Uhg, sorry about that I had a few bevvies and was anything but diplomatic.
I put some time in to do a little research for you about the tournament to smooth things over
The World Championship tournament actually predates the current Olympic tournament and the first one was actually held at the summer olympics in 1920. This tournament was won by the Winnipeg Falcons, which we see retold in a current heritage minute.
Like the Olympics, it was only for amateur athletes. The Olympics also acted as the World Championship Tournament from 1920 to 1968, with the stand alone World Championship Tournament running on off Olympic years from 1930 onwards.
In 1968 the Olympics became just the medal tiered set up for hockey, and the World Championship Tournament was added to Olympic years as the stand alone Tournament to decide who was world champions.
Things changed in 1977 when professional athletes were allowed to enter the tournament. Canada immediately started sending professional athletes who were no longer in the Stanley Cup Playoffs hunt. The switch to allow pro athletes into the tournament was largely due to Russia sending pro athletes for years, working around the rules by officially listing the players as aircraft mechanics, construction workers, etc…
Outside of the Olympics, the World Championships is the major International hockey tournament for men’s hockey. It has been around for over 100 years. Obviously countries often can’t send their very best players because they are all pro athletes now and the biggest league on the planet is running their playoffs at the same time, but it is still a huge tournament, especially in Europe, and it does decide what nation is World Champions in Hockey for the year.
Interestingly, Sweden and Finland are the only two nations who have been crowned World Champions, and won Olympic Gold, in the same year.
If this tournament was run outside of the NHL playoffs I bet we would see more rabid attention from North America, but maybe given its roots as an amateur sport, the IIHF doesn’t care as much. Given how many high calibre players are not in it, it also give other nations a fighting chance.