auston Matthews and the United States with the gold medal at stake? The 2010 gold medal showdown between Canada and Team USA in Vancouver is one of the most memorable hockey games of the last 25 years.

Hopefully we see something similar in three years. The 2026 Winter Olympics will hosted by Italy.