NHL cautiously optimistic about 2021 World Cup.

[Wings4Life]

"Legitime" tournament in 2004 that turned out to be a dull and boring one. Team Europe was a clear upgrade and a good way to get rid of Germany. Tiresome that so many people can't see the good side of it.

It was a joke and those games shouldn't count as international hockey gams since the did not feature national teams.

Can you imagine the FIFA World Cup of Soccer (Football) tournament featuring BS made up teams like "Team North America"?

 

[Jahara]

As an international touranment or best on best, which is that the NHL presented it as, the 2016 world cup was not legitimate. It was a joke, and it should be degraded and discussed as the joke that it was.

It was a joke and those games shouldn't count as international hockey gams since the did not feature national teams.

Can you imagine the FIFA World Cup of Soccer (Football) tournament featuring BS made up teams like "Team North America"?

They try something new to raise the level and you brand it as a joke. That is kind of drama queen. In case you missed it, the top 6 national teams was there playing. Football don't need to do this kind of thing since it is a much bigger sport and it ain't packed with half pointless nonsense tournaments like Euro Hockey Tour or even the World Championship.

Or would you seriously prefer to have had Germany in the tournament instead of Team Europe? Yes or no?

 

[Elvs]

They try something new to raise the level and you brand it as a joke. That is kind of drama queen. In case you missed it, the top 6 national teams was there playing. Football don't need to do this kind of thing since it is a much bigger sport and it ain't packed with half pointless nonsense tournaments like Euro Hockey Tour or even the World Championship.

Or would you seriously prefer to have had Germany in the tournament instead of Team Europe? Yes or no?

If only 6 nations are good enough then just make it a 6 team tournament. Simple. Make two groups of three teams and make them play eachother twice. The winner of each group meet in the finals.

Yes, I'd rather see Germany than "Team What's left of Europe", but Slovakia and certainly Switzerland would be ahead of them.

Also, FIFA World Cup is packed with nations who has no chance of winning. Switzerland winning the World Cup of hockey would be less surprising than half of the nations winning the FIFA World Cup.

 

[vorky]

If only 6 nations are good enough then just make it a 6 team tournament. Simple. Make two groups of three teams and make them play eachother twice. The winner of each group meet in the finals.

Yes, I'd rather see Germany than "Team What's left of Europe", but Slovakia and certainly Switzerland would be ahead of them.

Also, FIFA World Cup is packed with nations who has no chance of winning. Switzerland winning the World Cup of hockey would be less surprising than half of the nations winning the FIFA World Cup.

Agree 1000%.

And just to add to your comment.

What is the difference between soccer & hockey? FIFA develops the game around the world, so accepting low level countries to play at FIFA World Cup. They even organise a tournament between continental club champs. Yeah, it is clear the UEFA CL is the best, but still they participate.

And hockey? One private league refused to send their players to the Olympics. Absurd. Instead, they organise so called World Cup with entities who are not countries! And they even do not consider the tournaments of NHL clubs against other leagues.

So, there can not be any surprise that soccer is so popular around the globe & hockey is not. You need to support other leagues, tournaments, not just yours (NHL´s) if you want the game of hockey to develop.

 

[JackSlater]

They try something new to raise the level and you brand it as a joke. That is kind of drama queen. In case you missed it, the top 6 national teams was there playing. Football don't need to do this kind of thing since it is a much bigger sport and it ain't packed with half pointless nonsense tournaments like Euro Hockey Tour or even the World Championship.

Or would you seriously prefer to have had Germany in the tournament instead of Team Europe? Yes or no?

It was a joke - the NHL tried something new and very, very stupid. I also don't see the top six national teams there, since Canada and USA had limitations on player selection that some actual national teams didn't have due to the age restriction. Canada 24 and over, USA 24 and over, Canada 23 and under plus USA 23 and under, team Europe minus Russia, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic - each of those teams I hope never exist again. I don't care what soccer does and I certainly don't want hockey to emulate soccer.

I would much prefer Germany to be there instead of team Europe minus Russia, Sweden, Finland, and Czech Republic. I'd also rather Switzerland be there, or Slovakia, or any other actual national team in what was allegedly an international tournament. I'd also be fine with just six teams. Adding non-national teams to the tournament, and restricting the rosters of some countries but not others, made the whole thing a joke.

 

[Jahara]

If only 6 nations are good enough then just make it a 6 team tournament. Simple. Make two groups of three teams and make them play eachother twice. The winner of each group meet in the finals.

Yes, I'd rather see Germany than "Team What's left of Europe", but Slovakia and certainly Switzerland would be ahead of them.

Also, FIFA World Cup is packed with nations who has no chance of winning. Switzerland winning the World Cup of hockey would be less surprising than half of the nations winning the FIFA World Cup.

It is true that a a 6 team tournament is better but hell no that it would be better to have Germany in a 8 team tournament instead of Team Europe. What would be the point in seeing them losing every game? World Cup don't need many teams and the other ones have their chance at the Olympics that should be a 12 (or maybe 10) team tournament. The whole USP with World Cup should be the best teams facing each other.

Agree 1000%.

And just to add to your comment.

What is the difference between soccer & hockey? FIFA develops the game around the world, so accepting low level countries to play at FIFA World Cup. They even organise a tournament between continental club champs. Yeah, it is clear the UEFA CL is the best, but still they participate.

And hockey? One private league refused to send their players to the Olympics. Absurd. Instead, they organise so called World Cup with entities who are not countries! And they even do not consider the tournaments of NHL clubs against other leagues.

So, there can not be any surprise that soccer is so popular around the globe & hockey is not. You need to support other leagues, tournaments, not just yours (NHL´s) if you want the game of hockey to develop.

Low level countries have their chance reaching the Olympics or even the World Championship (that should remain a 16 team tournament). In case they develop and reaches higher level they could get to play a World Cup. And the reason that hockey is not as global as football depends on many other things.

It was a joke - the NHL tried something new and very, very stupid. I also don't see the top six national teams there, since Canada and USA had limitations on player selection that some actual national teams didn't have due to the age restriction. Canada 24 and over, USA 24 and over, Canada 23 and under plus USA 23 and under, team Europe minus Russia, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic - each of those teams I hope never exist again. I don't care what soccer does and I certainly don't want hockey to emulate soccer.

I would much prefer Germany to be there instead of team Europe minus Russia, Sweden, Finland, and Czech Republic. I'd also rather Switzerland be there, or Slovakia, or any other actual national team in what was allegedly an international tournament. I'd also be fine with just six teams. Adding non-national teams to the tournament, and restricting the rosters of some countries but not others, made the whole thing a joke.

If this World Cup was a joke then every Olympics without NHL:ers and every World Championship is a much bigger joke. That is a far bigger problem than playing a tournament with mixed team once. Not having these kind of nonsense tournament is really what the hockey world should emulate from the football world.

 

[JackSlater]

If this World Cup was a joke then every Olympics without NHL:ers and every World Championship is a much bigger joke. That is a far bigger problem than playing a tournament with mixed team once. Not having these kind of nonsense tournament is really what the hockey world should emulate from the football world.

The Olympics tournaments without NHL participation are a joke, yes. If the world championship pretended to be a best on best, which it doesn't really, then that would also be a joke. Other things being bad or imperfect doesn't make the 2016 World Cup better than the joke that it was.

 

[Czechboy]

If only 6 nations are good enough then just make it a 6 team tournament. Simple. Make two groups of three teams and make them play eachother twice. The winner of each group meet in the finals.

Yes, I'd rather see Germany than "Team What's left of Europe", but Slovakia and certainly Switzerland would be ahead of them.

Also, FIFA World Cup is packed with nations who has no chance of winning. Switzerland winning the World Cup of hockey would be less surprising than half of the nations winning the FIFA World Cup.

Perhaps a mini tourney between those 3 to make the World Cup? I'd watch it!

 

[Elvs]

It is true that a a 6 team tournament is better but hell no that it would be better to have Germany in a 8 team tournament instead of Team Europe. What would be the point in seeing them losing every game? World Cup don't need many teams and the other ones have their chance at the Olympics that should be a 12 (or maybe 10) team tournament. The whole USP with World Cup should be the best teams facing each other.

I'd rather see Germany because it's an actual national team. But this is a moot point. Switzerland is the real loser here. They have two world championship silver medals in recent history, and only fell to a stacked team Sweden in the shootout in 2018. They are plenty competitive. Good enough to win any single game in a World Cup and overall their chances of winning the entire tournament isn't much worse than the Czech's.

Meier, Hischier, Niederreiter, Fiala and Baertschi makes them competitive up front, with the likes of Andrighetto, Malgin and a couple of players from their own league providing them with at least some depth. Defence is not as strong, but feautures Josi who can carry a big load by himself. Mueller, Weber and Kukan provides some depth, and they have good players in their own league to fill in the last couple of holes. Most likely Luca Sbisa wouldn't crack the lineup. In goal they have Genoni who has been one of Europe's best goalies the last handful of years. He'd likely be a pretty good backup in the NHL.

Then you have Slovakia, who beat USA 4-1 in the World Championship in may and was less than a second away from tying Canada.

Neither of these two nations are guaranteed to lose all games in a World Cup. Even Germany with Draisaitl, Kahun, Rieder, Kuhnhackl, Greiss, Grubauer and up and coming prospects such as Seider and Bokk could win the odd game here and there. It wouldn't exactly be earth shattering. Hockey is game with much luck involved. Bounces, hot/cold goaltenders, power plays etc.

 

[Czechboy]

Not only did I never mention rink size, but you totally missed the context of my point! I am talking about sharing home ice advantage. Have you ever noticed that in the Stanley Cup Final, not all 7 games are played in one city? If its Boston vs. Toronto in the Final, they don't play all 7 games in Boston, even if the Bruins agree to split the ticket revenue. Its about fair and equal competition. The Canada Cup never offered fair and equal competition to European participants, but it became markedly unfair after the Soviets whacked Canada 6-3 in the 1984 Canada Cup, and Alan Eagleson, who was the sole owner and proprietor of the Canada Cup, forbid European referees from working in the medal round for all time. That guaranteed a Canadian victory before the games started.

I am trying to gauge your age based on how you recount long-gone events, I am guessing you are a teen. Your boasts of "ass-kicking" tends to be what teens say when they are giggling, but in fact your claims are grossly inaccurate. Of the Canada Cups when the Soviets sent an "A" team (1981, 1984 and 1987), Canada never kicked the Soviets asses - they only barely scraped by with last minute 1-goal victories. In 1984, the Soviets beat Canada 6-3 in the round-robin, and then took advantage of a "Mike Noeth Special" to win 12 minutes into overtime, 3-2. In 1987, Canada and the Soviets tied, 3-3 in the round-robin, the Soviets won Game 1 of a best-of-3 final series, 6-5 in overtime; Canada won Game 2 at the end of double overtime; and then won Game 3, 6-5, with a goal by Mario Lemieux with one minute left. Only when teens talk to each other would that be considered "ass-kicking."

You make a good point. I always thought this too. Can you imagine if the Canada Cup's were in the former soviet union in August with Euro Refs and big rinks? Would Canada have even gone?

It seemed totally okay to make all the Euro's come over and play on different size rinks with North American refs (I think it was NHL refs, feel free to correct me).

One of the last ones, I think, they actually played in Europe and if you won, you got to fly to North America to play the North American teams who'd been there the whole time.

Now, before I get roasted, I'm not saying Canada won these tournaments because of small rink size, home ice advantage, North American refs or a much easier travel schedule. That isn't my point. I'm sure they could've won in the reverse situation (In Moscow, big rinks, Euro Refs) as well. I just don't think they'd ever agree to it.

Since I'm on old school tournaments. Every year there are posts about how Canada could send 2 teams to win whatever tournament (they could). The Isvestia (boy am I spelling this wrong!) used to routinely have 2 Russian squads. Shame that is now gone or never became a best on best.

Last one.. I REALLY wish they'd bring back a European Championships in January. I think it'd be amazing hockey.

 

[Mr Kanadensisk]

The funny thing is I'm pretty sure if you crunched the numbers in the last 50 years there has been a higher percentage of Canada Cup / World Cup games played in Europe than there has been IIHF World Championship games played outside of Europe.

 

[vorky]

@Czechboy

Yeah, @Yakushev72 is right with home advantage etc. And your point "they would not even agree to play" is interesting too. Why? I can see the same reason/excuse whatever even today when the NHL refuses to play against the KHL teams. They do not even want to play on NA soil. Sadly. And the same the games against other European clubs. There are no such games. That pre-season games are not considered as competitive games.

You are right with the Izvestia Cup, nowadays there is the Moscow´s tournament of the Euro Hockey Tour, which is considered as the successor of the Izvestia Cup. But yeah, you are right with rosters.

Regarding the European Championship in January. The KHL & the FHR proposed such a format to be played in January or February (Olympics break) & no IIHF World Championship would not be played that year. Of course, Europeans refused it. So, now they try to convert the European Hockey Tour into something like European Championship. I guess it will not happen because Europeans will refuse it. We will see.
,

 

[Czechboy]

@Czechboy

Yeah, @Yakushev72 is right with home advantage etc. And your point "they would not even agree to play" is interesting too. Why? I can see the same reason/excuse whatever even today when the NHL refuses to play against the KHL teams. They do not even want to play on NA soil. Sadly. And the same the games against other European clubs. There are no such games. That pre-season games are not considered as competitive games.

You are right with the Izvestia Cup, nowadays there is the Moscow´s tournament of the Euro Hockey Tour, which is considered as the successor of the Izvestia Cup. But yeah, you are right with rosters.

Regarding the European Championship in January. The KHL & the FHR proposed such a format to be played in January or February (Olympics break) & no IIHF World Championship would not be played that year. Of course, Europeans refused it. So, now they try to convert the European Hockey Tour into something like European Championship. I guess it will not happen because Europeans will refuse it. We will see.
,

I'm greedy... I'd like both. Give me Euro's during season and World's after it every year. I stream the EHT and no one watches those games usually. Cancel that and go full Euro's. I think it'd get prestigious quick! I agree though, probably won't happen.

It's no knock on the NHL.. I just can't picture a World Cup being played exclusively in any European city with European refs and big ice. Even in alternating format. I'm sure there are more reasons than pride but, at the time, there were 7 good nations at hockey and 2 were in North America and 5 in Europe. Yet it was always in North America.

This is no different than the World Juniors which are about 80% in Canada or a bordertown in US filled with Canadians. Of course, that was more financial since I don't think they U20 does that great when not in those locations.

Since I'm ranting on international hockey... make them all agree to the same size rink! I don't care which one. I actually believe a smaller rink creates more offence and skill but that is an argument for another day.

I just watched the Czechs play the US at the basketball world championships and it was in Asia. I'm positive the court, ball and net are all the same size as they would be in Prague, San Francisco or Toronto.

Hockey has, currently, 5 dominant nations and they can't agree on anything.lol

 

[Mr Kanadensisk]

Agree 1000%.

And just to add to your comment.

What is the difference between soccer & hockey? FIFA develops the game around the world, so accepting low level countries to play at FIFA World Cup. They even organise a tournament between continental club champs. Yeah, it is clear the UEFA CL is the best, but still they participate.

And hockey? One private league refused to send their players to the Olympics. Absurd. Instead, they organise so called World Cup with entities who are not countries! And they even do not consider the tournaments of NHL clubs against other leagues.

So, there can not be any surprise that soccer is so popular around the globe & hockey is not. You need to support other leagues, tournaments, not just yours (NHL´s) if you want the game of hockey to develop.

The highest earning league in the world is the NFL and roughly 98% of its players are North American. NFL fans could care less that their sport isn't popular outside of America. Why should American NHL fans and by extension NHL owners care about developing the sport outside of NA? The NHL revenue from Europe will always be irrelevant because NHL games are played during the middle of the night in Europe and the vast majority of sports fans want to watch games when they are live. If you love hockey then good for you. It just sounds so pathetic that you're constantly blaming outsiders for everything you think is wrong with hockey. Maybe who you really should be mad at is the European players who leave Europe for the big $$$ in NA, knowing full well it will likely interfere with them playing for their national teams.

 

[Czechboy]

The funny thing is I'm pretty sure if you crunched the numbers in the last 50 years there has been a higher percentage of Canada Cup / World Cup games played in Europe than there has been IIHF World Championship games played outside of Europe.

The World's have only been in Canada once in the last 50 years, right? Actually, it has only been in Canada once in 100 years now. So your statement could say that there have been more more World Cup games in Europe than World Championship games in Canada in the last century. Not sure what it proves though? No one considers the World's a best on best.

However, even one tournament must have about 40 games in it... ok, googled it, 64 games. You think there have been 64 World Cup/Canada cup games in the last 50 years? I'll leave that google to you...

In the last 100 years, Canada has hosted 64 World Championship games. Europe has hosted ??? World Cup/Canada Cup games.

 

[Czechboy]

Since I'm geeking out...

It occurs to me that most the best on bests have not been in Europe. You have your best on best Olympics which were Nagano, Torino, Salt Lake, Sochi, Vancouver.

All the World Cup/Canada Cups have been in North America (at least Semi's onwards for the technically speaking crowd). 5 Canada Cups and 3 World Cups.

So that is 5 Olympics, 5 Canada Cups and 3 World Cups. 13 in total.

10 in North America
2 in Europe
1 in Asia

On a funny note: Hockey hotbeds Italy and South Korea have had more best on bests than all of Europe combined.lol

 

[vorky]

I'm greedy... I'd like both. Give me Euro's during season and World's after it every year. I stream the EHT and no one watches those games usually. Cancel that and go full Euro's. I think it'd get prestigious quick! I agree though, probably won't happen.

It's no knock on the NHL.. I just can't picture a World Cup being played exclusively in any European city with European refs and big ice. Even in alternating format. I'm sure there are more reasons than pride but, at the time, there were 7 good nations at hockey and 2 were in North America and 5 in Europe. Yet it was always in North America.

This is no different than the World Juniors which are about 80% in Canada or a bordertown in US filled with Canadians. Of course, that was more financial since I don't think they U20 does that great when not in those locations.

Since I'm ranting on international hockey... make them all agree to the same size rink! I don't care which one. I actually believe a smaller rink creates more offence and skill but that is an argument for another day.

I just watched the Czechs play the US at the basketball world championships and it was in Asia. I'm positive the court, ball and net are all the same size as they would be in Prague, San Francisco or Toronto.

Hockey has, currently, 5 dominant nations and they can't agree on anything.lol

Yeah, your latest sentence is unfortunately true. And sad. The game of hockey could be much popular if all major players agreed on international events.

I will repeat myself, but the KHL proposed such changes at Barcelona Forum. Even Fehr agreed on the proposal (I do not remember what Daly said), but European hockey federations categorically refused all proposals. They are too conservative, they do not know how to promote the game of hockey on the European continent.

Regarding rink-sizes. As you know, the KHL is moving to smaller sink-size step by step. Now, they are using 3 different sizes, but they will approve a road map of unification. Of course, it is not easy to change all rinks within one off-season, especially old venues. But they are doing it. They want to use either Finnish size or NHL size in the future. Let us wait for the road map. And Fasel wants all hockey, especially European, to go to smaller rinks. I am not sure if European leagues are ready to do so. I doubt. Too expensive for them.

As you know, the KHL is using smart pucks & chips on player´s jerseys since this season. I hope all European leagues will follow them, but again, too expensive. Perhaps the NHL is already using smart pucks & chips.

There is so much potential for the game of hockey in the globe. But all majors players - IIHF, NHL, national federations, European leagues - need to agree on one international schedule. The current one is a mess.

 

[Mr Kanadensisk]

I crunched some numbers a little while back by comparing how IIHF WC hosts did the year they hosted as compared to the year before and after they hosted. On average the host teams finished lower than they did the years before and after they hosted. Most people would find that surprising but if you look into the factors that create a small (4.5%) home ice advantage in league play they do not apply for the most part to international tournaments.

-rules advantage (last change, last stick down at faceoff, shooting first or second in shootout) - does not apply
-familiarity with the specifics of the arena - does not apply
-rest / travel time before games - does not apply

-familiarity with the ice size, rules, style of officiating, etc. - does apply
-support of fans / favorable officiating - could apply (hard to quantify)

How The Home Ice Advantage NHL Teams Have Affects The Betting Odds

I should add too that familiarity with ice size is not really a two way street anymore. For the most part the top Euro players have much more experience playing on the small ice than the top NA players do on the large ice.

 

[Czechboy]

Too expensive for them.

Isn't it profitable to switch from big rink to small rink (eg. more front row seats)?

Not arguing but I thought that was always the argument.

 

[vorky]

Isn't it profitable to switch from big rink to small rink (eg. more front row seats)?

Not arguing but I thought that was always the argument.

That could be an argument for smaller rinks. But I can see at least two questions - 1) how about costs of reconstruction? Is it worth it? How many seasons would it need with more seats available to re-paid the costs? 2) it is even possible to change the rink size (old venues)?

I do follow that change in the KHL very closely. Some clubs with an old venue like Torpedo do not change the rink-size, because of old rink & too costly. They will wait a few years for a new modern venue under construction, where it will be possible to change a rink-size within a few days/hours.

If we speak about the Czech rep. or Slovakia. I see no problem for Sparta at O2, but what about clubs like Zlin or Litvinov? I can imagine just Slovan & Kosice in Slovakia to change the rink-size. Slovak clubs do not have money for ordinary costs of the season, thinking of changing the rink-size is not on the table at all.

I can imagine German clubs would have fewer problems with the change due to modern venues in some cities, but Finland would have more problems. Even though the Finns are doing it for some KHL clubs.

The best solution is to build new venues.

 

[Nino33]

The World's have only been in Canada once in the last 50 years, right? Actually, it has only been in Canada once in 100 years now. So your statement could say that there have been more more World Cup games in Europe than World Championship games in Canada in the last century. Not sure what it proves though? No one considers the World's a best on best.

However, even one tournament must have about 40 games in it... ok, googled it, 64 games. You think there have been 64 World Cup/Canada cup games in the last 50 years? I'll leave that google to you...

The Canada Cups from 1976-1991 had 74 games (and the 2008 Worlds held in Canada had 16 teams playing 54 games)

Since I'm geeking out...

It occurs to me that most the best on bests have not been in Europe. You have your best on best Olympics which were Nagano, Torino, Salt Lake, Sochi, Vancouver.

All the World Cup/Canada Cups have been in North America (at least Semi's onwards for the technically speaking crowd). 5 Canada Cups and 3 World Cups.

So that is 5 Olympics, 5 Canada Cups and 3 World Cups. 13 in total.

10 in North America
2 in Europe
1 in Asia

I far preferred the initial Canada Cups (1976-1991) where best-on-best meant the best teams would actually play each other every tournament.

Group play with lesser nations should continue of course, but I really wish best-on-best was a 6 team tournament where everybody played everybody once and then playoffs



Canada never even played a game against Russia in the 1998 Olympics, or the 2002 Olympics, or the 2014 Olympics (and not in 2018 either)...the 6 team format ensures everyone plays everyone at least once (the Olympics have produced only 2 Canada/Russia games over the last 20 years/6 Olympics! while the Canada Cups produced 10 games Canada/Russia games over 15 years)

The Olympic system sucks for a best-on-best; I'd be fine with the Worlds carrying on as usual, the Olympics can be like they were in 2018 (and like they were 1920-1994) & the NHL/NHLPA and IIHF as needed come up with a 6 team tournament using the Canada Cup format

 

[Nino33]

It was a joke and those games shouldn't count as international hockey gams since the did not feature national teams.

Can you imagine the FIFA World Cup of Soccer (Football) tournament featuring BS made up teams like "Team North America"?

I can think of FIFA doing worse, and I don't need to imagine

 

[Nino33]

There is so much potential for the game of hockey in the globe. But all majors players - IIHF, NHL, national federations, European leagues - need to agree on one international schedule. The current one is a mess.

The only major players are the NHL and the NHLPA. It doesn't matter whether we like it and it doesn't matter if we wish it wasn't that way, it's still reality (you and I don't differ much if at all on what we wish for in this case)

The only way I see any chance of this seismic shift happening is for Elite Leagues in Europe/Russia start paying very good/great/star players market value (whether by ticket prices going up astronomically and/or governments giving even more money to prop up leagues or some other way). I don't see this happening

So, there can not be any surprise that soccer is so popular around the globe & hockey is not. You need to support other leagues, tournaments, not just yours (NHL´s) if you want the game of hockey to develop.

If the fans of hockey outside NA supported hockey like the fans inside NA then the hockey leagues outside of NA would have some relevance like the various soccer leagues do...but they don't

How many different top soccer leagues have elite level players? For hockey that's just the NHL

How many top soccer leagues are financially successful (pay market value for players)? For hockey that's just the NHL too

 

[Czechboy]

The Canada Cups from 1976-1991 had 74 games (and the 2008 Worlds held in Canada had 16 teams playing 54 games)

And how many of those 74 games were played in Europe?

 

[Nino33]

And how many of those 74 games were played in Europe?

If you actually don't know, Google is your friend. I already answered your question about whether Canada Cups and World Cups had ever totaled 64 games in 50 years (74 games after just the first 15 years...boy were you wrong to question it) and I corrected you on how many games the Worlds had when they were held in Canada