Quality-wise I'd assume. There are players in the Finnish squad who eventually end up playing in the Swedish second division.
Quality of hockey is certainly better. Thats not in dispute at all.
But better quality doesnt always equal more exciting. Ill give a simple example. In MMA, some of the best fighters are disliked or get hate for boring styles. Canadian star GSP beat everyone he ever fought, and by the end of his career he began to get criticism for just taking people down and not brawling with them. A lot of brawler's in the UFC are fan favourites, but few ever win titles.
Here is my reason for loving World Junior hockey:
- these are really skilled teenagers. Guys like Domi, McDavid etc all have NHL futures, and some guys already have played in the NHL. There are other guys like Brayden Point who will struggle to make the NHL on a full-time basis, but still have a lot of skill
- teenagers often lack the composure and mental maturity of NHLers. See last 5 minutes of Canada-US, where a "routine" Canada win all of a sudden turned into a potential collapse. these things happen a lot more in the WJC than in the NHL. I personally like it because you never know what can happen
- the players are representing their country. There is something special about wearing your country's jersey. Pride is on the line -- see the Canada - US game where both teams were taking runs at each other for no real reason, but to upstage the other
Again, my opinion is that WJC hockey is the most fun to watch -- good mix of skill, patriotism, and emotion
