Insider reveals what Gary Bettman's major announcement is about during his press conference

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MarcO
February 2, 2024 (9:19)

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The NHL tried a new approach this season with its All-Star Game. To reignite the public's interest, it modified the skills competition to turn it into a contest that allows the winner to take home a modest sum of one million dollars. This will be followed by the traditional 3vs3 tournament, with teams previously created during a draft featuring captains Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and the Hughes brothers, Jack and Quinn.

According to Renaud Lavoie, we shouldn't get too used to this format as it could very well change next season. The journalist mentioned on BPM Sports this Thursday morning that the league is considering replacing the All-Star Game with a tournament involving players from Canada, the United States, Sweden, and Finland.

Lavoie even claims that the first edition of this competition could be played at the Bell Centre. The Canadiens are in contention with their longtime rivals, the Boston Bruins, for hosting this tournament.

"Next year we're going to have a tournament between four teams: the best Canadian players, the best American players, the best Finnish players, and the best Swedish players. What I can tell you is that we're going to have an announcement by tomorrow afternoon to confirm that this tournament will take place. And, I think we're going to have fun in Montreal next year! Anyway, Montreal was a finalist for the tournament, Boston was a finalist for the tournament. That means that, in my opinion, Montreal is going to be more on the map next year in terms of what will replace the All-Star Game." - Renaud Lavoie

Nothing is official yet, but Lavoie seems very confident that Montreal will be chosen.

"According to Renaud Lavoie, an announcement is pending on an international tournament in 2025 with 4 teams of NHL players from Canada, the United States, Finland, and Sweden. He mentions that Montreal and Boston are finalists to host this tournament. What do you think?" - Via HFTV

"I think we're going to have fun in Montreal next year." - Renaud Lavoie

It will be interesting to see if this will be confirmed on Friday by Gary Bettman during his traditional All-Star Game press conference.

Update: a confirmation seems to be on the horizon for Montreal, according to Frank Seravalli