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Reason for Team North America?

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Probably because they didn't want to have 2 complete pushover teams in the tournament. Teams like Slovakia or Switzerland would have been slaughtered by absolutely every team in the tournament.

The funny thing is that they went from having 2 pushover teams to having 2 teams that are arguably the 3rd and 4th best teams in the tournament. And if you ask me it's better this way. Team Europe is definitely a better team than Finland, Czech and apparently USA and Team NA could legitimately be the 2nd best team in the tournament. NA is just ridiculously skilled and thus why amazingly fun to watch and Europe at least provides a good opponent for every team out there. Makes for much better hockey and entertainment.
 
No you fools, don't you see?

1: They form a super-team of north-American hockey kids, their fanbase? Canadian kids who are much more accepting of the concept.
2: Backed by gov'mint they run WCH commercials with hidden msg's.
3: Complicated stuff.
4: The next generation votes in favour of being absorbed by the USA, Canada no longer exists, USA is a hockey super power.

Boom.
 
Cotton said:
No you fools, don't you see?

1: They form a super-team of north-American hockey kids, their fanbase? Canadian kids who are much more accepting of the concept.
2: Backed by gov'mint they run WCH commercials with hidden msg's.
3: Complicated stuff.
4: The next generation votes in favour of being absorbed by the USA, Canada no longer exists, USA is a hockey super power.

Boom.
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What about open-minded hockey fans? Or are your 4 groups the only possibilities that may exist to you?

Calm down with the Canada being absorbed by 'Murica stuff. We are our own nation, I guess it's easier to paint those with differing opinions than you into stereotypes. It makes perceiving the external world easier by categorizing and stereotyping the other.
 
snipes said:
What about open-minded hockey fans? Or are your 4 groups the only possibilities that may exist to you?

Calm down with the Canada being absorbed by 'Murica stuff. We are our own nation, I guess it's easier to paint those with differing opinions than you into stereotypes. It makes perceiving the external world easier by categorizing and stereotyping the other.
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It's a joke
 
Karjala takaisin said:
It's the death of international tournament if we see team North America and Team Europe in the World Cup final.
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If one of these joke teams win, it is not good for the tourney in the long run.

This particular tournament is already a lost case. Hopefully Bettler learns something about how not to run an international tourney.
 
And considering the playoff ratings, Canadian NHL revenue and state of NHL clubs in Canada... The league could have used a preseason boost especially in Canuckstan.
 
gwh said:
If one of these joke teams win, it is not good for the tourney in the long run.

This particular tournament is already a lost case. Hopefully Bettler learns something about how not to run an international tourney.
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Sadly in a few Media interviews he seems to be floating about how well received the North America idea is.
 
snipes said:
What about open-minded hockey fans? Or are your 4 groups the only possibilities that may exist to you?

Calm down with the Canada being absorbed by 'Murica stuff. We are our own nation, I guess it's easier to paint those with differing opinions than you into stereotypes. It makes perceiving the external world easier by categorizing and stereotyping the other.
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:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:



Edit: :laugh:
 
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It is an NHL and NHLPA tournament.

Slovakia, Switzerland, Ukraine, Poland, Norway etc don't have enough NHL players to form a team. Why would the NHLPA want non-NHL majority teams in the tournament?

Not to mention European leagues already started. Hard enough to get just a couple of KHLers.

The conservative solution would be to have a 6 team round-robin tournament (with maybe a run-off final with the top 2 teams). But that would treat players differently, because then a bunch of players wouldn't have a chance to compete at all. I think the NHLPA wanted every member to be eligible.
 
JackSlater said:
They wanted as many NHLers as possible. They pretty much said this the day the tournament was announced. I don't think that the NHL wanted to weaken Canada, and I'm sure that it didn't want to significantly weaken team USA as that would be the NHL's preferred winner.
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But of course they did.

Canada, MAYBE, lose McDavid, although I doubt he makes Team Canada. USA loses, for sure, Gaudreau, probably Eichel and Mathews, maybe Saad, and one of Gostisbehere or Jones.
 
From purely a fan perspective team North America is pretty awesome.

However after watching last nights game, im sceptical that this team along with Europe are actually beneficial for the sport. I guess one can make the argument that there will be more motivation for other countries to improve and develop more NHL players.

However just when Finland wins a Bronze at the Olympics and are finally seeing a rise in their international stature the NHL turns the hill into a mountain. Could really set back international play considering the NHL may withdraw from the Olympics.
 
HockeyGuruPitka said:
From purely a fan perspective team North America is pretty awesome.

However after watching last nights game, im sceptical that this team along with Europe are actually beneficial for the sport. I guess one can make the argument that there will be more motivation for other countries to improve and develop more NHL players.

However just when Finland wins a Bronze at the Olympics and are finally seeing a rise in their international stature the NHL turns the hill into a mountain. Could really set back international play considering the NHL may withdraw from the Olympics.
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I see it as a major hindrance. One of the biggest drivers of soccer's popularity in the United States has been the FIFA World Cup. First by hosting it and then in 2002 when the team made a great run. Every cycle since 2002 the team has gained more and more fans, even when performances were shaky like in 2006. Now it's too the point where English Premier League games are on free TV and the champions league makes the front page of major sports sites. We might even have our first legit superstar coming up right now.

The US never had a chance to realistically win any of those World Cups. But if they weren't even allowed to enter them, there's almost zero chance the sport gets as big as it is now.
 
noway said:
A lot of rats out there are looking in the mirror and upset with the resemblance.
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Hockey talk isn't the place for existential philosophical inquiry. Having said that, if you recognize the irrationality and absurdity of your passions, are you not more self-aware?

At the end of the day, Bettman did what the owners wanted. Still hate the lockouts, always will. I can't be completely rational about hockey :laugh:.
 
snipes said:
Yeah, even McDavid wouldn't be a lock. Crosby was kept off the 2006 Olympic team.

Second point, true. Anyways, I've been through this debate many, many times here. No point rehashing it, it's an enjoyable tournament. This does not replace the Olympics. Get a deal done!! We all want NHL participation at the Olympics.
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Speak for yourself. We all don't want NHL participation at the Olympics. To me, anything that is not part of an NHL team's quest for the Stanley Cup is an exhibition game so when the NHL shuts down for the Olympics, they are effectively shutting down for a series of exhibition games.
 
It's advertisment for the NHL, kinda of like a movie studio showing off a sneak preview of what's in store for the future.
 
rojac said:
Speak for yourself. We all don't want NHL participation at the Olympics. To me, anything that is not part of an NHL team's quest for the Stanley Cup is an exhibition game so when the NHL shuts down for the Olympics, they are effectively shutting down for a series of exhibition games.
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Fair enough, every single individual may not want NHL participation. I think collectively, most hockey fans would like the best to be playing at the Olympics.
 
Whatever the reason for it it's providing some great hockey, they could very well win this tournament.
 
snipes said:
Fair enough, every single individual may not want NHL participation. I think collectively, most hockey fans would like the best to be playing at the Olympics.
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I think you have to be overly nationalistic to really enjoy international hockey. To me, dividing players up into teams based on what countries the IIHF says they are eligible to play for is not much different than dividing them up based on the first letter of their last name.

Interestingly, culturally, I probably indentify more as a mix of Canadian and American than I do as a Canadian if that makes any sense.

I also find that NHL players (and NBA players) in the Olympics lessens my enjoyment of the overall event. I like the Olympics for its spotlight on lesser known athletes. I see the spotlight on NHL stars all the time -- I don't want it on them in the Olympics too.
 
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