Did you enjoy the tournament without NHLers?

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

I enjoyed them a lot, I was too young for the last tournament without them in '94. Germany was a fantastic story, Russia while the best team was evenly matched with the rest of the competition, and it was fairly unpredictable.

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[Sticksandsun]

Not as much with the NHLbut I sure did, it was a nice change. Anyone who didn't find it entertaining is just salty Russia won.

 

[caymanmew]

I enjoyed the tournament a lot more then i thought i would. A far more even tournament where everyone had at least a outside shot (expect maybe Korea) was a lot of fun. Additionally not watching with the feeling that anything less then gold is a complete failure made the viewing experience for me more relaxed and let me get into the games more then past Olympics.

The one thing i'd change is try and limit the Russian stars from playing somehow to further even the playing field.

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

I can't be sure because I probably enjoyed this Olympics less than any I can remember.

Could be because of the time of the events and my work schedule though.

I only really got into the snowboard half-pipe and snowboard big air, those were both great. Didn't see much else really other than the gold medal hockey games which were both really good.

I usually see a lot more and love luge and bobsled, didn't see a bit of it this time though.

Every time I turned on it was curling or figure skating.

 

[LastOne2100]

Either best on best with the NHL included or amateur only would be my preference.

Frankly, I think the later would be more interesting overall.

 

[Eisen]

Yes, about the same as if there were there.

 

[Firsov99]

It was fun. It definitely wasn't a flop. But hardcore hockey fans would rather see the best on best format.

 

[Sotty]

I enjoyed it, obviously . But I would have prefered if the NHL had participated.

 

[Fantomas]

Most Olympic tournaments feature terrible haphazard hockey. This was no exception.

But the final was one of the best matches ever.

 

[PG Canuck]

I mean, up until the final I wasn’t very invested. If Germany wasn’t in the Final I probably would’ve just had the game on in the background for noise.

 

[State of Hockey]

Not nearly as much without them. I think it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that close games is good hockey. The overall quality of hockey was poor for an Olympic level. Even the clear best team, Russia, played poorly in the gold medal game and still won. I enjoyed the drama in Germany nearly winning, but let's face it, that was clearly not the best playing the best. The overall quality of play in the tournament was well behind an average NHL game.

 

[Albatros]

It was a fine tournament, compared to the ones between Nagano and Sochi there might have been a couple that were as good or better, but also a few worse. Unfortunately the atmosphere was mediocre at best and maybe the biggest downside.

 

[Zamboni Parade]

I thought it was pretty good if you took it for what it was. Just a shame that the best players weren't there... I dunno, it felt a bit like spending a nice day eating ice cream at the local fair but instead you also could have gone riding the roller coaster at Six Flags.

 

[c9777666]

I was initially intrigued because it was different.

But different isn’t always better.

Bring back the regulars in 2022 and hopefully North America can get a Winter Olympics soon.

The Olympic Hockey tournaments in North America/Vancouver were tremendous while the ones overseas, like this one, have been more miss than hit.

 

[SniperHF]

It was better than the contrived World Cup thing and most World Championships. Not as interesting as WJCs or other recent Olympics.

Women's final was the most entertaining of the games, followed by the Men's final. Good to have riveting finals anyway.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

I didn’t find the quality of the play that good personally. It was kind of neat to see Germany do so well.

 

[Bear12Good]

Better then joke WCUP 16 in Toronto

 

[IamNotADancer]

It's like picking between watching The Godfather and Sharknado. You know the first one has some great acting and an amazing story line yet at times can put you to sleep while the second one is an absolute disaster acting and plot wise.. yet it's so bad you can't help but watch and laugh at the shitshow.

 

[Vipers31]

I probably enjoyed it more than with NHLers, although realistically it was just a different of joy. Lack of NHLers allowed me to follow Germany through a tournament, be emotionally involved, and experience a run I'll most likely never get in hockey again.

If things had taken a slightly less fortunate turn at any point, it would have been a completely insignificant tournament, for me. Without NHLers, I felt no reason to watch other teams, which I usually would.

So, while this particular string of events made me enjoy it more, if we're wondering how to move forward, I would want NHLers back and safely enjoy best-on-best hockey, rather than attempt to chase another miracle run that will probably never come again.

 

[Matteo]

It was a nice tournament although OAR (aka CSKA, SKA and Metallurg) was clearly superior to the others in terms of skills, let alone most of them are also teammates in their respective clubs so chemistry was basically there already.
Hats off to Team Germany, they played so well down the line and a silver medal is just a dream. Biggest disappointment goes to Team Sweden, I expected a lot more.

 

[XokkeyGuy]

I enjoyed the olympicsin 2006, but the later 2 wasn´t much to enjoy for my part. This is for me the most entertaining olympics hockey tournament. It's up to each countrys federation to get its best players for the most prestigious gold medal and all the players showed more motivation in the end than I have seen a lot of them do in the past.

Great tournament!

 

[Everlasting]

It's a shame North America had to ruin the olympics this time with their egoism. As a swede, i did not enjoy this. F U Germany :*

 

[Roland of Gilead]

No, crap tournament.

 

[Vladnyc]

It's a shame North America had to ruin the olympics this time with their egoism. As a swede, i did not enjoy this. F U Germany :*

This!

The NHL is disgusting. As soon as they announced that they wouldn't be sending players to the Olympics, I stopped watching and I wont watch again till they start sending them again.

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

Not as much with the NHLbut I sure did, it was a nice change. Anyone who didn't find it entertaining is just salty Russia won.

Didn't mind Russia winning, as I like Datsyuk and Kovalchuk, but the tourney was not entertaining and a borderline waste of time without all of the best players in the world participating.