2018 IHWC to be hosted by Denmark

[xxxx]

Let me guess - freshman year in college, studying economics?

Hockey in Denmark isn't popular. It's not a mainstream sport, which would garner a nationwide interest.

The domestic demand is going to be low. Figure out the rest of it yourself.

Maybe that's why they are going to host the tournament? To make it more popular, to grow the interest, it definitely can be successful. Denmark is the highest ranked nation that has never hosted this tournament so far.

From the travelling point, Denmark is very good to go. Sweden, Norway and Finland are close, Germany, France, Czechs, Slovakia is not that far either.

That tournament won't need to break attendance record. All it needs is solid crowd and it will be ok. Just like anywhere else.

I'm just mocking Bagge for saying that hosting IHWC will make a major difference and that it will grow the sport in Denmark. I highly doubt it will happen and I highly doubt it will attract scores of Danish people who haven't watched hockey before.

I honestly believe that you think that the hosting of WHC will never make a major difference anywhere. So, we won't organize the event in countries like France, Germany, Austria, Denmark Why even try it

 

[AstrophysicalJet]

So we should organize the IHWC in China every other year, according to that logic. A lot of potential for expansion there.

I find your hostility towards it being in Denmark over Latvia to be puzzling to be honest...
Ive seen you not so positive towards Danish players aswell. What's up with that?

Let us have it here before your start complaining over it. And please do not bundle all Scandinavian countries like we are the same.

I suspect many people would be pissed if I bundled Latvia to the rest of the Baltics, Slovakia to the Czech, or even Belarus to Russia.

Denmark have never had a WC before, let's see it through before we come up with all the negatives. We shouldn't pay for Swedens mishaps in hosting the WC.

I know Handball is much more popular here, but when it comes to prices and filling arenas it is a good example.

Denmark hosted the EC in Handball this year, and had one of the highest average attendances of any host nation, for even the boring matches. And to add, the tickets were not that bad.

I find your thinking that you know everything about Denmark through what, reading indepth interviews with Latvian players who played in Denmark to be somewhat, ridiculous...

I live here, and have for some years, if you would follow the Danish threads, you would know that the sport has defo grown here.
My fiancé is a teacher at a school that used to be dominant in soccer, they had gone to 2 or 3 school championships in soccer so no suprise what sport dominates at that school. She says that today the kids talk Hockey all the time. That kind of small difference you don't see.

We do. We also see the growth here in the media, when people talk etc. etc.

You bringing up floorball is just ridiculous, since there are more players YES, but it is not more popular as a watching / Fan sport.
Just shows how serious you should be taken.

We are playing a Friendly in Soccer Against Sweden next Wednesday. The cheapest tikets are 125 Dkk. (12.5 British Pounds), very cheap if you ask me. Even though it's a friendly, Sweden games are always high profile and sell out.

 

[Namejs]

Maybe that's why they are going to host the tournament? To make it more popular, to grow the interest, it definitely can be successful. Denmark is the highest ranked nation that has never hosted this tournament so far.

From the travelling point, Denmark is very good to go. Sweden, Norway and Finland are close, Germany, France, Czechs, Slovakia is not that far either.

That tournament won't need to break attendance record. All it needs is solid crowd and it will be ok. Just like anywhere else.

What I am saying is that Bagge's argument about holding the Elite tier World Champs in parts of the world where hockey is not mainstream *for the sake of growing the sport there* is not a valid argument.

The World Cup in football is not hosted by Canada, FIBA World Champs in basketball is not hosted by Norway, etc. There are other means of growing the sport and the costs of hosting could be more efficiently used by building smaller ice rinks. I can imagine a scenario where a 12000-seat rink could be beneficial if there was a major pro hockey club in Denmark without a decent-sized arena. But that's not the case.

I honestly believe that you think that the hosting of WHC will never make a major difference anywhere. So, we won't organize the event in countries like France, Germany, Austria, Denmark Why even try it

Once again, I think you should re-read my posts.

Hosting the IHWC is a celebration of hockey not an instrument for growing the sport. Germany and even Austria both have large hockey followings. Mentioning Germany along with France or Denmark is completely ridiculous.

 

[xxxx]

Hosting the IHWC is a celebration of hockey not an instrument for growing the sport. Germany and even Austria both have large hockey followings. Mentioning Germany along with France or Denmark is completely ridiculous.

I agree with you here. I know Germany is something different than France at hocey...but still I would say the game is not even one of the three most popular sports... Idk...

I forgot to say that it can be even an instrument for growing the sport...definitely. But of course not in a way that WHC will be played in Spain or Great Britain. Anyway, Denmark doesn't belong into this group. I don't see anything wrong with them being the host.

 

[Flou]

What I do know is that hockey in Denmark is a niche sport. Building a 12 000-seat ice rink does in no way benefit your hockey pyramid.

There are some fundamentals, which are needed to raise the profile of a sport in any country - success, high-profile athletes, infrastructure, investments, etc.

Pretty much the only thing that you do gain is that in case of a deep run in the tournament, there's going to be a multiplying effect in terms of exposure, as it's held in your home country, but I see no long-term gains in and of itself.

Just holding an IHWC event in your country doesn't change any of the underlying variables that I mentioned. What you need is investments and building new ice rinks AND success with your national team. Hosting World Champs doesn't change anything fundamentally and there's no reason to assume that it will definitely boost the growth of hockey in Denmark in the long term.

And you don't think hosting a huge event that creates millions will actually help the Danish hockey federation with their long term plans which I imagine consists on creating lot of new infrastructure to help with the demand for more ice rinks. Especially after the huge exposure their team and the sport will get from hosting the tournament. With the help of the new arena (that will be used for other sports and events as well) they will easily create income of millions of euros. You don't think the new arena helps them one bit, really? Without the new arena, there's no world championship tournament in Denmark, not in 2018 not ever.

As far as I know when Finland hosted it's 1st World Championships the popularity of the sport went through the roof and slowly new ice rinks got built around the country and look where we are now.

 

[Namejs]

I find your hostility towards it being in Denmark over Latvia to be puzzling to be honest...
Ive seen you not so positive towards Danish players aswell. What's up with that?

I think you're making a sweeping generalization based on my nationality. It has nothing to do with Latvia not getting to host the IHWC, and I have absolutely nothing against Denmark (apart from the fact that they're not that into hockey).

I don't even have anything against Denmark hosting the IHWC. No one else had a reasonable bid this year, so they've earned it fair and square. Countering some of the arguments used by earlier posters is not the same as being against the idea of hosting IHWC in Denmark.

And I have absolutely no idea what you meant by me not being positive towards Danish players.

And please do not bundle all Scandinavian countries like we are the same.

I suspect many people would be pissed if I bundled Latvia to the rest of the Baltics, Slovakia to the Czech, or even Belarus to Russia.

Yeah, no idea what you're talking about.

I know Handball is much more popular here, but when it comes to prices and filling arenas it is a good example.

Denmark hosted the EC in Handball this year, and had one of the highest average attendances of any host nation, for even the boring matches. And to add, the tickets were not that bad.

Well, thats great for handball.

I live here, and have for some years, if you would follow the Danish threads, you would know that the sport has defo grown here.
My fiancé is a teacher at a school that used to be dominant in soccer, they had gone to 2 or 3 school championships in soccer so no suprise what sport dominates at that school. She says that today the kids talk Hockey all the time. That kind of small difference you don't see.

We do. We also see the growth here in the media, when people talk etc. etc.

I am aware that it was completely off the radar just a few years ago and that more people know ice hockey exists, yes.

You bringing up floorball is just ridiculous, since there are more players YES, but it is not more popular as a watching / Fan sport.
Just shows how serious you should be taken.

The quality of your hockey program depends on how many players there are, not how many people watch it. Croatia is playing in the 3rd tier of international hockey, for example, even though they have huge crowds in Medvesčak games.

 

[Remi]

How does Denmark not deserve this?

Hockey been a growing sport the passed 15 years here. We have more talented players than ever.

If we are lucky we could have a team with +10 NHL players in the future.

How can Latvia beat that?

 

[member 498sixnine]

Lets just get one fact straight: None of the two Danish venues are build because of this WHC. The one in Copenhagen is already under construction, it's being build mostly as a concert venue, but of course also so it can be used for different sport events. The one here in Herning was opened in 2010 and just like the CPH arena it is mostly used for concerts, but has also hosted several different sporting events like EC in handball and swimming.

Saying these new arenas will mean nothing to Danish hockey is meaningless, they are here no matter if they host hockey or not.

 

[Namejs]

With the help of the new arena (that will be used for other sports and events as well) they will easily create income of millions of euros.

And how is that going to work exactly? Is the arena owned by the Danish Ice Hockey Federation? How many times per year is it going to be filled by ice hockey fans?

And you don't think hosting a huge event that creates millions will actually help the Danish hockey federation with their long term plans which I imagine consists on creating lot of new infrastructure

If you count the construction costs as a part of the expenses, there's almost certainly not going to be any profit from hosting the IHWC. Once again, they could've invested that money in building smaller ice rinks.

 

[Remi]

I know Handball is much more popular here, but when it comes to prices and filling arenas it is a good example.

Denmark hosted the EC in Handball this year, and had one of the highest average attendances of any host nation, for even the boring matches. And to add, the tickets were not that bad.

Somewhat true and somewhat not.

Hockey has beaten Handball in attendance in some years. But been beaten due to like you said we hosted and we've been quite succesfull in handball.

Check here for specific stats: http://www.statistikbanken.dk/SPORT1

2012/13: 1.695 tilsk./kamp (+14 %)

2011/12: 1.489 tilsk./kamp (+2 %)

2010/11: 1.455 tilsk./kamp (+7 %)

2009/10: 1.362 tilsk./kamp (-5 %)

2008/09: 1.437 tilsk./kamp (-7 %)

2007/08: 1.546 tilsk./kamp (-12 %)

2006/07: 1.755 tilskuere/kamp

Danish hockey 2012/2013 season had a 14-15% increase in attendance (http://politiken.dk/sport/ECE1948942/ishockey-truer-haandbold-som-naeststoerste-tilskuersport/).

Stuff like the financial crisis also has a part of sports. There was some down-time in hockey, where alot of clubs were almost closed. Hence why you see a downfall in attedance (2008-2010).

 

[AstrophysicalJet]

I think you're making a sweeping generalization based on my nationality. It has nothing to do with Latvia not getting to host the IHWC, and I have absolutely nothing against Denmark (apart from the fact that they're not that into hockey).

I don't even have anything against Denmark hosting the IHWC. No one else had a reasonable bid this year, so they've earned it fair and square. Countering some of the arguments used by earlier posters is not the same as being against the idea of hosting IHWC in Denmark.

And I have absolutely no idea what you meant by me not being positive towards Danish players.


Yeah, no idea what you're talking about.


Well, thats great for handball.


I am aware that it was completely off the radar just a few years ago and that more people know ice hockey exists, yes.


The quality of your hockey program depends on how many players there are, not how many people watch it. Croatia is playing in the 3rd tier of international hockey, for example, even though they have huge crowds in Medvesčak games.

Not really, that is why I say I am puzzled.. I am only commenting on the feeling I get from you.. I could be and probably am wrong. But that is the vibe you give.

The thing about the country generalization was not coined towards you.

Yes the quality of our Hockey program, but we were talking if people would show up for the games, not the quality of our program.
And still people who like hockey play floorball aswell, simply becuase it is cheaper. It has nothing to do with interest. Let me tell you the interst is there. most clubs have year long waiting lists for kids to play in their program.


You still havent answered my question, you seem very hesitant and on the fence about DK.

Somewhat true and somewhat not.

Hockey has beaten Handball in attendance in some years. But been beaten due to like you said we hosted and we've been quite succesfull in handball.

Check here for specific stats: http://www.statistikbanken.dk/SPORT1

2012/13: 1.695 tilsk./kamp (+14 %)

2011/12: 1.489 tilsk./kamp (+2 %)

2010/11: 1.455 tilsk./kamp (+7 %)

2009/10: 1.362 tilsk./kamp (-5 %)

2008/09: 1.437 tilsk./kamp (-7 %)

2007/08: 1.546 tilsk./kamp (-12 %)

2006/07: 1.755 tilskuere/kamp

Danish hockey 2012/2013 season had a 14-15% increase in attendance (http://politiken.dk/sport/ECE1948942/ishockey-truer-haandbold-som-naeststoerste-tilskuersport/).

Stuff like the financial crisis also has a part of sports. There was some down-time in hockey, where alot of clubs were almost closed. Hence why you see a downfall in attedance (2008-2010).

Ofc,

This was only in relation to being able to fill the arenas during games of importance and games that are not so high profile.
And also ticket prices.

 

[eme]

And how is that going to work exactly? Is the arena owned by the Danish Ice Hockey Federation? How many times per year is it going to be filled by ice hockey fans?


If you count the construction costs as a part of the expenses, there's almost certainly not going to be any profit from hosting the IHWC. Once again, they could've invested that money in building smaller ice rinks.

As someone stated, the building of the arena is not done because of the WHC, it was being built regardless, and for other purposes.

 

[Flou]

And how is that going to work exactly? Is the arena owned by the Danish Ice Hockey Federation? How many times per year is it going to be filled by ice hockey fans?

If you count the construction costs as a part of the expenses, there's almost certainly not going to be any profit from hosting the IHWC. Once again, they could've invested that money in building smaller ice rinks.

Don't know. It's up to the Danish hockey federation how many games they will play there after the World Championships, but during the tournament they will make millions in profit.

I don't think the Danish hockey federation is paying a penny to build the arena. It was being built regardless of the tournament as a multipurpose arena.

 

[AstrophysicalJet]

Don't know. It's up to the Danish hockey federation how many games they will play there after the World Championships, but during the tournament they will make millions in profit.

I don't think the Danish hockey federation is paying a penny to build the arena. It was being built regardless of the tournament as a multipurpose arena.

DIU has no stake in the Arena's what so ever.

They are owned by the municipalities and investor groups.

And as mentioned, they were not built for Hockey and will be used regardless.

The one in Herning has been hugely succesfull and has already hosted the

WC in womens Handball, the EC in Mens Handball and the EC in Swimming.

+ a few high profile concerts.

 

[Remi]

You still havent answered my question, you seem very hesitant and on the fence about DK.

He is probably just annoyed that Latvia did not get it. Hockey needs to grow there too.

Denmark has more hockey rinks than Latvia. They lag junior players (not enough work with talents) despite that they have more hockey players than Denmark.

Weird fact is that we have more junior players than male players. But again shows how hockey has grown here in popularity recent years. (stats from iihf site)

 

[AstrophysicalJet]

He is probably just annoyed that Latvia did not get it. Hockey needs to grow there too.

Denmark has more hockey rinks than Latvia. They lag junior players (not enough work with talents) despite that they have more hockey players than Denmark.

Weird fact is that we have more junior players than male players. But again shows how hockey has grown here in popularity recent years. (stats from iihf site)

Well, he says that is not the case

Who am I to say it is.

Anywho, I see the growth in interest here with my own two eyes, it has definitely grown. And even a few women at work were exited that we got the WC, they all asked if Sidney Crosby would be here

A few years ago, no women here would even know him.

 

[Namejs]

Yes the quality of our Hockey program, but we were talking if people would show up for the games, not the quality of our program.

Yes, that's what I'm saying - I highly doubt you will fill the arenas with Danish fans. You couldn't even fill a 5000-seat arena when playing in the Olympic Qualification round, which was held in Denmark.

I couldn't be more delighted if it turned out I was wrong, though.

And still people who like hockey play floorball aswell, simply becuase it is cheaper. It has nothing to do with interest. Let me tell you the interst is there. most clubs have year long waiting lists for kids to play in their program.

Well, the number of kids/junior players in Denmark has decreased a little since 2010.

You still havent answered my question, you seem very hesitant and on the fence about DK./QUOTE]
What question, and on the fence about what?

 

[Namejs]

Yes, that's what I'm saying - I highly doubt you will fill the arenas with Danish fans. You couldn't even fill a 5000-seat arena when playing in the Olympic Qualification round, which was held in Denmark.

I couldn't be more delighted if it turned out I was wrong, though.


Well, the number of kids/junior players in Denmark has decreased a little since 2010.

You still havent answered my question, you seem very hesitant and on the fence about DK.

What question, and on the fence about what?

 

[Namejs]

He is probably just annoyed that Latvia did not get it. Hockey needs to grow there too.

Yeah, you probably haven't read any of my posts.

Denmark has more hockey rinks than Latvia.

That is true. It has a lot to do with economic development. Wealthier countries can afford more ice rinks. Still, we have a lot more ice rinks per capita.

They lag junior players (not enough work with talents) despite that they have more hockey players than Denmark.

I have no idea what this means.

Weird fact is that we have more junior players than male players. But again shows how hockey has grown here in popularity recent years.

The number of junior players isn't increasing, though. In fact, it has decreased in recent years.

 

[ThunderBuddy]

Anyway, we don't need to host a IHWC event in order to boost the popularity of the sport in our country. We're doing just fine. Also spending multiple millions on a brand new arena just doesn't make sense at this point. Have fun, Denmark! Enjoy it!

 

[Remi]

Yeah, you probably haven't read any of my posts.


That is true. It has a lot to do with economic development. Wealthier countries can afford more ice rinks. Still, we have a lot more ice rinks per capita.


I have no idea what this means.


The number of junior players isn't increasing, though. In fact, it has decreased in recent years.

Ice Rinks? I think it is due to us having a bigger league than you. We have 9 active teams in the league (there was 10 teams in 2011).

Latvia Hockey League has 6 teams, right? 7 if you count the team that is in KHL, which is awesome.

About junior players (from iihf site):

Denmark:
Total Players: 4,198

Male Players: 1,627

Junior Players: 2,165

Latvia:
Total Players: 4,569

Male Players: 2,851

Junior Players: 1,636

Where do you get numbers from that junior players been declining in Denmark?

Also we have more women playing hockey than you 406 vs. 82....naaanananananaa!

 

[AstrophysicalJet]

Yes, that's what I'm saying - I highly doubt you will fill the arenas with Danish fans. You couldn't even fill a 5000-seat arena when playing in the Olympic Qualification round, which was held in Denmark.

I couldn't be more delighted if it turned out I was wrong, though.


Well, the number of kids/junior players in Denmark has decreased a little since 2010.

You still havent answered my question, you seem very hesitant and on the fence about DK./QUOTE]
What question, and on the fence about what?

It Was held in Vojens, a town in an area that is spartels populated, With no advertizing done for the tourney.. If you Think that Will be the case at the wc.. Good luck

 

[Danish Pastry]

This is nonsense. Of countries where it is not an official language Danes are probably the best English speakers in the world. I am sure hockey visitors would have an easier time than in Belarus, Germany or France and whatnot with 85% of adults speaking it here. Now do not get me started on the Swedes who (also) speak with a horrible accent and on top have a vocabulary like 10 year old (Danish) children. Maybe your bad experience came from speaking to some of all the Swedes working in Copenhagen

Seriously, visitors will have nothing to worry about.

Agree for the most part.

 

[BobDobolina]

Congrats Denmark!

 

[Justinov]

Same here! Legoland was awesome!

I just feel sorry for the ones who need to talk English while being in Denmark - from what I've experienced, the accent Danes use in English is hard to understand. Sounds like they're speaking Danish with English words (Sorry Danes!)

Just to make it clear: Speak English with a hot potato in your mouth

Well English is just a Danish dialect - The Angles did come from Southern Jutland (Danes do not understand them even today with their Sønderjysk dialect)
Later they got more danish Danes and French-speaking Danes from Normandy, so there is a lot of potato language going on, mixed with a lot of latin to sound refined.

What I don't understand is why Swedes especially from Stockholm insists on speaking english when in Copenhagen. It not that hard for Scandinavians to understand each other if you just speak slowly, articulate and avoid weird slang. People from Norway (avoid Nynorsk and speak bokmål) or Skåne have generally no problem in Copenhagen and standard finnish-swedish is generally easy at least for danes to understand.
Off course Danes speak english with a Danish accent (Danes can't roll r's, so three becomes tree) as Norwegians (can't say W-) and Swedes with theirs (can't say J-).

The reason for the potato development is that danish lost a lot of hard consonant sounds and turned them into vowel sounds. Danish could be one of the leading languages in the world when it comes to different vowel sounds. We have 30 different single vowel sounds (if you count with and with “stød“) and then you also have vowel diftongs, tritongs and the lone tetratong (Bjerg - pronounced B-i-æ-a-u) that probably brings it around 40 or so. But that's only the standard language.

Dialects in Jutland even have gone more extreme reducing almost everything to single vowels:
This is an actual sentence in Sønderjydsk: “A æ u Ã¥ æ ø i æ Ã¥“
In standard danish it's: “Jeg er ude pÃ¥ øen i Ã¥en“
In english “I am out on the Island in the stream/river“.
If you feel puzzled as Swedish, don't worry “east-danes“ are as well.

EDIT: Found a site that makes the pure vowel sentence even longer: [we only write 9 different vowels, so they are not pronounced all the same]
A æ u å æ ø i æ å, æ i å u å æ ø i æ å
English: “I am on the island in the river, are you also on the island in the river?"
Apparently the research show that modern Copenhagen'ish has 42 distinct vowel sounds and dialects from West-Jutland has 53 distinct vowel sounds.
Amazing what you can do with a potato in your mouth!