In a perfect world, the NHL would set aside time during September's World Cup of Hockey to announce that it will take part in the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics and then lay out its ambitious international calendar. Much oohing and aching would ensue.
But that's not going to happen.
As aggressive as the world's best hockey league is being as it tries to bring its game to, well, the world, there remains a gaping hole in the NHL's international schedule and thus in the overall global future of the league.
The NHL -- along with the players and the National Hockey League Players' Association executive director Don Fehr, who is an unabashed supporter of international hockey -- wants nothing more than to extend its footprint globally.