Ryder Cup for Hockey (NA vs Europe)?

[Lenny Levino]

Let's say NHL arranged a best of 3 or 5 playoff series between North America and Europe, how would the teams look? And who would you favor?

Click to read more...

 

[Urbanskog]

Who do you imagine would watch this and why?

 

[NyQuil]

They did this at the all star game a few times.

 

[Zaschrona]

This could be really cool event if done right but only if they keep Russia out of Team Europe forever. As a Czech I would never watch nor support an event where I am supposed to cheer for a Russian representing my continent.

 

[Lenny Levino]

Who do you imagine would watch this and why?

People who like watching hockey. Why? For fun.

 

[Czechboy]

I get the idea but I'd hate it personally.

I'd rather watch 20 Czechs lose than 3 win a Gold (if 3 would make Team Europe.lol)

With Canada and America.. they both have tremendous paper rosters... half those guys would be cut. I'd rather watch them play each other with their full rosters.. McD vs Matthews, Makar vs Hughes, MacK vs Eichel. I'll leave the goalies out of this analogy.lol

 

[BMacLeafs]

It would make 2 much sence & create a great opportunity 4 the NHL 2 market there stars...so it won't happen.

 

[Silky Johnson]

In a 5 or 7 games series NA might be unbeatable. Particularly with Russia in Hockey purgatory for a long time to come.

M.Tkachuck-McDavid-Mathews
Hughes-McKinnon-Marner
B.Tkachuk-Eichel-Miller
Marchand-Crosby-Point

Makar-Toews
Slavin-Fox
Hughes-McAvoy
Dobson

Hellebuyck
Swayman

Gross!

 

[WayTooCold]

That's basically Sweden vs Canada.
Sweden is so stacked of NHLers ( 100+ ) that no Finn or Czech or other euro would even make team Sweden.
Or even Russian players.

 

[Jon Riley]

That's basically Sweden vs Canada.
Sweden is so stacked of NHLers ( 100+ ) that no Finn or Czech or other euro would even make team Sweden.
Or even Russian players.

Ok, but also very much no.

 

[RBbandit]

Not sure how it would be viewed in NA but in Europe fans generally cheers for National teams. This is kind of the same thing as the "rest of Europe team" at the last World Cup. Personaly, not interested.

 

[Gh24]

Playing for NA is not the same as playing for your country, much like it would be for Europeans, so would it be just another all star game with half interested players?

 

[Lenny Levino]

That's basically Sweden vs Canada.
Sweden is so stacked of NHLers ( 100+ ) that no Finn or Czech or other euro would even make team Sweden.
Or even Russian players.

I'm sure that guys like Aho, Barkov, Rantanen and Heiskanen from Finland, and Pastrnak from Czech Republic would make it. Then we have Draisaitl from Germany and Roman Josi from Switzerland.

Now how would Team Europe look like? Maybe something like this:

Kucherov - Kaprizov - Panarin
Draisaitl - Nylander - Pastrnak
Pettersson - Barkov - Rantanen
Bratt/Aho - Zibanejad - Forsberg

Karlsson - Dahlin
Josi - Hedman
Ekholm - Heiskanen

Bobrovsky
Saros
Ullmark

Playing for NA is not the same as playing for your country, much like it would be for Europeans, so would it be just another all star game with half interested players?

Yes but if it became a tradition (instead of doing East vs West All-Stars), it'd be fun. The All-Star teams change from year to year (like if a player switches from NYR to LAK then he'll go from East to West all-stars). This setup you would stay on the same All-Star team forever, all depending on your nationality. It'd be a lot more interesting for both players and people watching.

The Ryder Cup is a really popular yearly golf tournament and whether you're from Europe or North America, you're going to cheer for your team.

 

[mattihp]

Would not watch. I would however watch allstars World vs NA if it was 5-on-5. But the NHL can't convince enough players to play 5-on-5...

 

[Hennessy]

As an All-Star format it was alright, mainly because no one cares about the ASG.

As a stand-alone event you wouldn't have anything to play or cheer for.

As an option in video games it can be pretty lit, though.

 

[mattihp]

As an All-Star format it was alright, mainly because no one cares about the ASG.

As a stand-alone event you wouldn't have anything to play or cheer for.

As an option in video games it can be pretty lit, though.

The mega Drive ea game had the best all-star feature, with the skill competition and all!

 

[Lambo]

Only an American could ask that question, right? Hardly anyone in Europe would be interested in such a tournament. What many in NA don't understand is how important country tournaments are in Europe and the rest of the world. This also applies to all other team sports. A tournament(Ryder Cup of Hockey) like this is more for the “NHL world”. And it's smaller than many people think (compared to other sports)

 

[Albatros]

There's a long history of prominent Team Europe selections for example in soccer as well, key is that these matches do not replace national team competitions in any kind of way. In hockey the main problem is that the NHL has attempted to do exactly that with their own gimmick garbage. And a secondary issue that when "Team Europe" consists solely of NHL players that anyway play together in various combinations there's not that much special about it.