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Kings @ World Championships in Czech Rep (?)

Anyway, Kopitar will announce his decision regarding participation at WC tommorow morning 9:00am slovenian time (tonight midnight pacific time).
 
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Doughty has a golden opportunity to become a Triple Gold Club, he might not get a chance again (hopefully). It's a long shot but it could be one of the bright moments for Kings this year if he pulls it off. I'd hesitate to decline abruptly if team Canada request his services.
 
KingClipper said:
The team that is paying him to perform should take precedence over national pride.
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What you're really saying is, "Love of money should be more important than love of your country." Many people (not just Europeans) would find such an attitude despicable.

KopitarFAN said:
Could have stayed in sweden if he wanted to play in all kinds of IIHF tournaments.
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Not "all kinds", just the Worlds once a year, and the Olympics every 4 years. All the other IIHF events are indeed meaningless preparation games.
 
If somebody in Slovenia really know in what condition Anze is and what kind of small injuries is he having, is his dad.

And you can be all sure that his dad will do everything not to overuse Anze. Even at Olympics Anze average TOI was almost the same as it is for Kings and here won't be anything different. Matjaz is always using all four attacking lines (it doesen't matter who opponent is).

At the end Matjaz is also having smaller role in Kings organization and I have no doubt there will be a lot of close discussion between him and Kings about everything regarding Anze.
 
Faterson said:
What you're really saying is, "Love of money should be more important than love of your country." Many people (not just Europeans) would find such an attitude despicable.



Not "all kinds", just the Worlds once a year, and the Olympics every 4 years. All the other IIHF events are indeed meaningless preparation games.
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First, when someone has invested millions of dollars in you, yea that's kind of important. Although, i'm sure the insurance he will have to get is what would be paying him in the event of any missed time.

Second, that's a lot of extra games over time, again, the Olympics I get, but I don't get the fascination with this tournament when the five best teams (Canada, Sweden, Finland, USA and Russia) basically send their left overs. I know Canada's team will still be awesome, but the rest have rosters filled with Non-NHL'ers or fringe guys.
 
Not at all; you're clearly not familiar with the tournament. It only starts after the first round of NHL playoffs is over, so 22 out of 30 NHL teams can send their players to the Worlds. They are no leftovers but first-class players, on all international teams. Have a look at the rosters from previous years, and you'll see.
 
Many North Americans have a hard time understanding the European mentality for the World Championships and I get it, to them it's kind of a joke tournament since they get to watch better teams compete all year long. But if you think about it from a European perspective it kinda makes sense.
The Worlds is basically the only opportunity to watch some of the best players in the world and you're especially excited to watch players from your own country. Imagine being a hockey fan and having all your best talent plucked from your leagues at a young age before coming into their own and competing in a league that is almost impossible for all but the most dedicated fans to watch on a regular basis. What happens is NHL players develop an almost mythical reputation of hockey prowess, after all it's the best league in the world by a fairly large margin so the prospect of watching these guys compete for a team you love (your national team) is very exciting.

People here got excited about Weal getting called up. Now imagine a world where the opposite was happening, you were watching Weal and the Monarchs all season long and once your season was over guys like Kopitar and Carter were suddenly available for you to watch alongside your favorite Monarchs. You'd be thrilled about that.
 
BigBrown said:
Many North Americans have a hard time understanding the European mentality for the World Championships and I get it, to them it's kind of a joke tournament since they get to watch better teams compete all year long. But if you think about it from a European perspective it kinda makes sense.
The Worlds is basically the only opportunity to watch some of the best players in the world and you're especially excited to watch players from your own country. Imagine being a hockey fan and having all your best talent plucked from your leagues at a young age before coming into their own and competing in a league that is almost impossible for all but the most dedicated fans to watch on a regular basis. What happens is NHL players develop an almost mythical reputation of hockey prowess, after all it's the best league in the world by a fairly large margin so the prospect of watching these guys compete for a team you love (your national team) is very exciting.

People here got excited about Weal getting called up. Now imagine a world where the opposite was happening, you were watching Weal and the Monarchs all season long and once your season was over guys like Kopitar and Carter were suddenly available for you to watch alongside your favorite Monarchs. You'd be thrilled about that.
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See, now this I can buy, don't just call us stupid for having our own best interests top of mind.

Faterson said:
Not at all; you're clearly not familiar with the tournament. It only starts after the first round of NHL playoffs is over, so 22 out of 30 NHL teams can send their players to the Worlds. They are no leftovers but first-class players, on all international teams. Have a look at the rosters from previous years, and you'll see.
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They are the B and C (or worse) Teams of the powers.

As it is now, for example, Justin Faulk or Jake Gardiner is likely the best defenseman on the US Team, after Pavelski and possibly JVR the forward group falls off considerably, that isn't a legit national team. Granted, every team has a few of their top players, but it's mostly guys who barely even got consideration for the most recent olympic team.
 
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BigBrown said:
Many North Americans have a hard time understanding the European mentality for the World Championships and I get it, to them it's kind of a joke tournament since they get to watch better teams compete all year long. But if you think about it from a European perspective it kinda makes sense.
The Worlds is basically the only opportunity to watch some of the best players in the world and you're especially excited to watch players from your own country. Imagine being a hockey fan and having all your best talent plucked from your leagues at a young age before coming into their own and competing in a league that is almost impossible for all but the most dedicated fans to watch on a regular basis. What happens is NHL players develop an almost mythical reputation of hockey prowess, after all it's the best league in the world by a fairly large margin so the prospect of watching these guys compete for a team you love (your national team) is very exciting.

People here got excited about Weal getting called up. Now imagine a world where the opposite was happening, you were watching Weal and the Monarchs all season long and once your season was over guys like Kopitar and Carter were suddenly available for you to watch alongside your favorite Monarchs. You'd be thrilled about that.
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I think part of the reason the World Championships is looked down upon is because it takes place during the NHL playoffs. Players don't prep their season to play in the World Championships, they are trying to win the Stanley Cup. So the guys who are on teams who weren't good enough to qualify for the playoffs usually end up going to the WC. And it isn't entirely composed of the best players in the world, it is whoever is available, and it is optional for many. Whereas competition like the Olympics where nobody would turn down that opportunity.
 
Ziggy Stardust said:
I think part of the reason the World Championships is looked down upon is because it takes place during the NHL playoffs. Players don't prep their season to play in the World Championships, they are trying to win the Stanley Cup. So the guys who are on teams who weren't good enough to qualify for the playoffs usually end up going to the WC. And it isn't entirely composed of the best players in the world, it is whoever is available, and it is optional for many. Whereas competition like the Olympics where nobody would turn down that opportunity.
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Absolutely. I mean I see it from both sides, I've been able to watch the NHL for the last eight years but I was a hockey fan for more than a decade before that. So I understand why it's easily dismissable for North American fans because the NHL playoffs are just plain better and they get to watch those guys all season long anyway. I was just trying to explain the perspective of those who don't follow the NHL, which is the vast majority of Europe. Also a thing to note is that European leagues are wrapping up now, they don't play nearly as long as the NHL so the Worlds are like the last piece of hockey we get before the season is over.
 
lisa dillman ‏@reallisa now8 seconds ago
And some Team Canada news: Via Jim Nill, said via email, that Tyler Toffoli, Jake Muzzin and Martin Jones will be on the team. #Worlds
 
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