World Cup In February?

Could the 2011 World Cup of Hockey take place in February, in place of the annual NHL All Star Game?

Maybe, if Glenn Healy gets his way. This from Damian Cox:

If the NHL Players Association has its way, we may soon see the end of the NHL All-Star Game as an annual event.

The union, you see, has a grander plan, one in which an annual break in the NHL season would take place every February, and depending on the year it would be filled by the Olympics, a World Cup, an all-star game or perhaps a spectacular hockey convention.

I like that idea. The article goes on to the say that NHL does not, at least not yet. They would prefer not to close up shop every February, risking their million dollar assets to injury right before the lucrative playoffs.

Hockey would certainly have the spotlight in February, post-NFL and pre-MLB seasons. There is a far greater chance Americans would buy in February rather than September. And a top level international event would certainly wet everyone's appetite for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

And it could possibly replace the lethargic All Star Game, which painfully exists mostly as a schmooze for the sponsors and high rollers in the league.

January and February tend to be hockey's dog days, and this could be the NHL fan's ultimate cure. Don't laugh. Canadian fans already turn their attention to the world juniors every Christmas to take in great hockey and a patriotic moment. Now the rest of the world can, too.