Honestly, don’t know whether to laugh or cry when we think of the World Cup of Hockey.



Abused, neglected, kicked around like an old rag doll by the people entrusted with its well-being.



If we include the World Cup of Hockey’s immediate ancestors, the Canada Cup tournaments of the late 1970s and 1980s, the best-on-best international gathering has provided some of the most compelling hockey moments of all time.



The 1987 Canada Cup featured Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux stunning a mighty Russian squad in the epic final.



The 1996 World Cup of Hockey saw an upstart group of Americans knock off some of the greatest Canadian players of all time in a searing three-game final.



And the 1976 Canada Cup was the first in a series featuring the incomparable Bobby Orr in an MVP turn.



Now?



It’s hard to consider the World Cup of Hockey with anything but a jaundiced view given how the NHL and the NHL Players’...