The NHL’s loss is turning out to be international hockey’s gain. Nearly 400 of the league’s best players made the decision to play in Europe during the lockout, boosting the global popularity of a sport that is rapidly losing ground in the U.S. Just as importantly, the upcoming World Championships in Austria could well become the most significant international tournament in recent memory, both in terms of the quality of play and of hockey’s long-term health.

The World Championships usually coincide with the Stanley Cup playoffs, and have typically been an afterthought in North America. The only NHLers eligible to participate are those whose teams have been eliminated from the playoffs, and many of them instead choose to get an early start on their recuperation from the NHL’s arduous season.

Last year, for example, Team USA won the bronze medal with a ragtag team of journeymen. The medal-winning shootout goal was scored by Andy Roach, a defenseman who spent the past five seasons in the German Elite League; the team’s only top-tier forward was the Buffalo Sabres’ Chris Drury.

That shouldn’t be an issue this year. For months, hockey observers have speculated that the European hockey powers would stock their teams with locked-out NHL stars, and the official cancellation of the season last week only made that more likely.

“Basically, with almost the entire pool available, the teams can select whichever players they want,” said Simon Szemberg of the International Ice Hockey Federation, which is organizing the tournament. “We assume that they will name their best possible squads.”

If the world’s top players do indeed show up, they will get to showcase their skills on the international surface, which is a dozen feet wider than NHL rinks. This gives better skaters a huge advantage and opens up the game considerably. Much as in the 2002 Olympics, teams are likely to emphasize skating ability over strength; the U.S. squad, for example, might choose a speedy defenseman like the Devils’ Brian Rafalski over a plodding giant like the Red Wings’ Derian Hatcher.

The European Leagues’ playoffs end in mid-April, giving each country plenty of time to hold a training camp in time for the Worlds, which begin on April 30. The importance of these training camps cannot be overstated, for they will enable teams to establish coherent on-ice strategies and assemble the best possible line combinations.

This could give this year’s tournament a crispness that was sometimes lacking from the 2002 Olympics. That winter, the NHL shut down for a very short time, and the Olympic tournament began almost as soon as the players arrived in Salt Lake City. The early games often resembled All-Star contests: Teams had yet to gel, and coaches resorted to putting NHL teammates together on the ice whenever possible.

This spring, by contrast, top European teams like Sweden, Russia, and the Czech Republic stand to gain from the NHLPA’s migration to Europe. Most of the best European players have spent the season playing together in the domestic leagues – either as teammates or opponents – and learning each other’s tendencies. When training camps open, it will be easiest for the Swedes and Russians to acclimate.

As for Canada, which won gold at last year’s Worlds, much depends on Wayne Gretzky. The Great One has had great success as executive director of Team Canada, building the teams that won Olympic gold in 2002 and followed up with a 2004 World Cup win on the eve of the NHL work stoppage.

Until this week, there was a possibility that the NHL would bar league executives such as Gretzky, who is the managing partner of the Phoenix Coyotes, from participating in international tournaments during the lockout, but the league wisely decided on Tuesday not to interfere. Though Gretzky has not yet made up his mind whether he will head to Austria, his fellow Hall of Famer, Mario Lemieux, has indicated that he will likely play in the World Championships for the first time since 1985, his rookie season in the NHL.

“You’re going to have the best players,” Lemieux, who captained Team Canada in the Olympics and World Cup, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “It’s going to be a great tournament.”

The Finnish team enjoyed spectacular success in the 2004 World Cup, earning a silver medal in their finest international performance since losing to Team USA in the 1980 Olympic final. Finnish coach Erkka Westerlund hopes to build on last fall’s performance at the World Championships.

“I hope the base of the team will be close to the team we had in the World Cup,” Westerlund said.

The status of the American team is less clear. Since their stirring victory over Canada in the 1996 World Cup, Team USA’s roster has remained largely the same. Jeremy Roenick, Brett Hull, Mike Modano, Bill Guerin, and Doug Weight have led the forwards, while Brian Leetch, Chris Chelios, and Hatcher have anchored the blue line. The only major change for the Americans was when Robert Esche replaced the retired Mike Richter as the starting goalie in 2004.

Perhaps it is time for a changing of the guard. Though it might compromise Team USA’s chances of winning this spring, the Americans could rebuild around the players who led them to the 2004 World Junior Championship gold medal: Zach Parise, Patrick O’Sullivan, Drew Stafford, Dan Fritsche, and Ryan Suter. The U.S. team is expected to announce its coaching staff in the middle of March, and the list of invited players will be made public at the beginning of April.

Over the next few months, the buzz surrounding the Worlds will continue to grow, especially once Gretzky, Lemieux, and other big names get involved. This event will not be overshadowed by other Olympic events or – as in the case of last summer’s World Cup – by the impending NHL lockout. Instead, the focus in Austria will be squarely on the hockey, and on which country can claim the gold medal.

For a sport that has suffered no end of embarrassment over the course of the past two weeks, the World Championships should turn out to be a much-needed panacea. The tournament won’t solve the NHL’s labor problems, but it should remind hockey fans the world over why they fell in love with “the coolest game on Earth.”

Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.