Plenty likely will turn down Nash’s pitch – history shows that many players are just ready for a mental reset and some beach time at the end of a long season – but the passion the Blue Jackets director of player development has for the tournament was clear in an interview this week.
This year’s event will be held May 10-26 in Prague and Ostrava, Czechia, in front of what will be spirited European crowds. Without the focus on the Stanley Cup Playoffs overseas, the tournament has a devoted following on the continent, and Nash says players who join Team Canada will be surprised by how engrossing the action can be.
“It doesn’t seem like that big of a deal in North America,” Nash acknowledged. “Then you go over there and the games are sold out and there’s almost like a soccer-type atmosphere. Last time I was over as AGM, I ran into a group that came from Canada and they had never experienced it, and they were like, ‘How is this not bigger back home?’
“Funny enough, I got to play in the one in Halifax (in 2008), which it’s very rare to have the World Championships in Canada, but it was incredible because it was Quebec and Halifax. I would love to see it happen more, but the atmosphere is incredible. This is a huge deal around the world.”
It's clear to see Nash has the recruiting aspect of the job down pat, something he learned in 2022 when he helped then-GM Shane Doan put together a Canada squad that went to the gold-medal game before losing to the home Finns. Finalizing a roster is not an easy task, though, Nash acknowledged, because it’s a bit of a puzzle between the players who decide not to take part and those who join the squad once their teams are eliminated early in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
One ace in the hole Nash hopes to be able to tap into this time around is the fact the international hockey calendar is about to get red-hot over the next couple of years. The NHL has announced the Four Nations Face-Off that will take the place of the All-Star Game next February and will feature the best players from Canada, the United States, Finland and Sweden, while NHL players are slated to return to the Winter Olympic Games in 2026.
With NHL players not going to the Olympics in 2018 and then again in 2022 because of COVID, it’s been quite some time since there was a high-level best-on-best tournament featuring the top players in the world. Nash’s hope is that with multiple such events on the way, players might be more inclined to get their feet wet and get some more experience at the international level.
“I’m hoping this time is going to be a little different with Four Nations and the Olympics coming up; it seems like there’s a new buzz around international hockey,” Nash said. “I mean, you think about (Canada) playing against the Americans in 2010 (at the Olympics) in Vancouver and what that did for the game not only in Canada but in the U.S. I believe. I believe people are starving for that international hockey.
“I think it’s a big deal right now to go over and play in the World Championships. I feel like the international game is a little different for these guys, so there’s a chance to go over and make a name for themselves and state their case moving forward for the bigger tournaments.”
As such, Nash is honored to be asked to lead the way in 2024, and this is the most high-profile opportunity he’s received at the international level since joining the Blue Jackets’ front office in 2019 shortly after his retirement from the game.
Anyone involved in hockey will tell you that representing your country is one of the highest honors in the game, and Nash did it in eight times between the Olmypics, Worlds and World Juniors. Now, he’ll be the man whose stamp is on a squad going for gold this spring in Czechia.
“It’s an honor that Hockey Canada and the higher-ups put their trust in me to put a team together and build this team and compete for a world championship,” he said. “It really is a true honor. I never passed up an opportunity as a player to play for Hockey Canada, so when I got asked to do this, there was no chance I was giving it up.”
