TORONTO -- The 2016 World Cup of Hockey, which culminated with Canadas 2-1 victory over Europe on Thursday night, was a joint venture between the NHL and the National Hockey League Players Association, which split the events profits 50-50. ESPN.coms Pierre LeBrun sat down with NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr on Thursday night before the final game to discuss the events impact and its future.?Pierre LeBrun:?Can you share your observations so far on how the World Cup has played out?Donald Fehr: The first thing I would obviously look for is, how do the players feel? And it seems to be uniformly positive. They like the event, they like the format, they really enjoy the level of the competition and doing it in one place without having to fly around the world. So thats really good.Secondly, I think the public acceptance of the quality of the event has also been really good. In terms of the future though, and going back to see what could we have done better or differently -- what would it look like if it was in a different place, if the format was slightly altered -- thats yet to come. I think were going to examine it to see what can be made better, not to see what was a problem.LeBrun: [The NHLPA] has agreed with the league that there will be another World Cup, right? There wont be another 12-year wait like the last time?Fehr: No, [the next one will be held in] 2020, absent something very unusual happening.LeBrun: That leads to my next question. Theres an opt-out window in 2019 for either side to announce it is pulling out of the collective bargaining agreement (in September 2020). What impact could that have on a 2020 World Cup?Fehr: Theoretically it could have an impact -- just like anytime youre negotiating, it could have an impact on the [NHL] season. But you cant plan for that. You have to plan for normal operations and to get ready to make it work. One of the side benefits that I hope grows out of this effort is that we develop a better day-by-day working relationship (with the league) -- not just the labor relations, but in day-by-day [issues], and that we learn to appreciate what the other side can bring. We learn to make it better. Maybe its a little extra nudge to try to avoid the problems that have plagued the sport for so long.LeBrun: Well, gee, that sounds promising. But I guess well see.Fehr (smiling): We will always see ...LeBrun: Many hockey fans who tweet at me seem to confuse the existence of this event as a replacement for the Olympics. I keep telling them that one has nothing to do with the other. In a perfect world, I think you believe that both could exist side by side, correct?Fehr: Yes, I personally do. I dont think theres any doubt about that. The Olympics, you have to remember, is an event onto itself; its unlike anything else. Its a multisport event, you have people from all over the world and it has its own special charm, its own special issues. But its distinct from anything else.Thats an entirely different thing, I believe, than one sport saying: Look, we want to have a celebration for ourselves. We want to have the very best. And I think that we can have a higher quality of competition here than we can (in the Olympics), just like the U.S. Open is likely to have a higher quality of competition than the Olympic golf tournament is ever going to have. And therefore, you can do both. And maybe you can do some other things, too, as you begin to grow the game internationally. But one doesnt necessarily preclude the other at all.LeBrun: This week the NHL painted a bleak picture for participation in the 2018 Olympics in South Korea unless theres a change in tone from the IOC as far as covering some the costs that have been covered in the past (for players travel and insurance, etc.). Whats your sense of where this stands right now in regard to South Korea?Fehr: Well, Im going to say a couple of things about that. First of all, the players obviously want to go, provided appropriate agreements can be reached. Theres no question about that. The second thing is, we do have a long history of certain kinds of expenses being covered, basically in recognition of the fact that youre shutting down a $4 billion business in the middle of the season. The third thing is that, although I dont know what the magic dates are for [finishing] negotiations, I recall that we didnt wrap up an agreement on Sochi until seven or eight months ahead of time. Well just take it as a matter of course. I choose to look at it in an optimistic way. Hopefully, itll work.LeBrun: The league seems to be suggesting a Dec. 31 deadline for an Olympic decision.Fehr: Well, Dec. 31 has some relevance because schedules have to be put together. It doesnt mean there arent alternatives or you couldnt move some things around at a later point in time. But the requirement to put a schedule together is not a made-up thing. Thats real.LeBrun: There has been a lot chatter about what the NHLPA does with its side of the profits. You are a co-owner in this particular event, which in itself in unique. Youre going to make some money -- probably not as much as youd hoped. You have a 700-plus player membership but also 160-plus players within that who played in this tournament. The debate internally, from what I can gather, is what take the players here at the tournament should get compared with the players at large. Is that fair?Fehr: First of all, theres a lot of debate and discussion going on, and itll continue over the next several weeks -- but I would be surprised if it persists past the beginning of the season. But its really funny. When unions come out and make a pronouncement -- Weve looked at this, and 100 percent of everybody agrees to A, B, C -- then people say theres been no debate, no discussion, no democracy, no anything like that. And then when an issue comes up, and the players are actively debating, discussing, talking among themselves, trying to reach consensus, then people want to talk about division.All I can say is, thats what the players are supposed to do. And thats what we encourage them to do. Im not concerned about it getting worked out in a reasonable time frame. Thats not a problem at all. I dont think theres ever been any question that, on a per-person basis, the players who participated [in the World Cup] would get multiples of what would be distributed to anybody else. Exactly what that percentage is going to be is what the discussion is about.LeBrun: My last question has to do with the format of the tournament. Theres a debate already about whether the next World Cup should have a traditional field, country versus country only, or whether it should bring back the 23-and-under North America team and Team Europe. What are your thoughts?Fehr: One of the most positive things about this is that when the format was announced, you had a lot of questions, a lot of discussion, a lot of people who are very close to the game saying, What about this? What about tradition? Hows it going to work?To see those opinions change, in some cases, as we got close to the event, and then to see that youre going to have discussion afterward, that suggests to me that people care -- that they think its important, that its an issue that bears serious attention. And thats all to the good.Were going to look at everything, and obviously well talk to the players. We want to look at the reaction in various markets, including the Team Europe markets. 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