If not, then they have the opportunity to earn the chance to make life changing money - while playing with the best of best, as opposed to making OK money in Europe.
Russian NHL players are far superior to Finland NHL players in 2024-25. Not sure why referring to very old results for that purpose. I don't think Teemu Selanne is coming out of retirement. Obviously anything can happen in a best of one, with over-reliance on top players and then introduce system play, etc.
The oft-cited first "best on best" tournament was the 1976 Canada Cup, and the Soviets didn't even bring their best players. It's generally a marketing term.
I said Russia as a country... Same thing next year with the winter Olympics, no one will represent Russia.
That's why i used 2M$/yr in my example. If you are making only 1M$/year in the NHL, you are considered a journey man/ role player and most probably play on the 4th line or 7-8th defenseman. These players would not be on any National team of the top 5 countries in the world.
Agree, that is the same comparison I use. It's worthwhile to win, yes, just as the Challenge Cup was or Rendez-vous 87. Even the Summit Series in 1972 or 1974. Not quite the same as the 2026 Olympics coming up, though. Assuming the NHL doesn't f*** it up.
Agreed, this is an important point.
Yeah these other sports can try as they might to recreate a FIFA World Cup type of thing, but they always fall short. The Olympic Football Tournament didn't have real prestige behind it until 1924, so there was not a long history to that point. Following the first World Cup, Football was dropped from the Olympics in 1932 and by the time it returned in 1936, it had lost its prestige. So FIFA essentially did make a coup for it that was successful, but it would be much harder to do with a new event in a different sport given the fairly extensive histories involved as well as interconnectedness of the world today.
Have to disagree with "far superior", maybe to a fantasy hockey enthusiast. Hockey is way more than pure scoring. Finland's forwards are so clearly better defensively overall that it absolutely matters. If Panarin was matched against Barkov every night, he wouldn't be scoring as much. Centers being important is not manipulative language, they have a bigger role in overall defensive and possession, starting from the faceoff dot. Finland's forward group doesn't drop that heavily after the first line, they have solid players for multiple lines. Having multiple lines of just scoring wingers doesn't always pan out as great as one might think, because not all of them will get the minutes and roles they are used to. The depth of defense is a far bigger problem for Finland, the forward group has a solid foundation.
Nah you’re basically just talking about Barkov. He can’t play a full 60 minutes. Finland doesn’t have a lot of depth.
I'm absolutely not talking about just Barkov. Do I really have to give an in depth lecture about the defensive game of Finland's forwards? I guess so...
Alright, if we're gonna hype up real life NHL third liners I think we're just making my point. Guys like Lehkonen, Lundell, Armia, Granlund, Kakko, Teravainen, Laine are wildly behind the equivalent players for the other notable countries in a best on best setting.
The only official thing I've seen is 2025 and 26 worlds. Not saying it won't happen but I have yet to see it personally
