NHL makes major decision on future of international hockey.

The National Hockey League has made a major decision, one that could have a significant impact on the future of international hockey.

On Friday, NHL insider Darren Dreger broke the news that the NHL would be moving forward with preparations for the 2028 World Cup of Hockey without any involvement from hockey's international governing body, the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Now there are a number of reasons that this could be happening, but either way this appears to be great news for fans of international hockey. If the NHL has to break away from the IIHF to make international tournaments happen, I suspect that most fans will care more about the ability to see more international hockey rather than less.

Update: NHL insider David Pagnotta has added to Dreger's report, indicating that there will be 8 countries participating in the World Cup of Hockey according to NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly.

This could provide some insight into why the NHL had made their decision, with Russia potentially being one of the countries expected to participate in the tournament. Russia remains banned from international competition due to IIHF sanctions and this could potentially be a way for the NHL to get around those regulations.

The top stars of the National Hockey League have been entirely absent from meaningful international hockey competition over the past several years and it is clear that fans have been starved for it. The most recent iteration of the World Cup of Hockey, the Four Nations Face-Off, proved to be a huge success for the NHL and was extremely well received by fans.

Hopefully this latest decision from Gary Bettman and company leads to more frequent international tournaments, I for one can't wait to see countries go head to head on the international stage once again.