Team Canada suffered a minor setback Tuesday when World Cup of Hockey organizers announced it had dropped the under-22 roster rule for this summer's tournament, eliminating what could have been a tremendous depth advantage for the Canadian team.
Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson had proposed the idea at a World Cup meeting in Zurich in December and it had seemingly passed without a hitch, that each of the eight countries would carry 26 players, including three under-22 players.
``At the time there was unanimous consent,'' Ken Yaffe, managing director of NHL International and tournament director of the World Cup, said Tuesday evening from New York. ``But over time some of the federations shifted their view on it. We needed unanimity to keep it. It's as simple as that.''
A few select countries, led by the United States, complained to World Cup organizers - the NHL and NHL Players' Association. While their complaints aren't officially known, it's believed it centred around the unfair advantage Canada, in particular, would have with the under-22 rule.
While the Canadians could select the likes of Rick Nash, Jay Bouwmeester and Jason Spezza, among others, for the three under-22 spots, the Americans simply don't have the depth at that level and viewed it as a disadvantage.
World Cup organizers voted to repeal the rule at a meeting last Friday. Now teams can carry up to 26 players (including three goalies) of any age.
``We knew a month or so ago that the U.S. had a concern on it,'' Nicholson said Tuesday from Calgary. ``And then we had the call on Friday. It was really split (among the eight countries), some wanted under-22 and some didn't. The NHL and the NHLPA made a decision.''
Nicholson can live with the change but wonders why it had to happen that way.
``The concern I have is that everyone is in agreement and then all of a sudden it's changed,'' he said. ``The process of how it changes concerns me as much as anything. But we can live with it. We're comfortable, we feel our strength is our depth no matter what age.''
The World Cup rules call for a maximum of 23 skaters and three goalies but only 18 skaters and two goalies can dress, in accordance with NHL rules. Canada dressed 20 skaters and two goalies at the Olympics in Salt Lake two years ago, with only the No. 3 goalie not in uniform.
Nicholson isn't sure Team Canada wants all the extra bodies.
``Now you may have six extra guys around not dressing, and that's something we have to look at,'' Nicholson said. ``You have to have some, because you may have injuries, you can't get caught short. But how far we take that, we'll have to look at it and take a pulse from the players.''
The deadline to name rosters continues to be a moving target. Originally the date was Feb. 1, which was universally attacked on all fronts because it was much too early before the Aug. 30-Sept. 14 tournament. So it was later changed to ``mid-May.''
Yaffe now says that the eight countries will have a window between May 10-25 to name their rosters. The 16-day deadline period is sandwiched between the end of the IIHF's world hockey championships in Prague and the beginning of the NHL's Stanley Cup final.
The World Cup of Hockey takes place in Europe and North America from Aug. 30 to Sept. 14, with Canada opening the tournament Aug. 31 in Montreal against the defending champions from the U.S. Canada opens a 10-day training camp in Ottawa on Aug. 19.