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Four Nations, Canada takes on the world

legoalie said:
Not a peep in the 70's and 80's ? That is BS.. The 1972 Summit series created such a buzz that there was a push to allow NHL players to play in the Olympic games. The IOC only allowed "professional" players to play in 1988. It was the NHL that didn't allow it until 1998. In the mean time after the two summit series we had the Canada Cup then the World Cup which were a direct result of the demand). After 1972 there has always been a buzz (opposite of not a peep) about Canada having it's best players to play in International events..
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Pfffft facts..
 
legoalie said:
Not a peep in the 70's and 80's ? That is BS.. The 1972 Summit series created such a buzz that there was a push to allow NHL players to play in the Olympic games. The IOC only allowed "professional" players to play in 1988. It was the NHL that didn't allow it until 1998. In the mean time after the two summit series we had the Canada Cup then the World Cup which were a direct result of the demand). After 1972 there has always been a buzz (opposite of not a peep) about Canada having it's best players to play in International events..
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Alan Eagleson would have had his embezzling fingers all over it. 😏
 
legoalie said:
Not a peep in the 70's and 80's ? That is BS.. The 1972 Summit series created such a buzz that there was a push to allow NHL players to play in the Olympic games. The IOC only allowed "professional" players to play in 1988. It was the NHL that didn't allow it until 1998. In the mean time after the two summit series we had the Canada Cup then the World Cup which were a direct result of the demand). After 1972 there has always been a buzz (opposite of not a peep) about Canada having it's best players to play in International events..
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They always whined about having to send amateurs up against de facto pros from the USSR but as long as the pros weren't at the Olympics nobody cared about the Olympics.
 
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou said:
They always whined about having to send amateurs up against de facto pros from the USSR but as long as the pros weren't at the Olympics nobody cared about the Olympics.
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They whined about it a lot, because the 72 summit series was such a hit.. so to your point, there was a lot of chatter about it.. I played against the Russian Red Army Midget team in 1976. In Thunder Bay, my first year away from home at 17 playing hockey. The demand was huge.. (I can post the line up of this attachment if anyone wants to see the Russian line up)
 

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But the excitement was for things like the Summit Series where our best played their best. It had nothing to do with the Olympics. Nobody cared about them. They only cared about Canadian NHLers vs the Soviet Union. And even then we were only interested in playing the Soviets using our rules and our smaller ice surface with our NHL referees on our home soil. We wanted to play them but only if we had every possible advantage ahead of time.

And once the Iron Curtain fell and all those Russian players came to the NHL, these competitions stopped being all that special anymore.
 
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou said:
But the excitement was for things like the Summit Series where our best played their best. It had nothing to do with the Olympics. Nobody cared about them. They only cared about Canadian NHLers vs the Soviet Union. And even then we were only interested in playing the Soviets using our rules and our smaller ice surface with our NHL referees on our home soil. We wanted to play them but only if we had every possible advantage ahead of time.

And once the Iron Curtain fell and all those Russian players came to the NHL, these competitions stopped being all that special anymore.
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No.. the hype was about having OUR best players which happen to be NHL players playing at the International Level.. Russia had their best.. why not ours.. It was the NHL that held that back.. The curtain fell in 1989 and the World Cup of Hockey started in 1996..so yes these events still matter, even a guy like you who supposely hates it , watches it ..
 
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou said:
But the excitement was for things like the Summit Series where our best played their best. It had nothing to do with the Olympics. Nobody cared about them. They only cared about Canadian NHLers vs the Soviet Union. And even then we were only interested in playing the Soviets using our rules and our smaller ice surface with our NHL referees on our home soil. We wanted to play them but only if we had every possible advantage ahead of time.

And once the Iron Curtain fell and all those Russian players came to the NHL, these competitions stopped being all that special anymore.
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Nobody (well very few) care about tournaments where it's not best vs best. It has absolutely nothing to do with dominance. In fact I can't recall a tournament where Canada's dominance was assured. 1976 was probably the closest because the Russians didn't bother sending their best players and even then the Czecks were a challenge. 1996 was also special, even though we got our ass kicked. Those tournaments would actually be boring if Canada would just steamroll their opponents every time, but that's far from the case.

Best vs best tournaments have always been interesting. And you're the person the most invested in it.
 
GrandWazoo said:
Nobody (well very few) care about tournaments where it's not best vs best. It has absolutely nothing to do with dominance. In fact I can't recall a tournament where Canada's dominance was assured. 1976 was probably the closest because the Russians didn't bother sending their best players and even then the Czecks were a challenge. 1996 was also special, even though we got our ass kicked. Those tournaments would actually be boring if Canada would just steamroll their opponents every time, but that's far from the case.

Best vs best tournaments have always been interesting. And you're the person the most invested in it.
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not sure I would say ass kicked in 1996, Hull scored on a goal where his stick hit a banner on the roof of the Bell Centre
 
TheCountofMonteCristo said:
not sure I would say ass kicked in 1996, Hull scored on a goal where his stick hit a banner on the roof of the Bell Centre
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It was still a pathetic failure to lose on home ice. And whenever Canada blows it the reason always boils down to the coaching and management staff selecting their favorite niche players, or screwing players they personally dont like or politics instead of just having the best players.

In 72 Bobby Hull was punished for jumping to the WHA by being ruled ineligible to play in the Summit Series.

Can anyone tell me what the fuck Kevin Dineen and Brent Sutter were doing on the 198u Team Canada roster when Steve Yzerman was available?

And in 1991, Yzerman again gets fucked over while Sutter again makes the squad and Keenan's pet Dirk fucking Graham is put on the roster.

Then the infamous Rob Zamuner fiasco.

And this time around: Cirelli, Konecny, and Marner instead of Suzuki, Scheifele, and Hyman? There's zero justification for those selections other than Cooper's bias and the unwritten rule that Team Canada has to have at least one Leafs player to placate Rogers Sportsnet.

And Brett Hull? Once upon a time he was Canadian but got tired of being fucked over by Hockey Canada and switched to being Team USA.
 
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