March 16 (Reuters) - The 2028 World Cup of Hockey will be staged in the Canadian province of Alberta, with games in Calgary and Edmonton, as well as in Prague in the Czech Republic, the National Hockey League (NHL) said on Monday.
The tournament will feature eight teams and 17 games over 13 days in February 2028, with Calgary and Prague each hosting six round-robin games and one elimination match, while Edmonton will stage the semi-finals and the championship game.
"We think all three cities are going to do great things for this event," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told a press conference.
"We believe this will be a huge success... highlighting the best-on-best that we believe is the best of any sport with the world’s greatest athletes."
Calgary's Scotia Place, a new state-of-the-art arena expected to open for the 2027-28 NHL season, will be among the venues alongside Prague’s O2 Arena and Rogers Place in Edmonton.
The event will mark the fourth edition of the NHL-run international tournament and the first since 2016, when Canada defeated Team Europe in the final in Toronto.
The World Cup of Hockey is organised by the NHL and the NHL Players' Association and features national teams made up primarily of NHL players, though non-league players will also be eligible to participate.
The NHL schedule during the 2027-28 season will pause for 17 days to accommodate the competition and allow participating players time to return to their clubs afterward.
The tournament is part of the league's renewed push for regular best-on-best international competition, which has also included the return of NHL players to the Olympic stage at the Milano Cortina Games after a 12-year absence.
"It is a great day for hockey," NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh said.
"When you look at what's been accomplished over the last two years; the 4 Nations tournament, NHL players returning to the Olympics in Milan this February, and now the World Cup of Hockey... it's great for our players, our fans and the growth of the game."
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
