COLUMBUS, Ohio -- It might turn out to be a one-time thing, but there is little doubt the revamped World Cup of Hockey's inclusion of two collaborative teams will dominate discussion heading into the event in fall 2016.
Gimmick or not, one of the two collaborative squads -- a collection of European All-Stars whose countries aren't included in the tournament's eight-team roster and a collection of young North American stars who are under the age of 24 -- could actually win the thing.
"It's a young man's game now," Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane said at Saturday's announcement of the World Cup of Hockey. "These young kids coming up are really good players, and they seem to get better and better as time goes on. There's times throughout the NHL season where you could say the best players in the game are under 23 years old."
That said, Kane said he's not worried the U.S. squad on which he will certainly be playing could lose to a group of young Canadian and American players.
"Obviously, you want to beat them, but I don't think you worry about being embarrassed or anything losing to them," Kane said.
The World Cup will feature teams from Canada, the United States, Russia, Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland, along with the two collaborative teams, and will be held in Toronto from Sept. 17 through Oct. 1. Each team will play three pre-tournament games, then the eight teams will be divided into two four-team groups. After a three-game round robin, the top two teams in each group will advance to a single game semifinal, and the winners will meet in a best-of-three final series.
All tournament games will be held at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
The expectation is this format will be used for the 2016 event, with a World Cup of Hockey in 2020 featuring a more traditional format with more national teams. Even if that's the case, the novelty of the two fabricated teams will provide endless fodder for discussion and debate.
It could produce some top-end hockey too, which is one of the reasons the NHL and its partner in this endeavor, the NHL Players' Association, opted for this format.
The event, the first since 2004, "promises to be one of the best competitions in hockey history," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said.
Maybe. You'd have to go a long way to rival the 1987 Canada Cup or the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, but there's also no doubt there is potential for great drama.
One thing is for sure: The under-23 squad is going to make life very challenging for USA Hockey, given the plethora of top young American players who will be unavailable to the main U.S. squad.
Brandon Saad, Seth Jones, Jacob Trouba, Alex Galchenyuk and Jack Eichel, to name just a few, will be available only to the "Young Guns" squad, as will talented Canadians Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid, who is expected to be taken first overall in the draft in June.
But the loss to the Canadian squad will be inconsequential compared to the challenges for the U.S.
Still, Jim Johannson of USA Hockey chose to look at the big picture and how this represents a chance for young players such as Eichel, one of the top U.S. prospects in years, to get a chance to play in a high-level international tournament regardless of the color of his jersey.
"I'm excited for the hockey. I'm excited for the hockey fans," Johannson said. "Some of our young guys right now, I guarantee they watch this, and they're excited, and they're thinking about it, and I don't think they're thinking about what jersey [they're] wearing. I think they're thinking, 'I get to play hockey in a great event.'"
Still, it's interesting to look historically at other players who made their mark on the international stage at a young age: Sidney Crosby and Drew Doughty in their early 20s in Vancouver at the 2010 Olympics; Mario Lemieux, then 21, teaming with Wayne Gretzky for Canada at the 1987 Canada Cup; Eric Lindros as a teen in the 1991 Canada Cup; and Gretzky himself in the 1981 Canada Cup, when he led the tournament with 12 points.
None of those players would have played for their national teams in the next World Cup, given the under-23 rule. Is it possible players such as Jones or Eichel will have a breakout moment playing for the Young Guns instead of their home countries?
The Young Guns squad provides another set of challenges for Hockey Canada and USA Hockey, in that they will have to collaborate on a management team (with guidance from the NHL and NHLPA, which will also be working with European federations to name the management team of the Euro All-Stars).
That means two hockey federations have to come together, not just while picking the players but also when deciding on a management team, a coaching staff and support personnel.
And, of course, they'll have to fill those positions for their main teams.
"I think the great part is we're both organizations that at our heart and soul [are] about the good of the game. Sure, this is a higher level, but this is still the good of the game," Johannson said. "I think we both look at it to say we're going to get more experience for people from the management level, the coaching level, the support staff level to, certainly, the players. I think all of us look at it as an opportunity. We work together on so many fronts. This is just going to be a bunch of hockey people working together."
Johannson's Canadian counterpart, Hockey Canada president and CEO Tom Renney, said he's looking forward to the challenge the under-23 team represents.
"I think it's great," said Renney, a former NHL head coach. "I look at that team as kind of the X factor, the Young Guns team, if you want to call it that. With that is a huge fan interest, I would think. My guess is they're going to want to win the tournament. My guess is also that none of those other teams are going to want to lose to that group. To me, I think it's an X factor that really adds something very special to the event."
Asked whether it was like cats and dogs having the two hockey rivals working together on building this team, Renney joked it is always cats and dogs.
"We've got to make sure that we sit down as two federations, if you will, and talk about the dynamic of this whole team," Renney said. "What we want to do is make sure that we identify with a depth chart from an administrative point of view as well, not just from general managers and coaches, for example, but also behind-the-scenes people -- those that can execute the short-term event that have experience with it."
There is nothing to suggest a certain split has to be maintained by the two countries in picking the team, but Renney guessed it would be pretty much split down the middle.
"I think what we'll try to do is be as equitable as we possibly can," he said. "I think the fact that it's 23-and-under helps for that, quite honestly. I think the depth and the population of the rosters would be equitable at the very least."
Even if the 2016 format is just a one-off, it's already got the hockey world buzzing.
"Yeah, I think a lot of us probably wish it was this year coming up and we didn't have to wait until 2016," Kane said. "It's going to be a great event."
"If you can do it where maybe every two years you're putting on your nation's sweater and playing for your country, with the Olympics and the World Cup, it'd be something I think a lot of players would enjoy. I think we're all excited about that aspect of it, and I know growing up, I watched the World Cup of Hockey and always wished I could play in one. So, for this announcement to come, hopefully I'll be a part of Team U.S. for the first time in 2016."
Other tidbits about the World Cup of Hockey:
The rosters will feature 23 players -- three goaltenders and 20 skaters -- and each national association will announce at least 16 players, including at least two goalies, by March 1, 2016. The rest of the rosters have to be identified by June 1. The theory behind this is that if they are named earlier, players might not feel additional pressure to play in the World Championships in spring 2016 to make their respective World Cup rosters.
Tournament games will be played using NHL officials and by NHL rules.
Training camp will begin Sept. 4, and the four European teams will train and have their first two exhibition games in Europe.
It is believed Buffalo is being considered as the site for the teams' final pre-tournament games.