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Apparently Rene Fasel is just as insane as Bettman

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Jakomyte said:
I mean, this is what he said:



So I assumed he was suggesting they were equally valid (or invalid).
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No worries...I was just being a jerk cause I'm bored, only skimmed over bits and pieces of the thread. But his bit made me laugh :naughty:
 
Canuckistani said:
The latest news on the 2016 World Cup is that the lunatic idea of a leftover Euro "all-star team" and a junior NA squad is still on the books.

And for some reason Rene Fasel is pandering to this nonsense.

Is he just as mental as Bettman on this issue or does he want the NHL to self-destruct on the international front and turn the WC into a farce?

A man who oversees competitions between national teams cannot possibly think this is a good idea.
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It is a bad idea. There's no getting around it.
 
If this idea goes through, I hope a lot of players for this all-star team is gonna fake injuries to stay out. If the revenue for the event is split among all players in the league, then it is obviously smartest to skip. If it is only available to participating players...heck, they can still skip it in order to not risk their season. Why should Kopitar/Josi/Vanek/Andersen/Chara/Hossa care for how team "The Rest" does?

Also, what people seem to forget, is that only three teams (USA, Canada and Sweden) were able to form full teams from NHL players. Finland would be hard pushed to get enough defensemen if they use AHL players, but it wouldn't be as good a team as they had in the Olympics.
 
Fantomas said:
What's the problem with this idea? Everyone is panning it, but no one is articulating their position. Let the best players play.
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If you really want to see the "best players play", you should just make it an all-star team tournament all together, no national teams involved. That way you'd have at least 60 Canadians in the World Cup if it's an eight-team tournament. You surely shouldn't have a Team Finland there, cause we will have to pick some AHL defensemen to fill our roster. Why should those AHLers get to play in a World Cup when Canada has loads of NHLers who have no chance of making Team Canada?

Maybe you could make the fans vote for the eight team captains, and they would then pick their teams. Team Girgensons, Team Toews, Team Kane, etc.
 
An absolutely stupid idea. This is not a World Cup. Imagine if they did this in Soccer (LOL). What a joke of an idea, and Fasel is out to lunch for thinking this is rational. Slovakia and Switzerland should be the 7th and 8th teams. Anything other than that is a disgrace and they should not call it a World Cup.
 
Burke the Legend said:
I am not really a fan of Rene Fasel, but what exactly would he gain by publicly insulting it?

He's not going to say anything to a reporter other than some bland, neutral endorsement.
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I agree. Fasel is just being nice because he still wants the NHL in the Olympics.
 
The World Cup should be at least 8 national teams:
Canada, Russia, US, Sweden, Finland, Czech Rep, Slovakia, and Switzerland.
 
Just imagine the pride when Boedker hears the national anthem of team world after a big win.maybe a little something whipped up by Celine Dion
 
Celine Dion will sing Canada's anthem. Team 'The Best of the Rest' get Bieber.
 
What incentive would there be for the players on the leftover all-star team and the young guns team to play as hard as the ones who are at least playing for some form of national pride?
 
Epsilon said:
What incentive would there be for the players on the leftover all-star team and the young guns team to play as hard as the ones who are at least playing for some form of national pride?
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What incentive is there for European golfers to play as hard as the Americans in the Ryder Cup?
 
Fasel is a diplomat. He may have an agreement with Bettman that if he supports World Cup, then NHL gives players to Olympics. Having that kind of all-stars teams would just mean that it's clearly an NHL exhibition tournament for NHL players. Fasel likes that idea because that way World Cup does not threaten WHC or Olympics.

It'd be more clear if NHL clearly stated that it's an NHL tournament for NHL players, like all-stars game. In practice the players could play in NHL or AHL. Players playing in Europe wouldn't be invited. The purpose of the tournament is to give exposure to all the best NHL players and the income is shared between the owners and the players. It does not make sense to mix euro players with that.

Yeah, it's stupid to have some mixed teams but it's just a tournament. If there's a legit international tournament for all players I don't see why NHL couldn't have a different kind tournament of its own, if someone cares to participate in it (or watch it).

The problem for many fans is that they try to make conclusions of tournaments. Even Olympics doesn't define which is the best country in the world. It just determines the best team in that tournament. Same applies to all tournaments. The "best-on-best" definition is weak and very flexibly used anyway. Basically the only reason why it's even used is that one can try to make silly conclusions based on tournament of only few meaningful games played every four years.

So, even though I don't like the idea about teams like "euro left-overs", the proposed World Cup format isn't as stupid as it first sounds. One must just accept the fact that single tournaments don't prove much about countries anyway. If players care to participate in it (=get paid enough?) and people care to watch, then I see no problem. I'm just not sure if it can get popular especially outside NA.
 
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Fasel is being smart, he wants NHL players at the Olympics. He can't exactly start shooting down ideas the NHL has for the World Cup of Hockey. He also knows, a stupid idea like this, if it actually gets off the ground will make the tournament, with the little relevance it has today (3 Tournaments in 25years) even more irrelevant in the International Hockey World.

To add to this, although a large number of Europeans don't care much for this tournament, I am sure if there was 8 nations competing and everyone's best could compete then they would follow it. I'm sure I would.

I do hope they keep sending NHL players to the Olympics. I do not think the World Cup of Hockey has much pulling power. Especially if they wanted the Olympics to translate to new NHL fans, there is no way the World Cup of Hockey will create more fans. I did not even realise there was a 2004 World Cup of Hockey until 2006 during the Olympics when I was reading threads before the Canada Vs Russia Quarter Final.

The 1998 Olympics was the first time I gathered an interest for hockey, mainly because of Bure and Hasek (NHL Players). Before those Olympics, my only knowledge of hockey was the classic NHL video games in the early 90's and the Mighty Ducks movies. I also thought the USA was the nation that was the best at Hockey, I knew nothing more.

After the 1998 Olympics, I started following the NHL with a passing interest. I wanted to follow some players I liked during the Olympics. It continued to increase, every year. When I lived in the U.S for half a year I went to various NHL and AHL games, I then moved to Russia in late 2005 and Hockey became my second favourite sport (After Football/Soccer). If it wasn't for NHL participation at the Olympics in 1998, I doubt I would even follow the NHL or have bought tickets to NHL games, merchandise, NHL Gamecentre and so on.
 
Lepardi said:
If you really want to see the "best players play", you should just make it an all-star team tournament all together, no national teams involved. That way you'd have at least 60 Canadians in the World Cup if it's an eight-team tournament. You surely shouldn't have a Team Finland there, cause we will have to pick some AHL defensemen to fill our roster. Why should those AHLers get to play in a World Cup when Canada has loads of NHLers who have no chance of making Team Canada?
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Technically, we could have at least seven NHL regular d-men by 2016 - it would be a very young group, but all there regardless.

But I guess this is not the thread to discuss that. As far as Fasel's comments go - I can't see him approving this idea if this was an IIHF run tournament. Could certainly see him doing this just to take the NHL down a notch, as in "come see us for pointers when you're ready to run a proper international tournament" after this thing fails to generate the expected interest.

Props for parity though if he's being straight with his comments. It does take some cojones to endorse an idea that would essentially block entry from your home country.
 
Inkling said:
For me it turns a legitimate best-on-best international tournament that has the potential over time, to become a prestigious event, into something that is along the lines of the NHL All-Star Game...something that is fun perhaps but is meaningless and has little prestige.

I would prefer that the NHL stay at the Olympics (it has built-in legitimacy) but don't mind the idea of a true World Cup. Just like football/soccer, rugby, cricket etc. if you make a proper tournament (qualifications, not invitations) then given enough time it has the potential to turn into a significant event with a lot of meaning, like the Rugby World Cup.

Once you change it from national teams, to adhoc all-star teams, it becomes nothing more than a series of friendlies/exhibition games. It loses legitimacy as a proper tournament to crown the best hockey nation. Lots of sports have World Cups and the format is pretty consistent, and they don't include all-star teams!
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pretty much all that needs to be said about that idiotic plan.
 
For me as a german I would definitely root for the Euro Leftovers, as long as they have german players on their roster.

I think this is a great way to attract the World Cup to countries which aren't in the top 6.

And for a strict country competition you have the world championships every year and the olympic games every 4 years (like the soccer world cup).
 
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For those that think this is a stupid idea (I don't necessarily disagree), what's your suggestion for a better idea? (keeping in mind it needs to work within the confines of an NHL-schedule)
 
seanlinden said:
For those that think this is a stupid idea (I don't necessarily disagree), what's your suggestion for a better idea? (keeping in mind it needs to work within the confines of an NHL-schedule)
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Here is an idea, start the NHL season earlier, end earlier, join the WHC. You get to compete with the MLB for longer in the fall, but you don't have to compete with the NBA playoffs in the spring.

(preferably I would like them to have a shorter season, but that will never happen).
 
seanlinden said:
For those that think this is a stupid idea (I don't necessarily disagree), what's your suggestion for a better idea? (keeping in mind it needs to work within the confines of an NHL-schedule)
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They can do exactly what they've done before. For format for the 1996 World Cup was great, and there is absolutely no need to change it.
 
seanlinden said:
For those that think this is a stupid idea (I don't necessarily disagree), what's your suggestion for a better idea? (keeping in mind it needs to work within the confines of an NHL-schedule)
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Ummmm a standard international tournament?
 
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