Victoria Cup

There is some pretty neat news coming out of the IIHF today. The IIHF announced that they are creating a new hockey tournament, the Victoria Cup, that would feature two teams from the European Champions Cup and one NHL team. Its set to kickoff in September, 2008. From what I can tell, the NHL team will not be a "Dream Team", but a regular NHL team.

The IIHF said it hoped the annual tournament, which would be played in Europe, would eventually include the Stanley Cup champion but initially the event would have a team other than the NHL champions taking part.

And this from IIHF President Rene Fasel:

"For over 35 years European fans have been asking the question how can European clubs match against an NHL team. Now we will have an NHL team coming to play for the Victoria Cup."

I would be curious to see this match as well, especially if they managed post-free agency to reassemble whichever team won the Stanley Cup that year and get them to participate. And its a great opportunity to watch the European passing game versus the NHL's dump and chase style. I hope Bettman works out a TV deal for it to be carried on this side of the pond.