The IIHF President Luc Tardif, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, and Marty Walsh, the Executive Director of the NHLPA met with the press and talk all things international hockey.
photo: IIHF
As the men’s tournament is also fully under way, and the whole world is turning its eyes on Olympic hockey, the IIHF President Luc Tardif, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, and Marty Walsh, the Executive Director of the NHLPA, joined forces in the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena media center to meet with the press and talk all things international hockey.
While the topics covered a wide range of themes, one message became crystal clear. The three men were very pleased to be in Milan to witness best-on-best Olympic hockey, an event – as IIHF President Tardif pointed out – that is the result of strong collaboration with the IOC, the Milano Cortina Organizing Committee, the NHL, and the NHLPA.
“We are all here for ice hockey, I want to thank the IOC, Milano-Cortina organizing committee, NHL, NHLP for all the work put in the last years. It is because of the strong collaboration with all these parties that we are here, delivering a world-class Olympic hockey tournament with the best players in the world.” Said Tardif.
“The co-operation is there and I think it's important to have a fantastic tournament and surf on its success,” he added.
International hockey is certainly riding high at the moment, and with both the IIHF, the NHL and the NHLPA on board, there’s no reason the current trend can’t continue.
“We're looking forward to focusing on France in four years,” said Bettman.
“There is an incredible appetite for international best-on-best hockey because it has been and will continue to be extraordinary,” he added.
It’s not only the league and the fans who like the international tournaments. The players’ desire to participate in the Olympics hasn’t exactly been a secret.
“Fans and players want to see best-on-best hockey. What we're seeing here is that the three of us up at the stage are working together collectively, together, to make sure that fans in the world get to see best-on-best when they're 18 years old and when they're in the NHL,” said Walsh.
“We should focus on these Olympics, the tournament has just started and we're going to have a great tournament here, and it's exciting,” he added.
For more information about the tournament please visit www.iihf.com
While the topics covered a wide range of themes, one message became crystal clear. The three men were very pleased to be in Milan to witness best-on-best Olympic hockey, an event – as IIHF President Tardif pointed out – that is the result of strong collaboration with the IOC, the Milano Cortina Organizing Committee, the NHL, and the NHLPA.
“We are all here for ice hockey, I want to thank the IOC, Milano-Cortina organizing committee, NHL, NHLP for all the work put in the last years. It is because of the strong collaboration with all these parties that we are here, delivering a world-class Olympic hockey tournament with the best players in the world.” Said Tardif.
“The co-operation is there and I think it's important to have a fantastic tournament and surf on its success,” he added.
International hockey is certainly riding high at the moment, and with both the IIHF, the NHL and the NHLPA on board, there’s no reason the current trend can’t continue.
“We're looking forward to focusing on France in four years,” said Bettman.
“There is an incredible appetite for international best-on-best hockey because it has been and will continue to be extraordinary,” he added.
It’s not only the league and the fans who like the international tournaments. The players’ desire to participate in the Olympics hasn’t exactly been a secret.
“Fans and players want to see best-on-best hockey. What we're seeing here is that the three of us up at the stage are working together collectively, together, to make sure that fans in the world get to see best-on-best when they're 18 years old and when they're in the NHL,” said Walsh.
“We should focus on these Olympics, the tournament has just started and we're going to have a great tournament here, and it's exciting,” he added.
For more information about the tournament please visit www.iihf.com