No fans

[Oilslick941611]

I'll be watching regardless, but this "make-up" tournament was a bad idea in hindsight. The no-show local fans certainly agree.

it gets JR aged players playing time.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

Isnt there like a million and half living in the Edmonton metropolitan area?

No matter the fatigue, summer, outdoors activities, Hockey Canada scandal or whatever reasons people are throwing out there - they should be able to at least not have the arenas be completely dead.

It's a failure, no ways around it.

People who can afford to pay 150$ per ticket have jobs. They aren't showing up to 12pm and 4pm start times or taking two weeks off of work to watch a hockey tournament in August.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

I'm sure the tourney would have done better if it were held in the states due to their better Covid track record?

Sure it wasn't handled the greatest but hindsight and "money is no object for a bubble" mindsets just don't help.

This is veering into politics territory but it certainly hasn't been proven that locking things down achieves a better societal outcome.

 

[canuck2010]

I'm sure the tourney would have done better if it were held in the states due to their better Covid track record?

Sure it wasn't handled the greatest but hindsight and "money is no object for a bubble" mindsets just don't help.

I have but one offering on Covid, "better Covid track record" if you say so.

 

[wetcoast]

This is veering into politics territory but it certainly hasn't been proven that locking things down achieves a better societal outcome.

Lower death rates and for the record Alberta was kind of like USA North in terms of dealing with Covid with deadly results.

As for the OP people are used to watching the World juniors during Christmas break and have time dedicated to viewing and or attending, not so much in the middle of August.

 

[MuckOG]

Hmmmmm.......would I rather get out side and enjoy what few days of nice weather Edmonton has to offer throughout the year? Or do I spend an ungodly amount of money to sit in a cold arena in the middle of August?

Difficult decision, for sure.

 

[9911]

Lower death rates and for the record Alberta was kind of like USA North in terms of dealing with Covid with deadly results.

Alberta had a lower covid fatality rate than QC, SK, and MB and only slightly higher than ON. There was a reason why Edmonton was chosen as one of the bubble cities in '20.

 

[wetcoast]

Alberta had a lower covid fatality rate than QC, SK, and MB and only slightly higher than ON. There was a reason why Edmonton was chosen as one of the bubble cities in '20.

Take out the early deaths as Quebec had the virus hit them hard early, the attitude in Alberta was to open things up ASAP and we all know that someone paid for that and many others paid with their lives.

 

[EazyE1]

Im confused as to why people sitting on the internet are concerned why there are no fans in the stadium.. who gives a f just watch the game jesus

 

[Beendair Donedat]

Hmmmmm.......would I rather get out side and enjoy what few days of nice weather Edmonton has to offer throughout the year? Or do I spend an ungodly amount of money to sit in a cold arena in the middle of August?

Difficult decision, for sure.

Agree it's far too expensive, but the rink is a long long way from being cold.

 

[MuckOG]

Agree it's far too expensive, but the rink is a long long way from being cold.

Colder than outside. Heavily air-conditioned.

 

[Statsy]

Im confused as to why people sitting on the internet are concerned why there are no fans in the stadium.. who gives a f just watch the game jesus

That’s a fair question, but even though I am aware of the myriad reasons, it’s actually a bit jarring to see. We are used to seeing full capacity in an NHL sized building for Canada games and even over 10,000 spectators for the worst bottom-of-the-standings matchups.

So there’s your answer; for a Canadian WJC this is a bit of a shock.

 

[Garyboy]

The most interesting thing about this abomination is finding out if a Canada/USA gold medal game can get 5000 fans.

 

[mundyc3]

Move it to Vegas, make it into an event.

 

[Whalers Fan]

View attachment 577048

I can think of a million of places I would rather be than in a rink right now

Those look like winter temperatures to me.

 

[Big Phil]

This is veering into politics territory but it certainly hasn't been proven that locking things down achieves a better societal outcome.

Agreed. It is very much a worse outcome. There is a tournament in August that no one, including people like myself who have watched the WJC forever, care about or have even bothered watching a minute of. That alone tells you the negative impact of locking things down back in December. All the while American NHL teams were jam packed at this time and NFL stadiums were too. Hmmm. This is Canada, we have a shorter summer/beach weather than most. I like to take advantage of it. Not watching hockey.

When the tournament is held this Christmas/New Year's, we'll care again. Because that is normal, and that is how we associate the WJC tourney with. Maybe we'll also have some of our better players. Also, I can't take this tournament seriously if an elite country isn't playing. Not that I would watch anyway, but if this anti-Russian thing is still happening for the real tournament at Christmas it de-legitimizes it if they aren't allowing them to play.

 

[Jets4Life]

This is veering into politics territory but it certainly hasn't been proven that locking things down achieves a better societal outcome.

It certainly saved lives. Look at the COVID death rate in Canada compared to USA. For ever Canadian who died of COVID, 2.5 Americans died.

 

[vippe]

Fatigue, summer, outdoor activities, scandals, record inflation couple with insane ticket prices... These are massive issues, pretending like they're just some excuse is dumb at best.

That's why I said reasons not excuses. Because they are valid reasons for impact and should be handled accordingly. The hosts knew about all these things way ahead of the tournament - it didnt just appear from out of nowhere. So right back at you, pretending like the hosts could do nothing about the situation is dumb at best.

They knew Hockey Canada is currently a disgrace of the hockeyworld
They knew about prices
They knew it was going to be held during the summer
They knew about fatigue

So maybe, have an actual action plan - try to do something to get more than 3 people in the arena instead of lying flat on your back and hope for the best.

So yes, it is a failure by the hosts no matter the denial.

 

[Statsy]

For the love of God, let’s stay away from Covid politics, guys!

 

[Big Phil]

I'll avoid the ridiculous idea that this beloved tournament was cancelled at Christmas time. If people are like me, they can't get into it for many reasons. Although I am sure it will be exciting come Christmas again.

But let's isolate one of them right now. How can you take a tournament seriously if Russia isn't there? I'm sorry, I can't do it. The last legitimate game at the WJC was the 2020 gold medal game between Canada and Russia and it was spectacular. They can't play this thing without the Russians.

 

[Leviathan899]

Maybe, maybe not. But the tournament would have already been completed at its normal time if Hockey Canada didn't screw it up.

Yeah I can’t argue that at all.

 

[Leviathan899]

It's quite obvious all the factors listed are major issues. Not like we didn't have people buying tickets at x-mas when it was supposed to be played. Not like the last time it was in Edmonton we had a problem selling tickets. Smallest crowd was 13k last time.

People aren't taking time off to go watch the afternoon game and a lot of people can't get off to make 4pm starts. Not at the prices they want. Might as well save your money and go to a NHL game or you could go to quite a few Oil Kings games for that price.

Agreed, to truly try and pin this on the city of Edmonton and it’s citizens not wanting to support it, you’d have to prove that ticket sales for the tournament last December was similar. I can’t fully remember, but I do recall the two games Canada played had good crowds? Or am I wrong? I know for my circle of friends and family, who every year are amped and excited for this tournament and will schedule their time around canadas games, they’re just not overly into this one right now, and strictly due to the fact it’s august and they’re not in hockey mode. Kids have soccer/baseball/lacrosse/football games and practice, some are at the cottage or trailer, some are overseas on trips. Some will watch if they have the time to do so but nobody is going out of their way to watch right now. But I guarantee they’ll all be watching intently come December 26th when it’s out East. I know at least 10 people going to Halifax to watch as well.

Im confused as to why people sitting on the internet are concerned why there are no fans in the stadium.. who gives a f just watch the game jesus

Well said, the actual on ice product has been great and after about 10 seconds of thinking about the attendance, I’ve just been enjoying the games. Some really chippy games despite a huge crowd as well. A lot of these players are used to playing in half filled arenas or smaller crowds during their season.

 

[Leviathan899]

Agreed. It is very much a worse outcome. There is a tournament in August that no one, including people like myself who have watched the WJC forever, care about or have even bothered watching a minute of. That alone tells you the negative impact of locking things down back in December. All the while American NHL teams were jam packed at this time and NFL stadiums were too. Hmmm. This is Canada, we have a shorter summer/beach weather than most. I like to take advantage of it. Not watching hockey.

When the tournament is held this Christmas/New Year's, we'll care again. Because that is normal, and that is how we associate the WJC tourney with. Maybe we'll also have some of our better players. Also, I can't take this tournament seriously if an elite country isn't playing. Not that I would watch anyway, but if this anti-Russian thing is still happening for the real tournament at Christmas it de-legitimizes it if they aren't allowing them to play.

I agree with you that Russia should be playing, but unfortunately it seems they’ll be barred from participating for that one in December and I reckon for another few years at least.

 

[Jets4Life]

I'll avoid the ridiculous idea that this beloved tournament was cancelled at Christmas time. If people are like me, they can't get into it for many reasons. Although I am sure it will be exciting come Christmas again.

But let's isolate one of them right now. How can you take a tournament seriously if Russia isn't there? I'm sorry, I can't do it. The last legitimate game at the WJC was the 2020 gold medal game between Canada and Russia and it was spectacular. They can't play this thing without the Russians.

Obvious rebuttal:

Hypothetically speaking, would you be cool with taking no sanctions against Russia, if we substitute Finland for Ukraine. I only bring it up since (a) its occurred before in recent history, and (b) Russia outright threatened Finland and Sweden, insinuating that if they joined NATO, Russia would take military action against them. I'm not sure how many WJC Ukraine has qualified in their history, but they couldn't possibly field a team now that many of the potential players are fighting to the death for their country.

Can you imagine letting Russia play this tournament if the invaded country was Finland, and they were forced to either yield a team who was missing half of their players, or withdrew to join the military (service is compulsory in Finland). It was the right decision to kick Russia out.

 

[Silky Johnson]

I’m Canadian and for me personally, if I was in the area to go to a game and it was reasonably priced, the Canada jr. controversray would not deter me one bit. I just don’t care

Nobody, outside of some Virtue Signaling peeps on these boards do.