WJC: Open Letter to the hockey elite

[Frederik95]

Last year I wrote a letter to the Canadian hockey fans, to offer a slightly different perspective in the debates of whatever the blowouts in the World juniors are helping the smaller nations. After the game between Canada and Austria, a few people have once again suggested that blowouts like that shouldn't be happening and that ten teams might be too many for the World Juniors. This is a direct response to those saying that the competitiveness or lack of it from the smaller hockey nations is hurting the World Juniors and hockey in general from someone from a smaller hockey. The games help us develop and grow hockey. Even in a blowout, it helps us get better.

An Open Letter To The Hockey Elite

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[Sasha Orlov]

Poor little Canadian Garths getting skates from
Santa year after year while Euro kids has plenty of sports to choose from, that’s the difference. You Eskimos excelling at hockey because there is nothing else to do. It’s easy to be hyper passionate about one particular sports when it’s actually the only sports you can be passionate about. You Anglos are quite weird at it, similar to England and their soccer craziness. It’s not lack of competitiveness that hurts hockey, it’s the Canadian dominance that’s killing it. Hockey will never be a global sports since it’s basically winter sports in the world where half of worlds population seen the ice only in cocktails.

Uhhhhh

 

[Mrfenn92]

Poor little Canadian Garths getting skates from
Santa year after year while Euro kids has plenty of sports to choose from, that’s the difference. You Eskimos excelling at hockey because there is nothing else to do. It’s easy to be hyper passionate about one particular sports when it’s actually the only sports you can be passionate about. Like England and their soccer craziness. It’s not lack of competitiveness that hurts hockey, it’s the Canadian dominance that’s killing it. Hockey will never be a global sports since it’s basically winter sports in the world where half of worlds population seen the ice only in cocktails.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Hopefully people will read the letter. It is something that I have been saying for years about growing the game--

For years Germany and the Swiss were also rands but after getting more and more exposure they are developing really good talent. How come? They learned from getting the asses handed to them for nearly 1o years.

When the NHL had their little cup and had team Europe and team prospects? That showed how the NHL and North America had no idea about growing the game.

But, when it comes to Canadians and international hockey---whenever Canada does not win? how often do we see the following post.. "Why did we even send a team"?

When it comes to growing the game, the IIHF has done a lot more than the NHL and those who think they know hockey

 

[NyQuil]

Poor little Canadian Garths getting skates from
Santa year after year while Euro kids has plenty of sports to choose from, that’s the difference. You Eskimos excelling at hockey because there is nothing else to do. It’s easy to be hyper passionate about one particular sports when it’s actually the only sports you can be passionate about. Like England and their soccer craziness. It’s not lack of competitiveness that hurts hockey, it’s the Canadian dominance that’s killing it. Hockey will never be a global sports since it’s basically winter sports in the world where half of worlds population seen the ice only in cocktails.

I guess it’s a good thing that we don’t care if more countries play hockey or not. Hockey will continue to exist regardless.

It’s fun to see more people enjoy it but I’m not exactly losing sleep over the fact that a winter sport has a hard time becoming popular in countries with no winter.

There are so many people hyper concerned about the popularity of the sport or the NHL. It will be fine. Fewer Canadians may play per capita but the States and Europe can help pick up the slack.

Meanwhile, more Canadians play soccer than hockey and the most representation in the NBA next to the US is Canada.

 

[ACC1224]

Poor little Canadian Garths getting skates from
Santa year after year while Euro kids has plenty of sports to choose from, that’s the difference. You Eskimos excelling at hockey because there is nothing else to do. It’s easy to be hyper passionate about one particular sports when it’s actually the only sports you can be passionate about. Like England and their soccer craziness. It’s not lack of competitiveness that hurts hockey, it’s the Canadian dominance that’s killing it. Hockey will never be a global sports since it’s basically winter sports in the world where half of worlds population seen the ice only in cocktails.

Yikes. Someone played too long without a helmet.

 

[Kajoo72]

I guess it’s a good thing that we don’t care if more countries play hockey or not. Hockey will continue to exist regardless.

It’s fun to see more people enjoy it but I’m not exactly losing sleep over the fact that a winter sport has a hard time becoming popular in countries with no winter.

There are so many people hyper concerned about the popularity of the sport or the NHL. It will be fine.

Meanwhile, more Canadians play soccer than hockey and the most representation in the NBA next to the US is Canada.

.
Agreed basically in everything, just not sure about more kids playing soccer than hockey in Canada, sound sci-fi to me. As for the open letter, WJC is child of International hockey community organised by IIHF, and it went long way to what is it now. Nobody needs to explain anything to Canadian hockey elites, not number of teams or format, lack of competitiveness or whatever. Never seen open letter explaining international fans why no NHLers in Olympics so why on Earth someone needs to explain anything to Canadian Hocke elites is beyond my understanding. It’s as it is, finito. Like it or not, hockey elites. For the record, 8 teams format is just fine, no expansion neither reduction is necessary.

 

[NyQuil]

.
Agreed basically in everything, just not sure about more kids playing soccer than hockey in Canada, sound sci-fi to me.

Well, maybe Canadians know more about their own country than you do.

This article dates back to 2014 - I suspect it's only increased since then. What's embarrassing is how bad at it we are until very recently.

Soccer vs. hockey: Who plays what in Canada

 

[Elias40]

Well, maybe Canadians know more about their own country than you do.

This article dates back to 2014 - I suspect it's only increased since then. What's embarrassing is how bad at it we are until very recently.

Soccer vs. hockey: Who plays what in Canada

The main reason is the lower cost of playing football? Or is it different when we talk about Alberta or Toronto? Because Toronto has an MLS team.

 

[Kajoo72]

Well, maybe Canadians know more about their own country than you do.

This article dates back to 2014 - I suspect it's only increased since then. What's embarrassing is how bad at it we are until very recently.

Soccer vs. hockey: Who plays what in Canada

Wow that’s impressive. Also 22% of kids playing hockey is incredible number. Here in SVK it’s what, 2-3 % ? Not enough rinks, equipment too expensive etc. It’s insane we can still compete with top nations with the limited resources we have.

 

[NyQuil]

The main reason is the lower cost of playing football? Or is it different when we talk about Alberta or Toronto? Because Toronto has an MLS team.

There are a few factors.

1. While women's hockey has certainly taken off since the days of ringuette (which Mrs_NyQuil HAD to play as there was no girl's hockey back then), I wouldn't be surprised if the distribution is different between boys and girls. Anecdotally, I know a lot more girls who play soccer than guys.

2. Immigration is often cited as a powerful influence on the sports that kids play. Basketball in Canada in particular is driven by largely black populations in Montreal and Toronto. There is also the "Carter Effect" which led an entire generation of Canadians to take up the sport.

The Carter Effect - Wikipedia

Soccer is no different. I play in an adult league, and at least half the teams are cultural in nature (e.g. the Brazilian team, the Jamaican team, the Syrian team etc).

3. The cost of hockey has skyrocketed with leagues, tournaments and training now operating year-round and specialized forms of instruction evolving. Soccer is comparatively cheaper to play and one thing Canada has a lot of is land, so it's not hard to set up a lot of fields. Fieldhouses and domes are starting to crop up with increasing frequency to allow soccer in the winter, but that's still a major barrier to competitive soccer (outside of BC where the weather is milder).

4. As a result of its cost, as you pointed out, soccer is largely viewed as a participation sport in this country, meaning that a lot of people play it, but only for fun. We have very few coaches per capita licensed at the top level, meaning that while we have a lot of players, we don't have a lot of top quality instruction. Iceland is viewed as a model where they pushed through an initiative to vastly increase the number of qualified coaches. As it stands, a lot of coaches end up as one of the parents of one of the kids.

Canada should use Iceland's model for soccer success | Toronto Sun

5. Watching soccer is very popular in Canada. I think people would be surprised at how many people follow the EPL, and the big tournaments like the World Cup and Euro end up on all the televisions in bars. The MLS has made a dent in some of the major cities, but I'd be surprised to see if it was a major factor.

Alphonso Davies and the current crop of players could create a renaissance in Canadian soccer much like Vince Carter did in the early 2000s for basketball.

 

[Dirty Dan]

Well, maybe Canadians know more about their own country than you do.

This article dates back to 2014 - I suspect it's only increased since then. What's embarrassing is how bad at it we are until very recently.

Soccer vs. hockey: Who plays what in Canada

Yes soccer is a lot cheaper to enroll in, you can play in the summer outside, and is a good non physical sport for kids

 

[Kajoo72]

Yes soccer is a lot cheaper to enroll in, you can play in the summer outside, and is a good non physical sport for kids

Non-physical sport lmao. That’s what I used to think about tennis, until I tried. Was in need of oxygen after 20 minutes.

 

[mazmin]

Poor little Canadian Garths getting skates from
Santa year after year while Euro kids has plenty of sports to choose from, that’s the difference. You Eskimos excelling at hockey because there is nothing else to do. It’s easy to be hyper passionate about one particular sports when it’s actually the only sports you can be passionate about. Like England and their soccer craziness. It’s not lack of competitiveness that hurts hockey, it’s the Canadian dominance that’s killing it. Hockey will never be a global sports since it’s basically winter sports in the world where half of worlds population seen the ice only in cocktails.

Ok (Slovakian) Boomer

 

[NyQuil]

Non-physical sport lmao. That’s what I used to think about tennis, until I tried. Was in need of oxygen after 20 minutes.

When I was growing up, football (e.g. grid iron NFL / CFL style) was quite popular among boys my age.

Now, a lot of parents my age are strongly steering kids away due to the perceived concussion risk.

It will be interesting to see what happens to the more physically combative sports, including rugby and lacrosse.

I love tennis btw. One of the few two person sports out there. Squash too although I suck.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

Non-physical sport lmao. That’s what I used to think about tennis, until I tried. Was in need of oxygen after 20 minutes.

Yeah not a good description.

I use Celtics great Bill Russell's description. Basketball and Baseball are contact sports and Hockey and Football are collision
sports.

 

[BruinsBtn]

This is why Canada and another 120 extra nations are allowed the World Cup of soccer.

Oh wait, they only let the best teams in because people don't want to watch garbage teams get destroyed.

If anything, it should be a six-team tournament. Why should I care if hockey grows in Austria? I don't own shares in a company called 'hockey'.

 

[Snauen]

I think an Ejc (European junior championship) and an EC (European Championship) would be a good idea.
Hold the wjc and worlds every fourth or third year and keep it in Europe for the rest of the time.

The European Championship in soccer is an good example of it working very well.

This idea also help the European countries by reducing the time spent on having to deal with, the big old wealthy politically engaged narcissistic uncle that is Hockey- Canada

 

[NyQuil]

I think an Ejc (European junior championship) and an EC (European Championship) would be a good idea.
Hold the wjc and worlds every fourth or third year and keep it in Europe for the rest of the time.

The European Championship in soccer is an good example of it working very well.

This idea also help the European countries by reducing the time spent on having to deal with, the big old wealthy politically engaged narcissistic uncle that is Hockey- Canada

I agree.

With the amount of bitching and complaining about the profile of the tournament in Canada, it would be an utter relief to let the little guys run their own little tournament, and junior hockey at the national level can go back to being irrelevant.

 

[Kajoo72]

This is why Canada and another 120 extra nations are allowed the World Cup of soccer.

Oh wait, they only let the best teams in because people don't want to watch garbage teams get destroyed.

If anything, it should be a six-team tournament. Why should I care if hockey grows in Austria? I don't own shares in a company called 'hockey'.

Limiting Soccer World Cup to 32 teams has nothing to do with no one wanting to watch garbage teams loosing, but rather with logistics. It takes 4 full weeks from opening game to finals, which is like both summer and Winter Olympics combined. And people actually love high scoring games in soccer since there isn’t many of them, with good tactics even underdog can keep
the game low-scoring affair. Most memorable games at FIFA WC in the last decades were high scoring affairs, Germany x Brazil in 2014 fe

 

[JackSlater]

I like any letter that craps on Ken Campbell. Don't worry little hockey nations, the good guys like Ken Campbell will tell you what you need and protect you from big, bad losses.

 

[BruinsBtn]

Limiting Soccer World Cup to 32 teams has nothing to do with no one wanting to watch garbage teams loosing, but rather with logistics. It takes 4 full weeks from opening game to finals, which is like both summer and Winter Olympics combined. And people actually love high scoring games in soccer since there isn’t many of them, with good tactics even underdog can keep
the game low-scoring affair. Most memorable game at FIFA WC in the last decade was Germany demolishing Brazil in 2014, those games becoming unforgettable classics

Great, well the logistics of Canada having to demolish garbage teams every year and play five meaningless games before the semi-final is the same problem.

 

[Kajoo72]

Great, well the logistics of Canada having to demolish garbage teams every year and play five meaningless games before the semi-final is the same problem.

Rest of the world is happy with the format, and Canada have to accept it

 

[BusQuets]

This is why Canada and another 120 extra nations are allowed the World Cup of soccer.

Oh wait, they only let the best teams in because people don't want to watch garbage teams get destroyed.

If anything, it should be a six-team tournament. Why should I care if hockey grows in Austria? I don't own shares in a company called 'hockey'.

If World Cup cared about best teams they would increase the spots Europe has and lower the other continents. For a long time now most people who follow intensively football think Euros is higher quality than World Cup.

 

[Bixby Snyder]

I think an Ejc (European junior championship) and an EC (European Championship) would be a good idea.
Hold the wjc and worlds every fourth or third year and keep it in Europe for the rest of the time.

The European Championship in soccer is an good example of it working very well.

This idea also help the European countries by reducing the time spent on having to deal with, the big old wealthy politically engaged narcissistic uncle that is Hockey- Canada

The problem is that unlike soccer there are only two countries outside of Europe that play hockey at any kind of world class level. It would be lame to have a a tournament that's just Canada and the USA.