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Report: Ryder Cup-style tourney could be midseason 2017-18

Gary Bettman, Rene Fasel, Don Fehr

Gary Bettman, Rene Fasel, Don Fehr

AP

The NHL and NHLPA are apparently contemplating a “midseason” Ryder Cup-style tournament, pitting top North American and European players against each other, in 2017-18.

According to ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun, the “concept remains very much in flux,” but as others have pointed out, the timing does bring the NHL’s participation in the 2018 Winter Olympics into question.

Which is interesting, because the chances that NHLers would travel to South Korea in February of 2018 actually seemed to have improved with the awarding of the 2022 Games to Beijing. In fact, according to LeBrun, the league and players’ association have plans to meet with the IIHF “in the next several months” to discuss future plans.

We’ll have to wait and see how this all shakes out. The players, by and large, have said they’d like the NHL to continue its participation in the Olympics. The league, however, has been less enthusiastic.

ESPN originally reported that the Ryder Cup-style tournament would “see the two teams play a series of games, likely in Europe, likely in London, possibly in the fall of 2018.”

Related: Bettman would prefer World Cup to Olympics