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World Cup

Artnes said:
Are we sure Anaheim made the right choice. Gibson has been garbage since he took over
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Gibson was garbage in the first two games of the playoffs too, before Andersen took over and posted a .947 SV% for the final five games of their first round series.
 
McDavid making Hedman look bush league again.

In his defense most do against him. They can't handle his speed
 
MindzEye said:
Excluding minor hockey nations from major tournaments is the best way to ensure that they remain minor hockey nations. These tournies are great for exposure, great for getting kids interested in the game, etc. We all shit on the existence of the Coyotes, but 19 yrs later a kid who grew up in Phoenix is our lord and saviour. That's not an accident.
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This is basically my stance you can't grow the game if you ignore everyone outside of the core nations. Don't we want more Slovenians, Chinese, Koreans, etc mixing with the other nations?

The minnows are what makes the WC of soccer interesting to me at least to start.
 
JaysCyYoung said:
I have no problem with twelve or sixteen teams. I actually like the larger tournament format because it allows some of the lower-end countries in the top-tier group to gain more exposure to elite talent and learn how to play against them.

Probably the only countries in IIHF top-tier that have almost zero chance of a potential knock-off upset are Slovenia and Kazakhstan.
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I'm good with (currently and this can change) a 10 team tourney..... 6 teams getting byes in the tournament... 10 other teams play a pre-tournament for the 4 remaining spots.

Gives the small teams something to shoot for on an international level, without a ton of blowout games.
 
zeke said:
looking at their WC '16 team:

NHL: 1
AHL: 2
KHL: 3
CZE: 1
SVK: 1
SWZ: 2
LAT: 13
KZK: 1
HUN: 1
ITA: 1
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Dinamo Riga is a KHL team.... 12 players on their world championship team were from Dinamo Riga... I'm assuming you counted them as the Latvian league, which is not what they are.
 
BKerr said:
Dinamo Riga is a KHL team.... 12 players on their world championship team were from Dinamo Riga... I'm assuming you counted them as the Latvian league, which is not what they are.
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Doesn't really matter does it?

Zeke cares nothing about growing the game of hockey. Zeke likes north America centric hockey.

Again, why would smaller euro countries care about developing NHL level hockey talent?

They develope their talent, that talent goes to the NHL and they never play for their national team (when it matters) again.

Olympics:not allowed.

World championships: might be in playoffs.

World cup: stuck on team Europe or don't even make team Europe.

What's to stop the Swiss or the Germans or the French or the Latvians or the Austrians or Slovakians from throwing their hands up and asking what's the point?

Again, zeke doesn't care. More hockey to watch. Screw Europe.
 
leafman101 said:
I the the tournament is unarguably better and more competitive with two of those countries and Team Europe rather than all 3.

And I also think removing team Europe in favour of those three teams is he furthest thing from an "improvement".
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+1.

I like the format. I enjoy watching Team NA and Team Europe. The games are more competitive and exciting (no, I don't think it's like an all-star game) than watching small countries' teams w one or two NHLers. Seems like a bit of snobbery going on here.
 
hockeylover said:
+1.

I like the format. I enjoy watching Team NA and Team Europe. The games are more competitive and exciting (no, I don't think it's like an all-star game) than watching small countries' teams w one or two NHLers. Seems like a bit of snobbery going on here.
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Sure you like it.

Does it help grow the team in smaller countries one bit though?

No.
 
JaysCyYoung said:
But why is there a Team Europe in the first place? If the point of the competition to you is to have the best teams, do away with the national teams entirely and just create an all-star tournament.

That way you would have far more parity and much stronger teams than limiting players based on their country of origin, right? That's essentially what you are arguing for here.
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Didn't you mention earlier that you hadn't watched much of the tournament? I can't figure out how someone who's watched thinks an all-star tournament would be as compelling. I think it's been quite successful from an entertainment and good hockey standpoint.
 
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