Four Nations
- Thread starter WellPlayed
- Start date
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
I mean, hyper competitive athletes are going to be hyper competitive. But if you think the Olympics don't hit a bit different with the historic importance of being an olympian, the national legacy of most of the countries involved, etc, you've lost the plot. Canada might be the only hockey nation whose top olympic moments aren't their top hockey legacy moments.
axlsalinger
Well-known member
I mean I would think that an event with well over a hundred years' worth of history, with the whole world watching, the best teams and athletes from around the world rather than just 4, with iconic medals and prestige, that the players themselves have expressed extreme interest in participating in whenever even remotely possible in the past ... speaks for itself.
leafman101
Well-known member
One of the greatest international hockey moments in history was from a 2 team exhibition series.
Most people like elite hockey and rooting for their country.
Most people like elite hockey and rooting for their country.
leafman101
Well-known member
I’m gonna be so pissed when Marner leads the tournament in scoring and the scores 1 goal in the playoffs.
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
Canadian history.
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou
I will get banned again soon, worry not.
Yes, because in terms of hockey, the Olympics and anything else that isnt the NHL and the Stanley Cup is bullshit. Canada doesn't need to win a gold medal for every Canadian to know in their hearts and in their bones that we are the best hockey nation on earth. It just is.
Now maybe part of the reason for this is because few other nations even play the sport and no other nation cares as much about the sport as we do, but whatever the reason, Canada is and always will be the be all, end all of hockey nations. We could boycott each and every international competition for the next hundred years and it would still be true. We could participate and lose each and every international competition for the next hundred years and it would still be true.
Canada is the only nation on earth that cares enough about hockey to even want to be the best at it. We are the only nation on earth where not being the best would be seen as catastrophic. Do you think the Americans or Russians care that much about hockey? Sure, they like to win, but if they don't its not the end of the world because they don't define themselves as nations based on their ability to excel at this one specific thing. They both have other things at which they are elite.
But Canada? Shit, if we can't say that we're the best at hockey then what's the point? We've got nothing. We may as well become the 51st state, right?
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou
I will get banned again soon, worry not.
Yes. The rest of the world was watching the Munich Olympics tragedy.
LeafGm
Well-known member
In my ideal world, I’d like a full, proper World Cup of Hockey with at least the top 10-12 countries (minus Russia & Belarus), with the involvement of all the other top hockey leagues in order to fill out the rosters of the lower-ranked countries.
But this four-team tournament is far better than nothing, at least, and it’s also better than the silly shit they did last time with made-up BS teams like “Team North America” and “Team Europe”.
Baby steps in the right direction. And it will finally give Matthews & McDavid the opportunity to represent their countries in something resembling a “best on best” tournament. Something that, amazingly, neither player has had the chance to do despite being 27 & 28 years of age respectively.
But this four-team tournament is far better than nothing, at least, and it’s also better than the silly shit they did last time with made-up BS teams like “Team North America” and “Team Europe”.
Baby steps in the right direction. And it will finally give Matthews & McDavid the opportunity to represent their countries in something resembling a “best on best” tournament. Something that, amazingly, neither player has had the chance to do despite being 27 & 28 years of age respectively.
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
I actually agree with this. Hockey should have a real world cup with qualifications, an expanded format, etc and it should be the most prestigious hockey tournament in the world.
But we don't, because we lack the vision to create it and we're left with whatever this is.
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
But this isn't how being the best at anything actually works. If you can't prove it, you're not the best, you're just a narcissistic jerk off.
We're not the best because we think we are. We're the best because the 5 times the best in the world showed up to find out who was the best, we won 3 of the 5. That's how being the best actually works.
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou
I will get banned again soon, worry not.
What most people liked about 1972 was that they could root for their country without having to root against their favorite NHL team's best players. Back then the NHL was almost 100% Canadian and absolutely 0% Russian. But today, while you may be Canadian, your favorite player from your favorite NHL club might not be. It changes the intensity of your fandom.
In 1972 the entire country could openly root for Canada and openly despise the Soviets. But years later during the 1987 Canada Cup when Canada, with only one Habs player, Claude Lemieux, and a bunch of Nordiques, Oilers, Flyers and Islanders players that Habs fans despise faced off against Sweden at the Montreal Forum, the loudest cheers during the player introductions were for Mats Naslund. Our allegiance to our NHL team supercedes the national team. We care more about Stanley Cups than Canada Cups or 4 Nations Cups or Challenge Cups or Olympic gold medals and we always will.
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou
I will get banned again soon, worry not.
Precisely, Presto alias.
The thing that made the 1980 Miracle on Ice special was because it was US amateurs beating de facto professionals from the USSR. Once you allow NHLers to take part, you never have that again. It turns into just another cash grab.
Return the Olympics to the athletes that actually care about them. Have a standing Canadian Olympic hockey team of amateur players who are playing for the medals and the flag like we used to have prior to 1998. Leave the millionaire NHL mercenaries in the NHL.
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou
I will get banned again soon, worry not.
When Hasek and the Czechs won gold, they were technically the best hockey nation on earth. But did anyone, even the Czechs themselves, actually believe that? Of course not. No one did, just like no one believed that the US was the best when they won the gold in 1980.
The Olympics are not a tournament that Canada can "win". The best they can do is to "not lose". A 6 or 8 game round robin, single elimination tournament proves nothing. Only the 2 month grind of a 4 round, best of 7 NHL playoff is real, and even then you get the odd fluke. But anything less than that is essentially bullshit and proves nothing.
axlsalinger
Well-known member
TLDR: Nothing matters, everything sucks, and besides the sun is going to explode in 5 billion years anyways so you're a loser for caring about anything really
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou
I will get banned again soon, worry not.
So (assuming you are Canadian) will you be happy or sad if Matthews hoists the 4 Nations Cup above his head on behalf of the victorious Team USA after vanquishing Team Canada in the final?
WellPlayed
Well-known member
I mean, maybe you old guys feel that way or something. I’m perfectly capable of cheering against Matthews while he’s playing for the USA and then cheering for him when he plays for the Leafs. Just because it’s some giant cognitive leap for you doesn’t mean it is for everyone else, so maybe drop the “we” and “your”.