Fasel unhappy with NHLers skipping Turin

[therealdeal]

Nope.Nope.Nope.

World Cup = North american Cup.

Olympics >>>>>>>>>> North american Cup.

Up until 1998, Olympics = European cup

World Cup = Olympics

Its still best on best, just on smaller ice, the people that say its not as good are just bitter because they always lose it. And now you have those same bitter people saying that this means nothing because a few players have dropped out, but the tournament still means the same, there are always going to be injuries and drop outs, its time to get over it.

 

[LuigiStone*]

Nope.Nope.Nope.

World Cup = North american Cup.

Olympics >>>>>>>>>> North american Cup.

WC >>>>>>>>>>> Olympics

Real rules, real rink, real refs...

 

[CSKA]

Up until 1998, Olympics = European cup

World Cup = Olympics

Its still best on best, just on smaller ice, the people that say its not as good are just bitter because they always lose it..

Why not to play the semis in Moskau and the final in Prag ? Why not ? its a "World cup" ???
Its a North american cup with NHL Ice and Rules ! Point.

 

[ScottyBowman]

It was called the Canada cup before. I agree that if its a world cup that the finals should be held in different countries.

 

[mr gib]

Naslund may be scoring lately, but anyone who has watched him on a regular basis over the past seasons would tell you he is struggling badly with his groin. In the end its is understandable that he thinks he couldn't help Sweden with his health as it is right now.

Plus, Sweden definatly found a great replacement.

i agree - he's been hurt for months - he's under constant pressure from canuck and swedish fans alike - damned if ya do damned if ya dont -

 

[mr gib]

He has never helped the Swedish nationalteam before, even when healthy, so why even bother. He´s a floating turd who depends on Bertuzzi and Morrison in order to get those easy tap-in goals.

He´s so overrated It´s just insane.

no way

 

[Borlag]

Why not to play the semis in Moskau and the final in Prag ? Why not ? its a "World cup" ???
Its a North american cup with NHL Ice and Rules ! Point.

It's called World Cup because it's a tournament where the best teams from the entire world is competing against each others, not just North American teams. And the fact that it's NHL ice and rules has nothing to do with the level of play, the rules are the same for N.American players and for the European players, and considering that the majority of the players in those teams play in the NHL with those rules normally, it is definitely a non-issue.

And if you want to nit-pick about the Olympics having a bigger ice and international rules, well, those too are the same for everyone, and there too the majority of the players are from the NHL apart from the lower tier teams obviously. So that leads to the conclusion that if those players play on small ice and with NHL rules normally, the large ice and international rules should also hurt each team equally. Again a non-issue.

Sure you could start arguing that European players have an advantage over N.American players due to them originally playing on the larger ice, but if you'd ask any european NHL veteran on what it feels like to play on the large ice after 10+ seasons on a small one, they'd all answer that it takes awhile to get used to.

In conclusion, the Olympics and World Cup are just about equal in terms of level of play.

 

[Sotnos]

You guys do realize that guys like Kipper aren't going because the teams won't allow them to go. They can do it to European players because they don't give a damn what Finland or Sweden thinks. If a team wouldn't let Canada's number 1 goalie go, the Canadian media would be all over them.

It's seriously not worth arguing with some of you people.

 

[therealdeal]

Why not to play the semis in Moskau and the final in Prag ? Why not ? its a "World cup" ???
Its a North american cup with NHL Ice and Rules ! Point.

I agree, it should be moved around, but that doesn't change the quality of play.

 

[therealdeal]

You guys do realize that guys like Kipper aren't going because the teams won't allow them to go. They can do it to European players because they don't give a damn what Finland or Sweden thinks. If a team wouldn't let Canada's number 1 goalie go, the Canadian media would be all over them.

You mean like when Roy dropped out in 2002?

 

[CSKA]

It's called World Cup because it's a tournament where the best teams from the entire world is competing against each others, not just North American teams. And the fact that it's NHL ice and rules has nothing to do with the level of play, the rules are the same for N.American players and for the European players, and considering that the majority of the players in those teams play in the NHL with those rules normally, it is definitely a non-issue.

And if you want to nit-pick about the Olympics having a bigger ice and international rules, well, those too are the same for everyone, and there too the majority of the players are from the NHL apart from the lower tier teams obviously. So that leads to the conclusion that if those players play on small ice and with NHL rules normally, the large ice and international rules should also hurt each team equally. Again a non-issue.

Sure you could start arguing that European players have an advantage over N.American players due to them originally playing on the larger ice, but if you'd ask any european NHL veteran on what it feels like to play on the large ice after 10+ seasons on a small one, they'd all answer that it takes awhile to get used to.

In conclusion, the Olympics and World Cup are just about equal in terms of level of play.

Once again ! I have no problem with the NHL Rink or Rules ! I have a problem with the location ! Do you like to get boooowed everytime you touch the puck or to play on the home ice in your country ?

 

[CSKA]

I agree, it should be moved around, but that doesn't change the quality of play.

yes not the quality of play but maybe another winner every tournament ?

 

[Borlag]

The crowd cheering or booing is a two-sided thing, some players excel when booed at, some excel from the cheering. Besides, the guys going to those tournaments are supposed to be the best players in the world, if they can't handle away games, then they definitely don't deserve to be considered amongst the best.

And unless I'm completely mistaken, it was you CSKA who brought the NHL ice & rules = N.A tourney argument in this, so it did seem like that was an issue for you.

This year the olympics are in Italy, a country that's definitely not known for great level of hockey. Granted, there's bound to be hockey fans watching the games there from countries closeby and there's also bound to be fans watching the games from N.America. The location where the tournament is held shouldn't have any effect on the quality of the game. Not unless you want to get into trivial things such as the condition of the ice.

 

[CSKA]

The crowd cheering or booing is a two-sided thing, some players excel when booed at, some excel from the cheering. Besides, the guys going to those tournaments are supposed to be the best players in the world, if they can't handle away games, then they definitely don't deserve to be considered amongst the best.

Home ice is home ice there is no doubt it helps even on that level !

This year the olympics are in Italy, a country that's definitely not known for great level of hockey. Granted, there's bound to be hockey fans watching the games there from countries closeby and there's also bound to be fans watching the games from N.America. The location where the tournament is held shouldn't have any effect on the quality of the game. Not unless you want to get into trivial things such as the condition of the ice.

So whats your point ? Every tournament in Canada? Euros loves hockey too. Whats wrong with Moskau, Prag, Stokholm ...... ?

 

[Borlag]

There's nothing wrong with those, and I never meant to indicate that. Infact since in countries like Finland, Sweden, Russia and Czech hockey is amongst the biggest sports in the country, if not the biggest, I believe it'd be real good if those countries would have a tournament like the World Cup or the Olympics. The flipside of the coin is that when the tournaments are held on "smaller" hockey countries, like it is with Italy this year, then hockey is bound to get more exposure in that country.

And as for World Cup alone, it's hosted by the NHL, so it's only natural that it's played in N.America. This way there's also no need to resize the rinks in Europe for those games. These things are never really as simple as picking a country and going there to play, there's alot more things involved than just that. Luckily the main thing, meaning the quality of the play, is intact for aslong as the main leagues in the world have a World Cup/Olympics break.

 

[Macman]

Home ice is home ice there is no doubt it helps even on that level !





So whats your point ? Every tournament in Canada? Euros loves hockey too. Whats wrong with Moskau, Prag, Stokholm ...... ?

They did play World Cup games in Europe and in the U.S., unless I dreamt the whole thing.

 

[CSKA]

They did play World Cup games in Europe and in the U.S., unless I dreamt the whole thing.

Who played in Europe ? Usa ? Canada ? And i dont wanna talk about the 1/4 , 1/2 and the finals.

 

[Tricolore#20]

The major problem with the World Cup IMO was that Finland and the Czech Republic had to travel overseas in order to play their semi-finals games. While it may not have been an issue to some, I would think such a long flight would disadvantage those European teams compared to the Americans and Canadians who didn't have to travel at all.

Patrik Elias was one of the players who was most disappointed about that fact, I remember. He was questioning why the Canadians never travelled outside of Canada, while every other country travelled outside of their respective country.

The World Cup would be more legitimate in my eyes if they kept all the games in one country, like the WHC or the Olympics. While the World Cup could potentially have been a bigger money maker for the NHL, since every country except Russia and Slovakia played a game in their home country, by playing in one location you can ensure the integrity of the tournament, and not have to bring up these excuses time and time again.

 

[RangersFan88*]

It pains me to see Pitkanen playing every game after he withdraw, it pains me to see Naslund putting up great points after he declined and it pains me to see Kipper playing 18/19 games!

and it pains me to see germany's best forwards get injured 4 days before the ****ing tournament starts

and tournament just lost 5 great matchups now germany will go down like 3-12 goals in the tournament
with hecht and sturm the german would have had a great troop ,speed expirience and with a little luck a chance of doing big

and that näslund or kipper or pitkanen or whoever are skipping is just sad
i mean sportsmen have many dreams but
SHIIIIT !!!! ITS THE ****ING OLYMPICS !!!!!!! MAKE UP YOUR MIND !!!!!!

if i had the chance to put on my countrys dress and play in the biggest sportsevent humankind knows i would just do anything thinkable to play and make my country proud

i seriously hope that finnland wins it and then they ask kipper the **** he thinks about it
dippshit !
same with all the others
if they get injured thats something else ,bad luck, but **** if there were no olympics they would just shut the **** and keep playing, you know ....

think about it
they're ****ing pro's man !!!
beeing payed so much and given so many opportunities .....
for my point if i would have been blessed with these skilles and luck
dammit i would even play with broken legs i wouldnt care
i would play as much as it goes and i wouldnt care about the pain

the olympics ....
they represent honor, sportsmanship and peace

but the nhl take a dump on that and that pains me .....

 

[Jazz]

I get the feeling with both Kiprusoff and Naslund that there is something else (ie, backroom politics) behind the scenes....

 

[Jazz]

yes not the quality of play but maybe another winner every tournament ?

So your problem is because Canada was won 5 out of the 7 World/Canada Cups?

 

[Jazz]

....So whats your point ? Every tournament in Canada? Euros loves hockey too. Whats wrong with Moskau, Prag, Stokholm ...... ?

I can agree with this point.

Besides, Gretzky has already mentioned that there is talk of a World Cup later this decade that will be held entirely in Europe....

 

[nashnaidoo]

The World Cup not being played in Europe could be because of attendance issues as well as a North American bias.

Don't the WJHC's have attendance problems when they are held in Europe?

As far as players not representing their countries in the Olympics I expect it's a combination of injuries plus the insane schedule they face in Olympic years, particularly if they go deep into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

As a professional you ultimately have responsibilities to the team that pays you. If you are playing at 85% and see the opportunity to take a few weeks off to heal up for the stretch drive and the playoffs you're going to take it.

If they want all the NHL'ers to show up for the Olympice either shorten the NHL schedule (not going to happen), or move hockey to the summer games.

 

[dawgbone]

Who played in Europe ? Usa ? Canada ? And i dont wanna talk about the 1/4 , 1/2 and the finals.

When was the last time the World Hockey Championships were held in Canada?

 

[Connorrhea]

I completely agree with Fasel, but I also understand from a player and their teams point of view, but I side with the Olympic view.

NHL players are paid millions, compare that to the average amateur athletes who trains for 4 years just to get a chance to compete for a medal.

Kiprusoff wants to rest his injury? What injury is that? The one that has stopped him from playing over 50 games already, the most in the NHL.

These guys need to suck it up and play for their countries. I thought athletes play for the name on the front, not the name on the cheque. If teams were so worried about their players getting injured, then why in God's name did they agree to allow NHLers to participate in the Olympics?

Hell, NHLers shouldn't be allowed to participate because the Olympic games celebrate amateur athletics, but that's another debate for another time.