Zine
Registered User
- Feb 28, 2002
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If Hockey had a real World Cup, would that be the best way to grow the game?
- Thread starter Maestro84
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PlayersLtd
Registered User
- Mar 6, 2019
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Okay, so I should be comparing hockey to bobsledding?
That wasn't my point. I was simply curious as to what sports are comparable to hockey in competitiveness on the world stage and I brought up baseball as the closest thing I could think of.
Ironically, baseball, despite having no barriers, ranks lower than hockey in global participation. If barriers are king how would you explain that? Same with golf, very popular, high barrier sport, very popular globally....
The whole attack minded barrier narrative is a weak argument against the sport. Yes barriers exist and yes I am very aware that it is impacting the game, especially in Canada. I wish it was otherwise. But what the heck do you expect? It is a sport that requires significant cost to participate in- for gear, travel and ice time, always has, my dad pulled me off teams because it was too expensive for him.
But when you have high demand and expensive facilities that fit limited participants someone has to shoulder the cost and for better or worse I would rather the athletes interested in the sport do it than our government. God save us all from the criticism that would follow if our government was to pump another dime into the sport.
I'm a car guy and the barriers to high performance motorsport really grind my gears but do I complain about it? Of course not, that would be irrational.
Czechboy
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- Apr 15, 2018
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Cricket?
Rugby?
Obviously not winter sports but dominated by around 5 nations and I'm not sure they are very international. I could be very wrong though as I don't follow either sport. Hockey is definitely niche. 5 nations routinely win all the medals. 5 more nations that can upset. That's about it.
We can all imagine what had it been like if Erzurum had won the rights to host 2026 Winter Olympics....
jackjohnson
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- Feb 9, 2021
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Hockey will never be a global sport like soccer or football as most people call it. So you should stop dreaming. Basketball is closer to becoming a more global sport compared to hockey but they still cant touch the FIFA world cup. Simply put soccer or football has more than 3 billion followers
jackjohnson
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lol spoken like a true NHL fan. World cup is not a joke otherwise 3 billion people would not be watching it right now
jackjohnson
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The world cup of football has though...just look at how many Canadians are following soccer canada now. I think Canada is getting more involved in soccer especially with automatic qualification for 2026 world cup. NHL should watch out
Kuracmugger
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- Oct 15, 2019
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i think there will be a differnce in the scoring since the world cup would be at the Men's age level. This was u17 and it's really hard to be competitive every year when you can only rely on players born in 2 years. Especially as turkey who most likely can't even suit a roster every year. On the men's level teams like Turkey would concede less goals then in juniors IMO.
Czechboy
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Toss in some Hockey Canada scandals... the fact Hockey Canada doesn't attract new canadians or any diversity (despite being a country full of new Canadians with a lot of diversity) and you could see soccer taking off more and more. Same with vball and basketball. Tennis has skyrocketed in the last decade for Canada too.. they are in a soccer World Cup and could win an old school fed or davis cup.
Look at what the soccer team looks like, the tennis teams look like and then the hockey team. You'd never guess they all represent the same country.
jackjohnson
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Also since soccer is such a global sport, any achievements by soccer Canada will be noticed way more around the globe compared to what hockey Canada does. The sheer magnitude of how many soccer fans follow world cup and some casual non-soccer fans is not compareable to hockey. Hockey fans here may not care but telling the truth since most of the world dont watch hockey.
Czechboy
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I still remember when Dana White said that George St. Pierre was more popular than Gretzky and hockey fans went nuts.lol Not a direct quote but he said something like 'no one knows who Gretzky is in Malaysia, they all know George'.lol Something like that. It was funny becasue I'm a hockey guy and thought Dana was right!
The Marquis
Moderator
I’m talking about the hockey version, which is flatly not best on best as people say. Absolutely not. Too many of the worlds best players are from 2 countries.
I fully realize the FIFA World Cup is a massive thing and is absolutely best on best. It’s that way because there are many leagues in the world that could be considered top tier, where hockey has one and nearly all the top players are in that league.
The Marquis
Moderator
I don’t know who George St. Pierre is.
jackjohnson
Registered User
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ok thanks for clearing it up amd you are right, World cup of hockey is a big joke. Even Canadians dont watch it unlike olympics. NHL is an idiot for not allowing players to play in olympics but they are a business i guess.
hehe thats because you only watch hockey
Scoring 40 goals in a game is already hard work. A goal every 90 seconds. Who would bother to do that even if one could?
- Jun 17, 2009
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I'd like to see a best-on-best tournament that is more granular than a national level. Try to include as many good players as possible. Sweden could easily put together two stacked teams, Canada could put together 3 or 4, etc. Add some regional bragging rights into the mix.
jj cale
Registered User
I won't disagree on the last few points made here because they are true. What saddens me about it all is that the real thing we are missing out on is no top level best on best olympic hockey or world cup is the fact they as fans we are missing out on superior entertainment because well...................hockey is a better sport to watch then football.
I know I know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, blah blah. But really it isn't, when you strip away any bias and just take the sports as they are and you throw away all the energy of the crowd and the party going on and the production superiority/advantage one sport has over another and just observe the play action going on hockey ( and a host of other sports for that matter up to and including downhill skiing)................ has that sport beat hands down,.football really doens't grade out very well. I swear to god, it takes watching 20 games to get one with real sustained good great action. Way too may games where there just isn't enough action going on, and if a team or god forbid both of them want to park it it's just horribly dreadful stuff. So much of footballs popularity has to do with such a long tradition of it being an old sport with such deep roots, it's availability and the atmosphere in the stands and media built around that tradition. But if you were to wipe the slate clean, start humankind all over again and have god or the f***in aliens give you a season long example of just the sports being played that were going to be your options football would end up the niche sport because being honest it doesn't come close to so many other sports in game play itself that so many others do. When it's really great sure it's really great just like pretty much any sport you can think of, but man, you sure have to work for it as a fan. A lot of games there is nothing there to keep you watching except for the atmosphere in the stands, because it sure as hell isn't what is happening down there on the pitch most times.
Too slow, too much f***ing around with the ball doing nothing and going nowhere and just far too few legitimate scoring opportunities in too many games. I can't think of another sport that has solid popularity where there is so many nil-nil endings, that says a lot to me. In a lot of ways it's the most over rated sport in the world, it really is. Yet, by sheer timing, availability and luck it's in the number one sport on earth, but that's all it is, luck, availability and timing.
In terms of actual sports entertainment when we are talking about actual game action One tournaments worth of senior best and best hockey regardless of where it is held is worth 4 football world cups, and I could honestly say that about a lot of sports, Give me one wimbledon tournament over 4 world cups too, way more bang for the buck.
I mean I like football fine but the more you do watch it the more you pine for seeing the worlds best in hockey go at it.
We sure do need anther top level hockey competition and soon, thank god we still do have the WHC going, it gives us at least a good fix and we get it each year.
Now I sit back and wait for the football fans on here to call for my assassination.
I know I know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, blah blah. But really it isn't, when you strip away any bias and just take the sports as they are and you throw away all the energy of the crowd and the party going on and the production superiority/advantage one sport has over another and just observe the play action going on hockey ( and a host of other sports for that matter up to and including downhill skiing)................ has that sport beat hands down,.football really doens't grade out very well. I swear to god, it takes watching 20 games to get one with real sustained good great action. Way too may games where there just isn't enough action going on, and if a team or god forbid both of them want to park it it's just horribly dreadful stuff. So much of footballs popularity has to do with such a long tradition of it being an old sport with such deep roots, it's availability and the atmosphere in the stands and media built around that tradition. But if you were to wipe the slate clean, start humankind all over again and have god or the f***in aliens give you a season long example of just the sports being played that were going to be your options football would end up the niche sport because being honest it doesn't come close to so many other sports in game play itself that so many others do. When it's really great sure it's really great just like pretty much any sport you can think of, but man, you sure have to work for it as a fan. A lot of games there is nothing there to keep you watching except for the atmosphere in the stands, because it sure as hell isn't what is happening down there on the pitch most times.
Too slow, too much f***ing around with the ball doing nothing and going nowhere and just far too few legitimate scoring opportunities in too many games. I can't think of another sport that has solid popularity where there is so many nil-nil endings, that says a lot to me. In a lot of ways it's the most over rated sport in the world, it really is. Yet, by sheer timing, availability and luck it's in the number one sport on earth, but that's all it is, luck, availability and timing.
In terms of actual sports entertainment when we are talking about actual game action One tournaments worth of senior best and best hockey regardless of where it is held is worth 4 football world cups, and I could honestly say that about a lot of sports, Give me one wimbledon tournament over 4 world cups too, way more bang for the buck.
I mean I like football fine but the more you do watch it the more you pine for seeing the worlds best in hockey go at it.
We sure do need anther top level hockey competition and soon, thank god we still do have the WHC going, it gives us at least a good fix and we get it each year.
Now I sit back and wait for the football fans on here to call for my assassination.
Czechboy
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- Apr 15, 2018
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jj cale
Registered User
The recriminations are surely going to be harsh but hey.................it's the way I see it.
And honestly, as hockey fans from anywhere in the world..............................do I not have a legitimate point?
Our sport is just better, it really is. And for that matter, quite a few are.
Czechboy
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- Apr 15, 2018
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I only watch Czechs qualifying, Euro's if they make it, World Cup if they make it and usually the Euro and World Cup Final. So about 10 games a decade. The pagentry, diving and defensive play just isn't for me. I like the end to end nature of hockey or that at any moment a dude can skate end to end and score or a D can take a shot from the point and it can go in. So a 1-0 lead in hockey is not very safe. In soccer a 1-0 victory seems pretty common and doesn't mean the game was fun or close at all. I went to a game at the World Cup Stadium in South Korea and watched (with about 100,000 fans) them play UAE. UAE scored in the first few minutes and the NOTHING happened. They just clogged up the middle and it looked like 2 teams kicking the ball back and forth for 95 minutes in the middle of the field. Having said that... the other 99,999 fans maybe thought it was great. The nuance is probably lost on me!
jj cale
Registered User
You just perfectly described a standard football match. Usually the best part of the game is the crowd
I can't add anything to that, well done.
I'd love to watch Canadian regions play each other. Through in some US and euro teams too, why not. It would be fun and different and the fans would love it. It would be hard to be lumped in with the Saskatchewanese though. We can just partner with west Ontario instead.
jcbio11
Registered User
Very good question.
Let's be honest with ourselves. The absolute best we can do is 16 teams, the same as the WCH. Any more is a pipe dream.
4 groups of 4 into a round of 8.
Let's be honest with ourselves. The absolute best we can do is 16 teams, the same as the WCH. Any more is a pipe dream.
4 groups of 4 into a round of 8.
