Canada’s 6–0 win over Qatar at BC Place on June 18 showed what a global event can do for a host nation. Jonathan David scored a hat trick, Cyle Larin opened the scoring in the 16th minute, and Vancouver turned one group-stage match into a national sports moment.
Hockey cannot copy soccer’s reach overnight. It does not need to. The sport can build a stronger place on the world stage by making its biggest international games clear, regular, and accessible. The 2028 World Cup of Hockey offers a real test.
That opportunity also arrives as sports audiences become more fragmented. Fans follow games through broadcasts, social platforms, and new Canadian online casinos, but the product still has to create a reason to stop and watch. Hockey’s answer is elite players representing recognizable national teams in meaningful games.
The NHL and NHL Players’ Association have set February 2028 as the date for the World Cup of Hockey, with Calgary, Edmonton, and Prague as host cities. Calgary and Prague will stage round-robin games, while Edmonton will host both semifinals and the championship game. It is a compact plan, but it gives the tournament a sharper international identity than the 2016 edition.
One Event Fans Can Understand
Soccer has one advantage that hockey cannot ignore. The FIFA World Cup is the sport’s undisputed international peak. Players, clubs, broadcasters, and fans all understand its place in the calendar. Four years of qualifying build toward one tournament.
Hockey has often split that attention. The Olympics carry enormous prestige, but NHL participation has not always been guaranteed. The IIHF World Championship has a history and strong support in Europe, yet it overlaps with the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The World Cup of Hockey has featured the NHL’s best players, but it has arrived without a fixed rhythm.
That is the problem the 2028 event must solve. The World Cup should not feel like a one-off promotional tournament. It needs a reliable cycle, clear qualification rules, and a format that fans can follow years before puck drop. National teams should remain national teams. Canada versus the United States, Sweden versus Finland, and Czechia versus Slovakia already carry decades of rivalry. The tournament does not need manufactured identities to create drama.
A stable schedule would also help players commit. Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Cale Makar, Leon Draisaitl, and David Pastrnak can turn any international game into must-watch television. Their matchups mean more when the stakes are obvious and the event returns often enough to build memories across generations.
Build Beyond Hockey’s Core Markets
Hockey will never have soccer’s low barrier to entry. A soccer ball and open space can start a game almost anywhere. Hockey requires ice time, equipment, coaching, and local infrastructure. The IIHF has 84 member national associations, a far smaller base than soccer’s worldwide network.
Still, hockey does not need 200 competitive national programs to matter globally. It needs to deepen competition outside its traditional powers and make those gains visible. Germany’s rise has already shown the upside. Germany reached the 2023 IIHF World Championship final and pushed Canada to overtime before losing 5–2. Latvia won bronze at that same tournament, its first major men’s hockey medal.
Those results create stories that travel beyond Canada, the United States, and the Nordic countries. They also prove that international hockey benefits when more nations enter a tournament, as they believe they can beat an established power. Upsets give casual viewers a reason to care. Rivalries keep them coming back.
The NHL can support that growth without trying to replace domestic leagues. Pre-tournament camps, youth clinics, and exhibition games in emerging markets can connect stars with new audiences. Prague’s role in 2028 matters for that reason. It places a major part of the event in a city with deep hockey roots and a direct link to Central European fans.
Make The Games Feel Bigger
International hockey already has the raw material for a major global event. The game is fast, physical, and easy to understand once the puck stays in view. Its challenge is presentation. Every game needs to feel consequential, not like an exhibition squeezed into a crowded calendar.
The 2028 tournament will feature 17 games. That limited slate can be a strength if organizers treat each matchup as an event. Build coverage around captains, homegrown players, and national history. Give supporters time to learn the stakes. Avoid scheduling marquee games against each other.
Canada’s World Cup win over Qatar offers a useful lesson. The score mattered, but the reaction came from context. The country waited 92 years for its first men’s World Cup victory. David’s three goals became part of a larger national story.
Hockey can create its own moments with the right stage. A Canada–United States final in Edmonton, a Czechia comeback in Prague, or a German breakthrough against Sweden would not match the scale of the FIFA World Cup. It could still command global attention and expand the sport’s audience.
Hockey does not need to rival soccer in every measure. It needs an international calendar that makes its best players, fiercest rivalries, and rising nations impossible to ignore. If the 2028 World Cup of Hockey delivers that, it can become more than a successful tournament. It can give hockey a clearer claim on the world stage.
