How to improve the tourney

[GAGLine]

I think the play offs should a best of 3.

8 of 10 teams make the playoffs, and there are 3 rounds of playoffs. That means they would be adding anywhere from 3 to 6 extra days to the tournament, and probably more since they will need to have at least 1 or 2 off days in there. How many teams might balk at potentially losing their players for an extra week and a half? How many of those teams might hold players back rather than let them play in the tournament?

Even with Russia added back into the mix, there aren't 8 teams that can realistically compete for the gold. Canada beat Slovakia 11-1 in the prelims. Do we really need to see them do it twice more in the playoffs? Slovakia has little chance in any case, but they'd have a better chance of winning 1 game against Canada rather than 2 out of 3.

There's no reason to have the entire playoffs be best of 3, beyond a money grab. More games doesn't automatically make the tournament better. Single elimination is best IMO. It makes every game that much more important. The only change I would make is to not allow the final game to be decided by a shootout. Make them play overtime (4 on 4 or 5 on 5) until there is a winner.

 

[Junohockeyfan]

Allow fighting in international hockey.

 

[Silky Johnson]

Higher ticket prices.

Bigger stadiums (all outdoor 60k+)

Only in North America (but always close to Canada)

No Russia

But seriously, ticket prices are dictated by market forces. I am not a fan of communism so I say keep it as is.

 

[llwyd]

But seriously, ticket prices are dictated by market forces. I am not a fan of communism so I say keep it as is.

I'm not sure how serious you are, but disastrously bad pricing is also a part of capitalism - that's how many enterprises fail. You can overcharge your way out of the market place. Actually, this is what seems to be happening now, obviously the organizers and Hockey Canada will not go bankrupt but they will take big losses for their bad pricing. In a perfectly free market, the ticket prices would have fallen like a stone already during the tournament, but it seems to be regulated in the way that it's not possible

 

[Golden_Jet]

Ban Russia for the next decade.

Hold the tournament in Europe more often.

And if the USA are hosting any tournaments, it can't be anywhere within 200 miles of the Canadian border.

Hockey Canada needs to cap ticket prices at $25 max for any Team Canada game.

Doesn’t the IIHF set the prices, or is it negotiated between the 2 parties.

 

[David Suzuki]

"Bring back poor, long-suffering Russia" - out would go Finland and Sweden at the very least, probably several other nations. There just isn't any playing that country at the moment. That's the reality. I can't even begin to describe emotions in Finland at this time.

I'd much rather have Russia than Finland tbf if that's the trade off we have to make so be it. Not having a player of Michkov's quality in this tournament is a bit silly.

 

[Golden_Jet]

All teams should play in one group. Best one wins gold. No playoffs.

It was like that many years ago, but was changed, as it was anti climatic. You sometimes ended up watching another game on TV, to see if your team was going to win gold, (hoping the team chasing you lost).
So you ended up not playing that day, but won gold.

 

[jkrdevil]

Try to avoid playing the tournament in August if possible.

This situation is basically because this year’s tournament is a Covid makeup.

 

[Karl Eriksson]

When the tourney is around Christmas and Russia is part of it, it’s magic. Do that.

 

[Silky Johnson]

I'm not sure how serious you are, but disastrously bad pricing is also a part of capitalism - that's how many enterprises fail. You can overcharge your way out of the market place. Actually, this is what seems to be happening now, obviously the organizers and Hockey Canada will not go bankrupt but they will take big losses for their bad pricing. In a perfectly free market, the ticket prices would have fallen like a stone already during the tournament, but it seems to be regulated in the way that it's not possible

We shall see.

WJC in Canada have a pretty good track record of making money. I'd give their revenue management people a bit of a benefit of the doubt.

Maybe they should drop their prices or maybe they should keep pricing integrity. I know a fair amount about yield management (wrote my masters dissertation on it) but would need more specific information to have a more informed opinion this particular iteration.

However mandating low ticket prices, like 25 bucks as suggested, is not good business. Certainly contrary to the free market.

 

[Petes2424]

Even without the off ice stuff that's been in the news, does anyone else find that this tourney has gotten a little stale? I miss the days when it was smaller, before the big corporate sponsors and TSN ramming content down our throats non-stop. Not to mention batshit crazy ticket prices that most normal folks can barely afford. A few things I'd like to see in the coming years:

- Bring back Russia. They're too great of a hockey nation to be sidelined due to politics. There is no need for them to be needlessly barred from competition for a period of years.

- Return to smaller, more intimate venues. The World Juniors should be played out in places like Saskatchewan and North Dakota, not NHL arenas in major cities. Let's get that grassroots, small host city vibe going again. So tired of seeing the same big North American cities host these events. Spread it around a bit.

- I wouldn't mind seeing a switch to a best of three playoff format instead of single game elimination.

Any thoughts?

Think there’s only staleness to it because we’re now in the information era where everything is at our fingertips.

Used to be, even in London, Ontario, it was hard to find every game to watch. So people would go to the games if they could, really depending more on sportswriters, articles, highlights, etc.

So the first few years we really started to see big-time access, it was a cool thing for prospect watchers. That’s diminished over the last few years. Think we’ll see a rebound come December, as people will really want to watch Bedard play by then.

Honestly think that’s all it is. The hockey has been great over the years. We’ve seen great stories evolve too. As an example, we seen guys like Mrazek stand on his head and become a top NHL prospect overnight. That year I think his TV ratings were as good as Canada and the U.S. games.

I look at it this way. It’s our sport and I enjoy it. Screw impressing those who don’t watch much. The hockey itself has been great.

 

[SUX2BU]

The format is fine

 

[I Hart Conor Garland]

Get rid of it. Boom, 100% improvement.