How about getting the hockey juices flowing with the Stanley Cup final teams touring Europe for a September series against Europes top clubs? As the NHL and the NHL Players Association work to finalize an agreement to bring back the World Cup of Hockey in September 2016, a tournament of the top eight hockey nations to be held in Montreal and Toronto, officials with the league and players union are already musing over other plans to spur revenue. The NHL has rich, long-term TV contracts in both Canada and the U.S. and it generates billions of dollars from corporate sponsorships, ticket sales and merchandise sales. Several NHL team owners told TSN that the leagues biggest unrealized source of revenue is income generated from abroad. North America, after all, represents less than five per cent of the worlds population. The timing has never been better for the NHL to lk at international rights, said Ken Yaffe, a former executive with the NHL who oversaw the leagues international business. The NHL has labour stability and media rights stability, said Yaffe, who now runs Yaffe Sports Ventures, a New York sports advisory. The last World Cup, even at the darkest hour of the league, with the CBA expiring a day after the Canada-Finland game in September 2004, was still a bright light for the sport and generated profitability. Now with the great domestic fthold for the league, what better time to lk overseas for new ventures? To that end, officials with the league and NHLPA have discussed the possibility of establishing a four-year cycle that might see the league continue to participate in a mid-season All-Star Game, the Winter Olympics, a rekindled World Cup, and games between NHL clubs and those from Europe. One concept discussed would see NHL teams play against clubs in hockeys new Champions League, which was conceived after soccers hugely popular international tournament of the same name. The Champions League is in its first year and features 26 teams from countries such as Germany, Austria, Finland and the Czech Republic. We have been informed by the league and the union that they have not decided about their fall 2015 European plans, said Szymon Szemberg, the Champions Leagues chief operating officer. Once they do, we would like to crdinate our plans with them. To be sure, discussions about new international ventures between the NHL and its players association are in their early stages, and its possible that the league and NHLPA might decide not to commit to any other international plans until after the World Cup in 2016. Moreover, organizing international events are complex. Timing is an issue. Some NHL franchise owners would resist the idea of taking a mid-season break in February to play games against European clubs, one senior team executive said, citing insurance and player injury issues. This is a league thats still pretty traditional, the team executive told TSN. You would have some owners questioning any kind of pause in the schedule because it might affect a teams momentum and the teams in the south would resist because that time in February after Super Bowl, before March Madness, is their time to shine. In 2014, the NHL tk a break in February to participate in the Sochi Winter Games. But the World Cup will be held in September 2016, before the start of the NHL season. Thats a time of the year that more easily lends itself to be used for international money-generating events, sources told TSN. You could easily start the NHL season at the end of October, said one official involved in talks between the NHL and its players association. Guys nowadays are coming into training camp in great shape and then for the first month of the season, you have some teams with four- or five-day breaks because schedule makers dont want to go up against the NFL and baseball playoffs. That means guys are practicing more during October and the truth is, they dont need it, the person said. During the shortened season when the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, they had one full practice. All year. You know how many full practices they had last year? Two. International revenue will be crucial, especially for the union in coming years if the league is to expand its $3 billion-per-year business. The unions licensing revenue is down sharply compared to past years, a source confirmed, because the video-game and trading-card industries have been hurt by an overall slowdown in the economy, limiting their ability to pay rights fees to all sports leagues. Even if the league and union are able to reach agreements with one another, as well as European teams, over international games in September, there are other possible challenges. You have European leagues starting their season a month before us, so you could have those teams taking a game against an NHL team very seriously, a source told TSN. Then you have the NHL teams who lk at this as an exhibition game. And thats how players can get hurt. The NHL has already toyed with international games. From 2008-2010, after the NHL rejected the proposal of buying the Champions League - a move that would have amounted to a $20 million investment to establish a permanent toehold for the NHL in Europe - NHL clubs including the Carolina Hurricanes, New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning traveled to Europe to play games against local European clubs as well as in NHL regular season games. The NHL has made modest investment overseas, but theyve been distracted over the past 10 years because for a period, you have had teams in trouble, problems in leadership at the NHLPA and more recently, great success with the outdr games, which frankly are easier to organize than international efforts, an NHL source told TSN. The NHL and union in recent months have also discussed the leagues future participation in the Olympics. Its possible that the NHL might decide to limit the ages of players who participate in the Olympics, following soccers lead. To ensure the World Cup is soccers marquee property, FIFA only allows three players over the age of 23 to play on each Olympic team. Puma Rihanna Baratas . The seventh-ranked Berdych wants to focus on the ATP Tour after helping the Czechs beat the Netherlands in the first round. Seeking their third straight Davis Cup title, the Czechs will rely again on veteran Radek Stepanek. Puma Baratas España . - After three days of light, make that very light, workouts, Team Irvin and Team Carter are ready for tonights Pro Bowl. http://www.pumabaratas.es/. The NFL announced Friday that the Texans sixth-year veteran offensive lineman will replace Philadelphia Eagles tackle Jason Peters in the Jan. Zapatillas Puma Baratas . - Veteran Kings defenceman Robyn Regehr, sidelined since Game 1 of the Anaheim series, says hes close to returning. Puma Basket Baratas . -- David Ortiz saved his only hit for a key moment for the Boston Red Sox.South Bend, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - Jerian Grant scored 23 points and handed out eight assists to help No. 12 Notre Dame shake off a slow start and top Miami, 75-70, on Saturday. The Fighting Irish (17-2, 5-1 ACC) trailed by as many as 12 in the second half but had enough time to recover and sht their way out of their hole. V.J. Beachem added 13 points on 3-of-7 shting from 3-point range and Pat Connaughton contributed 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Hurricanes (12-5, 2-2) were led by Sheldon McClellans 17 points and JaQuan Newton chipped in 16. Tonye Jekiri scored eight with a game-high 13 rebounds, but star Angel Rodriguez had just four points on 1-of-10 shting. Notre Dame came into the game leading the nation in field-goal percentage at 53.0, but made only two of its first 16 attempts from long distance. After Miami got back-to-back 3s from Davon Reed and McClellan to go up 43-31, the Irish broke out of their slump. Demetrius Jackson connected from beyond the arc on Notre Dames next possession, and the Irish got triples on their next three trips down the flr to cut Miamis lead to five points. They shot 7-of-15 from 3-point range in the second half. The Irish sn went on a 7-0 run that tied the game for the first time since it was 5-5 early in the first half. Connaughton missed the 3, but Jackson crashed the boards and hit the follow-up basket to even the score at 50. On their next possession, Grant passed to Steve Vasturia from the flor and Vasturias running layup gave Notre Dame its first lead of the game.dddddddddddd After some back-and-forth play, the Irish tk the lead for gd on Grants triple with less than 6 1/2 minutes to go. James Palmer responded with a jumper to cut Notre Dames lead to one, but the Hurricanes would only hit three more shots from the flr the rest of the game, including McClellans dunk as time expired. Miami never trailed in an uncharacteristic first half for Notre Dame. Averaging the fourth-fewest turnovers per game in the country with 9.2, the Irish committed two in the first minute and five in the first 7 1/2 minutes. They shot just 40.7 percent from the field in the first half. The Hurricanes still only led by one at the break. After Palmers 3 with 7 1/2 minutes to play in the half put Miami up eight, Notre Dame scored on four straight possessions and would go into the break trailing 30-29. Game Notes Notre Dame now leads the all-time series, 9-8 ... Notre Dames Zach Auguste returned after a one-game absence due to a reported academic issue and scored four points in nine minutes ... Miamis Ivan Cruz Uceda scored two points in his Hurricanes debut after sitting out the first half of the season with a suspension issued by the NCAA ... The Hurricanes fell to 10-1 when leading at halftime ... Notre Dame inducted Tom Hawkins, the schls all-time leading rebounder, into its Ring of Honor. ' ' '