Editorial

An In-Season Tournament Could Be Coming To The NHL, Which Is Cool And All, But Will People Really Care?

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During the NHL Winter Classic, the league's commissioner Gary Bettman teased that an international-based in-season tournament could be coming to the ice. [Twitter/Screenshot/Public — @BR_OpenIce]

[Twitter/Screenshot/Public — @BR_OpenIce]

Andrew Powell Sports and Entertainment Blogger
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After everybody’s confusion towards the NBA’s in-season tournament… I don’t know how this is gonna go.

While the madness of bowl season (and the College Football Playoff) was going on, it was also a festive day in the NHL with the league holding their annual Winter Classic.

Well, during the New Year’s Day event’s broadcast on TNT, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman teased that an in-season tournament could be coming, and to top it off, it appears that it’s going to be international-based.

Despite the lack of enthusiasm from a lot of fans, the NBA in-season tournament did produce a bit of interest (even from myself to a degree) with better quality games, superstar performances and the league even saw a slight bump to their ratings. It’s just that people didn’t and still don’t know how to exactly grasp the tourney.

But the NHL has to be seeing the success and the potential. After all, why would we all of a sudden get this tease?

And the fact that he said “international” … that is extraordinarily interesting to me.

As we all know, the National Hockey League is VERY international, having all kinds of nationalities playing on the ice here in America. And obviously being in the good ol’ U-S of A, we have a lot of Americans playing, and not to mention that crap load of Canadians.

So I’m like… Could we be seeing a North America vs. International kind of thing? (RELATED: True Hockey Guy: Boston Bruins’ Jeremy Swayman Gloriously Thrashes A Chicken Wing Right In The Middle Of An Interview)

I don’t know, but I’m quite curious to know more, but despite my love for hockey, I’m also concerned that not many people are going to care. I mean, hell, the NBA in-season tournament literally left everybody in a state of confusion, literally nobody knew how to react (and like I said, we still don’t), will the NHL see the same fate?

I just don’t want the NHL to go through this:

We shall see, but I will say this: The NHL is already doing better with an international model. I can dig it.