That's the big question. Can they sell this thing out now in Montreal, Vancouver or wherever they host it, with the resale market having taken a huge hit. Fans may hate scalpers, but the league certainly doesn't.
Has your stance on the World Cup changed for the better?
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That's the big question. Can they sell this thing out now in Montreal, Vancouver or wherever they host it, with the resale market having taken a huge hit. Fans may hate scalpers, but the league certainly doesn't.
I don't have to be polite to tell you that I had a great time in Toronto. You could buy alcohol at the arena, which is by far the most important thing for us Finns. It was great to drink and chat with Canadians, Swedes and other Finns, even though the hockey itself was a bit lackluster. I can certainly say that I had more fun in this tournament than I've had seeing NHL playoff games live, even though the hockey hasn't been as entertaining and the attendance has been way worse. If they're doing this in North America again in 2020, I'm definitely going.
On a lighter note, it's also nice to have our own team in the finals as well, even after Finland lost every single game. After all, it does say "Euroopan Unioni - Europeiska Unionen" on my passport.
Rocko604
Sports will break your heart.
I really had no plans on watching this tournament, but while I was still on holidays I tuned into a couple of pre-tourney games, thought "oh, cool, hockey." And then when the regular tournament started, I thought, "Oh, cool, this is way better than pre-season." But that's about it.
In 2014, I stayed up all night drinking Red Bull waiting for the Gold Medal game vs Sweden. If Canada vs Europe was being played in Sochi, I doubt I'd even PVR it.
In 2014, I stayed up all night drinking Red Bull waiting for the Gold Medal game vs Sweden. If Canada vs Europe was being played in Sochi, I doubt I'd even PVR it.
We bought our tickets on StubHub in May. Paid 205 euros in total for three Finland games. We're certainly not making that mistake again. You could get tickets for Finland-Russia for 5 euros on gameday. And it didn't matter one bit what seats you had printed on your ticket, cause there was plenty of room in the lower bowl. We had tickets in the nosebleeds but went down to the 100s to see the game, as did many others. You can easily do that in the finals as well.
BayStreetBully
Registered User
That's great. My apologies, as I shouldn't make assumptions.
I did speak to some Finns who said they made a great trip out of it, visiting Niagara and enjoying the city of Toronto. If they enjoyed the hockey, all the better.
And I am glad you did come. It's always great talking hockey with Finns and Swedes from abroad.
I wouldn't be surprised if some, if not most of the discounted tickets on Stubhub were put there by the organizers, not other re-sellers who paid face value. There were 13 consecutive seats available from the seller I purchased from, and it's unlikely a scalper would purchased so many so close together. At the game I went to there were accredited organizers in suits walking around the upper deck with stacks of lower bowl tickets they were handing out so the TV optics would be better.
Other than the shady format and general needlessness of the thing, another aspect they missed out on is atmosphere - which is very often the case at tournaments in Canada - once the actual games are done, you wouldn't know there's an international hockey tournament in town. They had the right idea with the Fan Village, but it was so remote that most of the city had no clue it existed, hence it failed to garner attention from anyone other than the limited fans who ventured out to see it before or after a game. It was next to empty every time I saw a broadcast from it. This should have been held right downtown in Nathan Phillips Square instead, like the 100th Grey Cup and Pan Am fan zones were, which were hugely successful.
Other than the shady format and general needlessness of the thing, another aspect they missed out on is atmosphere - which is very often the case at tournaments in Canada - once the actual games are done, you wouldn't know there's an international hockey tournament in town. They had the right idea with the Fan Village, but it was so remote that most of the city had no clue it existed, hence it failed to garner attention from anyone other than the limited fans who ventured out to see it before or after a game. It was next to empty every time I saw a broadcast from it. This should have been held right downtown in Nathan Phillips Square instead, like the 100th Grey Cup and Pan Am fan zones were, which were hugely successful.
haveandare
Registered User
Started out really pumped on it but honestly my interest faded fast once NA was out. Never really believed any other team had any shot at all of beating Canada.
Gary Nylund
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- Oct 10, 2013
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As someone who recently lived in Estonia for 11 years and got to know some Finns who came to play poker in Tallinn regularly pretty well, I can vouch for the veracity of this statement. 
I'm glad you had a good time, Toronto is a fantastic city!Not true. As far as I'm concerned, Toronto has one major advantage over places like Pyeongchang and Beijing: people speak English here. That means I can chew the fat with the locals, which is something I love doing after drinking a few (or a few dozen) beers. You couldn't do that in Korea or China.
It's also a lot easier to organize your trips, when you're travelling to an English-speaking country. If I was to travel to the Olympics, I might have to consider using the services of a travel agency. That is something that didn't even cross my mind when planning our trip to this one. I checked out what they were offering though: the cheapest World Cup package I could find including all Finland games and a few others cost 2,745 euros. You could get the same flights, same hotel, same tickets, same HHOF visit and same transportation for 1,800 euros if you booked them yourself. We paid even less though, cause we chose flights on different days and a better, cheaper hotel.
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I was always excited for it, and for me it's lived up to my expectations.
I just really love the idea of a tourney like this before the start of the NHL season. Its going to be great for the upcoming NHL season - the best players in the league all just got a huge jump start on the season. This is going to make for a great NHL season.
I just really love the idea of a tourney like this before the start of the NHL season. Its going to be great for the upcoming NHL season - the best players in the league all just got a huge jump start on the season. This is going to make for a great NHL season.
Well Tallinn is a different story. Beer doesn't cost 17 dollars like it does at the Air Canada Centre. In fact it doesn't even cost nearly as much as it does in Finland. Finnish people don't always act as obnoxiously as they do in Tallinn. Even Finnish blue-collar people are rich by Estonian standards, which is why they tend to act like complete pigs when they travel there.
Rabid Ranger
2 is better than one
I generally love every form of international hockey but to me the World Cup, even with the gimmick teams-was on pair with a typical World Championships. Nothing really special about it.
For me the biggest difference is that it's before the season as opposed to the WC being after regular season ends when most players have checked out to the golf course mentally.
Players are going to start this season off at a pace we haven't seen in quite some time. Crosby's already at playoff-style beastmode and he hasn't even been to camp yet. We will see this with so many players.....going to be a great NHL season.
Gary Nylund
Registered User
- Oct 10, 2013
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Yeah I know the Finns have a reputation for boozing it up in Tallinn but the Finns I met playing poker were awesome and I got along with them very well. Perhaps that was partly because I was born and raised in the free world so to speak and thus, felt I had more in common with the Finns than with the Estonians in many cases despite being Estonian myself. Estonia is a complicated place ...
BayStreetBully
Registered User
Another great point. I guess I've underestimated the appeal of this tournament to visitors. I'm glad you enjoyed your time.
Was really close to going to the round robin games, and I'm sure it would have been a memorable experience. I'm quite torn. I have to say team NA was an absolute treat to watch, even if all that speed didn't get them too far. And there has been a lot of good hockey played by a lot of good players.
At the same time the gimmick teams make the whole thing a gimmick tournament (in my opinion). While I'm not happy that Sweden lost, they lost to a made up team with which there is no rivalry or prestige, and which will cease to exist as soon as the tournament is over. It's like my brain can't decide whether to be upset or indifferent; a very strange feeling.
Overall I'd say my stance has changed for the worse. I do believe they are playing a dangerous game with the Canada Cup/World Cup brand. And I don't - at all - think this is what the game of hockey needs to grow.
At the same time the gimmick teams make the whole thing a gimmick tournament (in my opinion). While I'm not happy that Sweden lost, they lost to a made up team with which there is no rivalry or prestige, and which will cease to exist as soon as the tournament is over. It's like my brain can't decide whether to be upset or indifferent; a very strange feeling.
Overall I'd say my stance has changed for the worse. I do believe they are playing a dangerous game with the Canada Cup/World Cup brand. And I don't - at all - think this is what the game of hockey needs to grow.
gwh
Registered User
- Mar 4, 2013
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Might have something to do with the 48h bender associated with these trips. Just go straight to Tartu for much less drunken idiots.
Back in Black
All Sports would be great if they were Hockey
All I heard was complaints about the 2 gimmicky teams.
Team NA excited and surprised many non-believers, and Team EU is in the Finals. I think it went better than expected!
Team NA excited and surprised many non-believers, and Team EU is in the Finals. I think it went better than expected!
Big Phil
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- Nov 2, 2003
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All I heard was complaints about the 2 gimmicky teams.
Team NA excited and surprised many non-believers, and Team EU is in the Finals. I think it went better than expected!
You know, international hockey was fun when there were rivalries and the fans were into it. There couldn't be a more quiet arena than the ACC and this is where all of the games are. That shouldn't be. The fans aren't feeling it in the arena. The players aren't playing with the same sort of hunger. Canada/Russia was the only game I saw that had passion and at least some of the "Us vs. them" mentality. Ask any Canadian, do you have any reason to be mad at Kopitar, Hossa or Chara? Nope. That's the problem, there is no anger here. No one is mad at each other out there. Yeah, this tournament is a fluffed up All-Star game and that disappoints me because I am so desperately trying to say to myself that this is just like the others.
And there are plenty of empty seats in the arena. There wouldn't be nearly as many, if Canada was playing an actual country instead of a nonentity like Germany+Slovakia+Denmark+Norway+Slovenia+France+Austria+Switzerland. Tickets for the Canada games against USA and Russia cost way more than tickets for the finals do. That might be because many Canadians understand that Germany+Slovakia+Denmark+Norway+Slovenia+France+Austria+Switzerland doesn't actually exist.
All I heard was complaints about the 2 gimmicky teams.
Team NA excited and surprised many non-believers, and Team EU is in the Finals. I think it went better than expected!
Google World Cup of hockey final and read the news headlines.
Swipes
Ice Hockey World Champions 2024!
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Initially I was quite excited. But after watching a lot of the games, I have to say it's been the worst (read dullest) "international" tournament I've watched. The most exciting part was team NA, but once they were out it just hasn't been the same.
Ainec
Panetta was not racist
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Team Canada has the best roster but doesn't always play up to their capabilities but when they do, as they did in Sochi it's a snoozefest
I think I jumped the gun because of Team NA. If TC wasn't playing as well as they have throughout this whole tourny, I'd have watched the finals
I think I jumped the gun because of Team NA. If TC wasn't playing as well as they have throughout this whole tourny, I'd have watched the finals
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