The Golden Knights’ Tomas Hertl may get a home-ice advantage of a different kind in 2028. Czechia was named Monday as one of three host nations for the World Cup of Hockey, bringing the first best-on-best tournament to the country since the 2015 World Championships.
Hertl, a native of Prague, said the announcement was exciting for his homeland. “Czech Republic, we love hockey,” he said. “If I make it, you never know, it’ll be a cool thing. I think it’s exciting, especially for our country. We don’t have many hockey players, but I would say in Europe, we’re one of the biggest loves for hockey.”
The tournament, sanctioned by the NHL, will be held in February 2028, replacing the All-Star Game. It will be the first World Cup since 2016. Prague will join Edmonton and Calgary as host cities. Calgary and Prague each will host seven games — six round‑robin and one elimination game — while Edmonton will host the semifinals and championship game.
Two pools of four teams will play a round robin. The top three from each pool advance to the knockout stage; the top team in each pool gets a bye to the semifinals, while the other four play an elimination game.
Las Vegas was among 28 cities that bid to host, according to NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly. Golden Knights president of business operations John Penhollow confirmed in December that the team placed a bid.
The U.S. and Canada have developed a fierce rivalry in recent best‑on‑best events. Canada won the 4 Nations Face‑Off in February 2025, and the U.S. won Olympic gold this year. Both games went to overtime.
The 2024 IIHF World Championships in Prague drew a record total attendance of 797,727, with 17,413 fans packing O2 Arena for the gold‑medal game. Hertl recalled the atmosphere: “It’s one of the best. I even tell guys when they play in the world championships, the atmosphere for every game is just electric. People love it. The most-watched event is hockey in Czech. People can just take a break from the world just watching big games like that.”
He added with a laugh: “And other people like to drink beer, you know? There’s chemistry between the hockey and the beer.”
