Given the fact that only a small number of devoted hockey freaks would consider watching this thing anyway, who in the World would be stupid enough to watch based on the expectation of seeing Team U23 NA pull out a "big upset," e.g., beating Canada or Sweden or the United States? Yeah, for 19-year olds, McDavid and Eichel will be really good, but looking at the rest of the lineup, do you really believe that Canada or Sweden is going down to these guys? By definition, if they were bad enough that Team U23 NA could beat them, then it really wouldn't be an upset, would it?
World Cup: 2016 World Cup — Team Europe
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Given the fact that only a small number of devoted hockey freaks would consider watching this thing anyway, who in the World would be stupid enough to watch based on the expectation of seeing Team U23 NA pull out a "big upset," e.g., beating Canada or Sweden or the United States? Yeah, for 19-year olds, McDavid and Eichel will be really good, but looking at the rest of the lineup, do you really believe that Canada or Sweden is going down to these guys? By definition, if they were bad enough that Team U23 NA could beat them, then it really wouldn't be an upset, would it?
Tut Tut...Than how bad must Team Suomi's and/or Russia's WHC (with what about 10 members of ur OG squad on it? ) entries have been...After all, both teams lost in the round robin to a Yankee squad which was much , MUCH weaker on paper than NA's U23 entry will be + the Russians were being schooled by the same schoolboyz for 40+ minutes in the semis...and woulda lost again, in the opinion of many , but for Bobrovsky's heroics...
P.S: Of course the U23's aren't going to beat our A Team, that's a given...They're gonna beat Russia...On second thought, as u already insinuated, wouldn't be much of an upset
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With all due respect to Slovakia, I would love to see the Swedes or Russians get knocked off by the gunz
Don't for a second think that no one will be trying hard in that tournament. If the brackets are what was rumored,... Russians, Swedes, Finns, Gunz,.. I would almost rather watch that set of games than the Canada, USA, Czechs and Euro's bracket. I would also say that I think the Euro team will be fired up to play the NA teams especially. I was pretty down on the format to start, and I would still rather see the Top 8 nations, but I will absolutely be watching. I would also bet everything I own that any country winning will still have some bragging rights if they win. You can't tell me that Finland would not want to win that tournament.
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With all due respect to Slovakia, I would love to see the Swedes or Russians get knocked off by the gunz
Who from Europe is going to fly to Toronto and buy a ticket to watch their national team vs U-23 or the Euro leftover? And also who is going to stand up and cheer when the fake teams score a goal. Does anybody think these games will be sold out or at least well attended. France vs Lativa had 15000 in Prague for the world championships. Finland vs u-23 in Toronto my guess would be 5,000 show up. And this tournament was suppose to be a money grab for the NHL. This sounds more like a money pit.
Trust me, the U23's ( featuring McD and Eichel! ) will have a rabid, RABID following in TO. And if they knock off one of hockey's historical heavyweights ( and I'm betting they will ) man, they'll raise the roof!
In all honesty, one of the biggest reasons I follow the WHC ( especially when we , as in most years, send subpar teams ) is the opportunity it affords to see some of our young gunz shine on a Big Stage...This WOrld Cup is that, on steroids!!!!
You guys seem to forget just how popular junior hockey is over here. These guys aren't jr's ( and/or Div 1 college ) any longer, but they're not far from it...To reiterate Our Young Gunzz will have a Big, BIG following...
P.S.: We have a love/hate relationship with the Yankee kidz too, look how Big our semi annual, Canada vs US WJC + New Years Eve clash has been historically? Our Boyz + adopted sons stateside vs Russia? Ah u kidding me?
It's a MARKETTER's DREAM!!!
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Are you serious? No one in Toronto will give a crap about the Young Gunz.
Canadian hockey fans cheer for their chosen NHL team and for Team Canada on the international stage. They won't be the slighest but interested in some abomination of a team that forces Canadians and Americans to team up against their respective countries. The whole thing is a sick joke.
I am very sorry Scotty B. but i think you are delusional. US sports fan will be into football and baseball pennant races during september, which has been a problem for the world cup in the past. And the diehard hockey fans in the US getting ready for the NHL season will not be interested in team "team young GUNZ". Believe me. This will get no traction in the states. So this leaves Canada to support this crazy U-23 team. You are telling me that junior hockey fans will not only buy a expensive ticket to see team canada but will also lay down money and support another team which is half canadien. YOU HAVE LOST YOUR MARBLES OR ARE JOKING.
Does anybody on this site have close ties to the NHL? This world cup can not be well received by sponsors and season ticket holders. How they going to fill the building when it Sweden,Czech, or Russia vs Team Leftover.
I'm sure plenty of people will be curious and I wouldn't be shocked if they play in front of good crowds, but "a rabid, RABID following"?
I think the typical Hockey's Future poster or prospects guru overrates how much the typical hockey fan cares about prospects and promising young players, even ones with tons of hype behind them. If both these guys next year put up "only" ~65 points and play on teams that are once again terrible I think the 'McEichel' factor is going to be pretty minimal as far as generating additional interest goes. If they both finish top 10 in scoring I'm sure interest will be considerably higher but in that case plenty of people will be annoyed they aren't available to play for Canada or the US.That's a nice personal anecdote but at the end of the day most of the people in Canada who do take an interest in the WHC aren't doing so because of prospects or young guys trying to make a name for themselves. This year interest in the WHC was higher than normal because established big name players were on the team. If Canada sent over a bunch of "young gunz!" interest would have been considerably lower.
The thing is junior hockey in Canada isn't that popular. Outside of the WJC it is very niche and the WJC success has very little to do with people tuning in because they have an interest in watching prospects play hockey. The WJC are a big deal for two reasons...
-It features dudes (that most people have not heard of) wearing a red maple leaf on their jersey.
-TSN has spent a lot of time and effort over the past quarter century building the event into the nearly insufferable holiday season monster it is today.
So was the New Coke!!!
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The young gunz will easily be the 2nd most popular team in Toronto. No idea how anyone could not see that. As far as a game between say,.. Finland and Sweden,... why would that garner any more or less interest in this tournament than it would at any other tournament game played in Toronto?
Whats more important? This or the olympics? Because you will be asking players from the Slovakia, Denmark etc to abandon their countries for the qualification for the 2018 olympics to play in this pile of ****..
There will always be a darling team..that would be the case if it was actual teams instead....
The young guns would be popular because they are the underdog....Thats it.
You think people would rather watch the US face the ¡¡Young Gunzzzzz!! instead of Sweden or Russia?
Doesn't say much about the fans in Toronto if that is true.
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The 2016 Olympic qualifiers are September 1-4. World Cup to be played September 17 to October 1.
Why.
One thing to keep in mind is that I imagine both tournaments will be preceded by some type of training camp. Some Danish dudes schedule could look like the following...
Aug 21-27 - NT training camp and perhaps a couple of warm up games.
Aug 28 - Fly to Belarus for OQT
Sep 1-4 - OQT Tournament
Knowing that they are committing 2+ weeks to their NT they might not be all that into the idea of having to fly to NA a few days later for the start of team Euro-Leftover's training camp, especially when right after their WCup tournament ends they will be reporting to their NHL team for the start of a 6-8 month season.
I could see it going either way... I wouldn't be surprised if most showed up, but I also wouldn't be surprised if plenty backed out.
Pominville Knows
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How can a person that calls himself a hockey fan not be enthralled by a team filled with Young Guns? Who in their right mind does not like rookies? I find that people love these guys coming into the NHL simply becouse they are new faces and just likes players that still have much of their child left in them and just love playing the game where the money is almost secondary.
This tournament should be better fitted for north american audiences, and considering what you wrote about football and baseball pennats you must be aware that the NHL is setting their targets very high here, they want to compete with those sports and are getting closer to be able to. Not there yet, but this thing is meant to take another step towards it.
I personally would prefer the top eight nations but i'm not going to pull some ****storm about it. It is what it is and the NHL simply sees it best this way concerning their interests in north america, and if i put my personal feelings away for a second i must say i believe they are correct in their judgement.
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Henkka
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The Anthem for Team European All-Star should be this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOti8U_-BNM
And for that Junior Team... Kim Wilde's "Kids in America" is a perfect fit.
Henkka
Registered User
So that "Team European Frankenstein" plays not for their countries, but for Marketing the League? Usually, player motivation on those kind of happenings have been on NhL All-Star game level.
A very very very distant second favorite team, if that.
And this assumes that players will give 100% while proudly representing their age group.
How is it in the NHL's best interest to turn their event into the biggest farce in international hockey history?
This whole plan assumes that a) fans will care about the two joke teams, and b) players selected for the Young Gunz and Leftovers will actually give a 100% effort.
No Swiss or Slovak player will block a shot for the Leftovers and no Canadian or US rookie wants to play against their own country. Yet this is exactly what Bettman wants to see. It's an absolute disgrace.
Hopefully that is exactly what they'll end up with. Assuming many players won't take a pass on the event alltogether, I can easily see them putting in an all-star game effort. Who's gonna throw a check or block a shot for the Leftovers? What are they playing for?
I can not believe you are from Sweden and do not understand how absurd this World cup is. So I am assuming that you will root for this U-23/Young Gunz/Rookie team. How are you going to feel when they are down 3-0 in the quarter final. Will you be upset or angry? How will you feel if they are up by a goal in the semi-final with 2 minutes left. Will you feel nervous and yet excited? And finally how will you feel if Team Young Gunz wins the World cup. Will you have an immense feeling to celebrate?
Sports fandom is about passion. The passion you have for your club team is what makes sports such a entertaining spectacle. The only other format besides club teams which brings out people's passionate emotion is international tournaments. Many People have a deep passionate connection to their country/culture. Team U-23 and Euro Leftover do not represent a city, state, or nation. They will have no passionate supporters.These fake teams makes the event just like any all-star game which has all the talent but no passion.
Yeah. OR it is for the reason that Canada is a hockey country so when the best junior team that is filled with many future NHL stars plays in front of home crowd, they watch it because they love hockey? nah, that can't be it, its because TSN told them to watch
The first point is true though. People watch because the players wear a red MAPLE LEAF on their jersey.
First, neither Slovakia or Switzerland will be playing a qualifiation. And then, mainly, the final olympic qualification is scheduled to be from 1-4 September 2016. The World Cup will be played from Sept. 17 – Oct. 1, 2016. (http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=756558). So there is that.
Yeah. OR it is for the reason that Canada is a hockey country so when the best junior team that is filled with many future NHL stars plays in front of home crowd, they watch it because they love hockey? nah, that can't be it, its because TSN told them to watch
The first point is true though. People watch because the players wear a red MAPLE LEAF on their jersey.
If memory serves me right, the WJC was never overly popular in your country until TNS started to promoting the hell out of it around the late 1980s.
Couldn't agree more!!
for those wondering, here's what P.Kane or Bergeron think about the WC - Patrick Kane's answer is especially interesting. Or Kopitar's for that matter. You can also listen to Kane's answer when it comes to the U-23 team and what he thinks.
http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=734003
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