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TORONTO -- The question, which doesnt yet have an answer, is what a successful World Cup of Hockey means in the Olympic equation.On the eve of this tournament dropping the puck here in this hockey-mad country, one ponders: If the event ends up being a smashing hit, will that lead NHL owners to believe theyve found their new, best-on-best vehicle? After all, NHL owners have never been that enamored with shutting down their season in mid-February for an Olympic tournament they make no money from.To which Alex Ovechkin on Thursday reminded the hockey world that nothing replaces the Olympics, no matter how much fun and entertaining the World Cup of Hockey might be.I asked the Washington Capitals superstar if, as in the lead-up to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, when he threatened to play even if the NHL didnt participate, he felt the same way about the South Korea Olympics in 2018.My decision is the same, he responded. So I dont know whats going to happen right now, but we just have to wait [for] what they say and well see. ...Its a situation where you dont know whats going to happen, he added. But obviously, I said Im going to play.Ovechkin doesnt speak for all NHL players; in fact, I think theres a wide range of thoughts and beliefs about how the league should proceed.First and foremost, though, its foolish to think that the level of success of this World Cup isnt related in any fashion to the Olympic discussion. It has to be, regardless of the decision. Theyre tied to each other in some fashion.Yeah, definitely, agreed Team Canada captain Sidney Crosby. This will be something that people are going to compare, that players are going to relate to when youre talking about making a decision like that. Theres so many factors: the timing of it, where the Olympics are, but the fact is, if theres an ability to put on an event like this, its an option and it probably makes the decision harder, especially if people enjoy it. You can only do so many things and you want to be involved in everything, but at the end of the day, this looks like its going to be a great event -- I havent been able to be part of it before. ... Ive had great experiences in the Olympics; well have to see what happens.Its all a moot point if the International Olympic Committee doesnt change its tune when it comes to paying for players insurance and travel costs, something the IOC has always done dating back to Nagano 1998.Still, I think the Olympic question goes beyond that. Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014 were held in countries rich in hockey history. Will players care as much about wanting to travel across the world to nonhockey countries?Depends on whom you ask.One hundred percent, young Canadian phenom Connor McDavid said Thursday, without hesitation, when asked about wanting the NHL to stay in the Olympics. For some of the guys that have been there, the answer might be a little bit different, but for us young guys that have never had an opportunity to play and win an Olympics, I think it would be something a little bit different. For me, personally, Ive always dreamt of playing in the Olympics and representing my country there. The World Cup is awesome and all that, and its similar in that kind of sense. But do I hope it takes over the Olympics? Not at all. I definitely want the Olympics to be an option for NHL guys.Two-time Team USA Olympian Patrick Kane doesnt want the World Cup to be a replacement for the Olympics; rather, he wants the World Cup to be an important add-on to the best-on-best competitions.I dont know if you want to think of it as a substitution; for me, I look at it as having the chance to play for your country every two years at such a high level, said the Chicago Blackhawks star, last seasons Hart Trophy winner as NHL MVP. Hopefully, its something thats put in there along with the Olympics.Echoed Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask of Finland: I dont think you can ever replace the Olympics, but if you can add to it, and keep them both in the picture, I think that would be a great thing.Besides, Rask said, the opportunity to sell the game in a new market like South Korea could be of great benefit.I think it would be a great thing for hockey to go there and kind of showcase for Asian people, show what hockey is all about, said Rask. I think Olympics are great. If we have a chance to go, I think we should go.Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price knows where his vote lies.The Olympics are a special event, and I really enjoyed my experience going to Sochi and being able to experience that world event, he said. It was really special for me and family to be able to go and take that in. It would be kind of sad to not be able to do that again.Perhaps, in the end, what a successful World Cup of Hockey truly means for the NHL and the NHLPA is enhanced leverage in talks with the IOC.As in: Weve got our own great tournament now, so if you dont play ball, were gone.First, however, this tournament has to be a hit.Were about to find out. Detroit Pistons Gear . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. 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Eric Thames signed a three-year contract with the Brewers on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016.Koreas contributions to Major League Baseball have run the gamut in recent years. Jung Ho Kang, the crown jewel of transplants, is an .800 OPS anchor in the Pittsburgh Pirates order. Seattles Dae-Ho Lee flashed some power this season, with 14 home runs in 104 games. Baltimores Hyun Soo Kim hit .302 without a lot of pop, and Byung Ho Park batted .191 in 62 games with Minnesota before a demotion to the minors and season-ending wrist surgery in August. That was hardly what the Twins had in mind when they signed him to a four-year, $12.85 million contract a year ago.So who will be next on the list? The primary name on MLBs Korea radar has California roots, an outsized personality and enough of a mystery factor to suggest he could be a wild card in this winters free-agent market.His name is Eric Thames, and Toronto fans might recall him as a platoon outfielder with the Blue Jays in 2011 and 2012. After drifting from Seattle to Houston to the NC Dinos in the Korean Baseball Organization, he has lured a procession of scouts to the city of Changwon, on Koreas southeastern coast. The?San Diego Padres, Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays are among the clubs that have followed Thames in Korea and expressed varying degrees of interest in him, sources said.Thames, 30, has spent the past three years putting up cartoon numbers that bring to mind the success enjoyed by Tuffy Rhodes and Wladimir Balentien in Japan. In 2015, Thames won the MVP award and a Gold Glove at first base, became the first KBO player to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in a season, logged a .391/.497/.790 slash line and became the first player in Korean baseball to hit for the cycle twice in the same season.This year, Thames regressed slightly, but he still hit 40 homers and logged an OPS of 1.101 for the Dinos, who lost to the Doosan Bears in the KBO final, known as the Korean Series.Now that Thames has reached the end of a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Dinos, options abound. He could return to the Dinos, although his success might have priced him out of the KBO. He could pursue a deal in Japan. Or he could plunge into the MLB free-agent market, where the left-handed power-hitting options include Michael Saunders, Colby Rasmus, Mitch Moreland, Adam Lind,?Pedro Alvarez and Brandon Moss.Is Thames an everyday option for a team in search of a power bat, or more of a platoon type? Interested major league teams arent the only ones asking that question. Four years since his last big league at-bat, Thames is curious what the future might bring.Yes, the thought has crossed my mind a few times, Thames said in a recent email to ESPN.com. Im wondering about how my new mindset could transfer over. Next year feels like light years away! Who knows where I will end up.Thames has taken a roundabout route to this point. He played high school ball at Bellarmine Prep -- a private Jesuit school in San Jose, California, that produced big leaguers Pat Burrell and Kevin Frandsen?--?and signed with Toronto as a seventh-round pick out of Pepperdine University in 2008. He was at the bottom of the 40-man roster for a 111-loss Houston team and playing winter ball in Venezuela in December 2013 when representatives for the Dinos squad approached his agents at Sosnick, Cobbe & Karon with interest.As a bearded, muscular, 6-foot-1, 220-pounder with power and an abundance of tattoos, Thames had a certain?appeal for the Dinos.They had done their homework, said Adam Karon, Thames agent. They told us they were interested because, Hes a comic book hero with a prep school education.Thames was initially skeptical about his long-term prospects in the Far East. He planned to go tto Korea for a year, then return stateside.dddddddddddd. But his natural curiosity prompted him to keep an open mind. Shortly after signing with NC, Thames bought the Rosetta Stone Korean program and dove head-first into learning the language.When you look at this as just a paycheck, thats when you struggle, Thames said. The key is to enjoy the ride. Fully embrace the experience. [The] Hangul [alphabet] is pretty easy to learn, so I was able to pick it up easily. I am not fluent by any means, but speaking like a baby is better than not knowing any at all.As Thames immersed himself in the Korean culture and began clearing fences with regularity, he developed an ardent following. He patiently signed autographs for long lines of fans at Masan Stadium, and he grew accustomed to having meals interrupted by fans in search of selfies.Going anywhere with him is insane in that country, Karon said. Its like going out with the Beatles. Girls are crying and people are trying to touch him and get pictures. Ive never seen anything like it.Celebrity came with a price. In late September, Thames was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and suspended nine games. The legal limit for blood alcohol content in Korea is 0.050, considerably lower than in the U.S., and Thames registered a 0.056. He apologized and subsequently did community service as a penance.A Far East scout for an MLB club said Thames showed a strong work ethic in Korea and was popular with his teammates. The natural question is how his skills will translate to the majors. Can he adjust to higher level of competition and bigger ballparks in the majors? Thames has more of a line-drive swing than loft power. Can he catch up to 94-95 mph fastballs after feasting on 89-91 mph heaters in the KBO?Hes very aggressive at the plate and on the field, too, for that matter, the scout said. Hes a first-ball fastball hacker, boy. Hes trying to hit the ball hard. Sometime you see guys who are happy to make contact and put the ball in play. Thats not him. Hes gonna hurt somebody someday.Thames defense in the outfield was considered below-average in Toronto. He moved to first base in Korea and will most likely be viewed by MLB teams as a combination first baseman-corner outfield-DH candidate. A National League front office man said he wouldnt be surprised if teams were willing to give Thames a multiyear deal to return to the States.You have an element thats going to be skeptical, the executive said. Hes already played over here, and he wasnt a tremendous success the first time. But you have to ask yourself, Is this guy a late bloomer?Look at some of the money that Cuban players have gotten. Whats the difference here? I think somebody is going to bite, and hell get a contract for two years and $12 million, or three years and $15-18 million.Thames, who majored in integrated marketing and communications at Pepperdine, is back on the open market as a more mature, worldly player than the one who first traveled to Korea in 2014. He has embraced meditation and is a fan of Shawn Greens book, The Way of Baseball: Finding Stillness at 95 mph.I focus on the process rather than the results, Thames said. When I was younger, I just wanted to be liked by fans and wanted to be an All-Star, but there is a process to succeed at that high of a level. I believe meditation is very important. It helps keep your head above water. It helps you live in the present moment.The present finds Eric Thames open to offers and interested in seeing how much MLB teams value his achievements in Korea. After traveling roughly 6,000 miles to find himself, hes about to discover how it feels to be wanted back in the states. ' ' '