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Some details about the World Cup...

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Mr Writer said:
in addition, and this will cause controversy, but according to Elliotte Friedman on PTS (SN radio) on Friday, suggested that the NHL would like, in years when Big International Competitions are held (World Cup and Olympics), players competing in those to be off limits to their NT when it comes to the IIHF spring tournament. Of course, that isn't a problem for the U.S. or Canada, our players would applaud that, but certain Federations in Europe won't appreciate that initiative at all.
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Well that's not going to fly with the European nations. I assume it's just posturing by the NHL if true. Particularly funny that they would be the ones concerned about the amount of games played by their players.
 
JackSlater said:
Well that's not going to fly with the European nations. I assume it's just posturing by the NHL if true. Particularly funny that they would be the ones concerned about the amount of games played by their players.
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It seemed odd to me as well, given our guys (N. Americans) are pretty much let off the hook 'no pressure' to compete at the WHC anyway...

and that was Friedman's point...that players feel a certain pressure to accept invites. I chuckled.
 
Mr Writer said:
It seemed odd to me as well, given our guys (N. Americans) are pretty much let off the hook 'no pressure' to compete at the WHC anyway...

and that was Friedman's point...that players feel a certain pressure to accept invites. I chuckled.
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I don't think the NHL cares about just the North American teams though. Owners probably don't want their hurt players (European or otherwise) going over to play in games that are meaningless to their NHL franchises, which is hypocritical at best.
 
Yeah my suspicion is that they are more worried about their Russian, Finnish etc players than North American. For some reason I doubt they are too pressured by USA hockey and hockey Canada.
 
ulvvf said:
You watch a lot of sport in the olympics that you normaly would not have done.
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True. During the Olympics I watch field hockey, water polo, sailing and loads of other sports I normally wouldn't watch. That doesn't mean I'd have any interest in those sports in the following 3 years and 11 months. I don't see how the best field hockey leagues in the world would benefit significantly from me watching olympic field hockey.
 
To me this tournament is a joke. They have played it since 1976 and to this day can't figure out a regular schedule for it. And having it always in North America gives the US and Canada a massive advantage. (And I am Canadian!)

Make it like the soccer World Cup. "Carve it in stone" that it is played every 2 years, or 6 years, whatever. But make it stick. And let countries bid for it. Maybe 2016 is in Toronto. Then 2020 is in Munich, and 2024 is in Moscow and 2028 is in Tokyo. That is a true "World Cup." The current one is simply a tournament designed for NHL audiences in North America. If they called it the "NHL Cup" I'd have no issue with it. But it is not in anyway a "World Cup."

Craig Wallace
 
Lepardi said:
True. During the Olympics I watch field hockey, water polo, sailing and loads of other sports I normally wouldn't watch. That doesn't mean I'd have any interest in those sports in the following 3 years and 11 months. I don't see how the best field hockey leagues in the world would benefit significantly from me watching olympic field hockey.
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:help:

The Olympics are a great showcase for hockey and a way to attract new fans who might continue following the sport even after the Olympics are over. Not sure why are you denying something as obvious as this.
 
Urbanskog said:
:help:

The Olympics are a great showcase for hockey and a way to attract new fans who might continue following the sport even after the Olympics are over.
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That's true, but ice hockey is never gonna break through in places like Africa, India, Indonesia, China or South America. That's why NHL or KHL players will never be "known throughout the world". And they have no need to, cause they're lucky enough to be playing a sport that's mostly followed in wealthy countries. That's why so many hockey players make tons of money even though the sport is pretty marginal on the global scale.
 
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Urbanskog said:
:help:

The Olympics are a great showcase for hockey and a way to attract new fans who might continue following the sport even after the Olympics are over. Not sure why are you denying something as obvious as this.
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It helps a bit, but is too infrequent to make a big impact. The day in and day out exposure that leagues provide help a gazillion times more in growing the sport. You start a league with a strong base of cities and then slowly expand into new markets if you really want to grow the game effectively. Also I don't think anybody is talking about taking hockey right out of the Olympics. New fans won't be able to tell the difference between NHLers and minor leaguers, so it really is only people who are already fans that care about this.
 
Mr Kanadensisk said:
It helps a bit, but is too infrequent to make a big impact. The day in and day out exposure that leagues provide help a gazillion times more in growing the sport. You start a league with a strong base of cities and then slowly expand into new markets if you really want to grow the game effectively. Also I don't think anybody is talking about taking hockey right out of the Olympics. New fans won't be able to tell the difference between NHLers and minor leaguers, so it really is only people who are already fans that care about this.
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People aren't stupid. It's pretty easy to tell the difference between the best hockey in the world and some hybrid of D1 world championships.
 
Xokkeu said:
People aren't stupid. It's pretty easy to tell the difference between the best hockey in the world and some hybrid of D1 world championships.
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I've heard enough people suggest that the best players from the Canadian women's Olympic team could make it in the NHL to make me think otherwise.
 
JackSlater said:
I've heard enough people suggest that the best players from the Canadian women's Olympic team could make it in the NHL to make me think otherwise.
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I never know if people actually believe these things or just say them because the are the PC thing to say.
 
Xokkeu said:
People aren't stupid. It's pretty easy to tell the difference between the best hockey in the world and some hybrid of D1 world championships.
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When I watch Olympic handball, water polo or field hockey, I certainly couldn't tell the difference if the best 500 players in the world were not there. That doesn't mean I'm stupid, it just means I know next to nothing about those sports. I bet the second-tier players in those sports have a lot of skill as well, just like the KHLers do.
 
Xokkeu said:
People aren't stupid. It's pretty easy to tell the difference between the best hockey in the world and some hybrid of D1 world championships.
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You've got to be kidding me, new fans wouldn't see any difference whatsoever in the quality between AHLers and NHLers unless they were competing head to head.
 
Mr Kanadensisk said:
You've got to be kidding me, new fans wouldn't see any difference whatsoever in the quality between AHLers and NHLers unless they were competing head to head.
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Find some fans and do the comparison yourself. I've done it. It only costs 300 odd dollars.
 
Urbanskog said:
:help:

The Olympics are a great showcase for hockey and a way to attract new fans who might continue following the sport even after the Olympics are over. Not sure why are you denying something as obvious as this.
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That doesn't change what he said, what is his personal view.
 
Xokkeu said:
Find some fans and do the comparison yourself. I've done it. It only costs 300 odd dollars.
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Many scouts say that it is extremely hard to judge talent when kids are playing in inferior leagues, and they should be better than anyone in recognizing skill.
 
Mr Kanadensisk said:
Many scouts say that it is extremely hard to judge talent when kids are playing in inferior leagues, and they should be better than anyone in recognizing skill.
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Apples and oranges. We aren't scouting players. We are questioning whether fans will give a damn about a euro league championship mascarading as the Olympics.

Considering what happened to baseball and how popular soccer is in the Olympics, the evidence isn't promising.

Maybe we can just have an AHL all star vs KHL All star exhibition to satisfy those who feel they are missing out on mediocre hockey.
 
Xokkeu said:
Apples and oranges. We aren't scouting players. We are questioning whether fans will give a damn about a euro league championship mascarading as the Olympics.

Considering what happened to baseball and how popular soccer is in the Olympics, the evidence isn't promising.

Maybe we can just have an AHL all star vs KHL All star exhibition to satisfy those who feel they are missing out on mediocre hockey.
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Current fans will care, new fans likely won't.
 
Mr Kanadensisk said:
Current fans will care, new fans likely won't.
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You are correct new fans won't care about hockey. Just like Olympic soccer doesn't bring anybody in to the sport, while basketball is a marquee event.

Hockey won't suffer the same fate as baseball, because it's so central to the winter games, but it will become increasingly irrelevant.
 
Xokkeu said:
You are correct new fans won't care about hockey. Just like Olympic soccer doesn't bring anybody in to the sport, while basketball is a marquee event.

Hockey won't suffer the same fate as baseball, because it's so central to the winter games, but it will become increasingly irrelevant.
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It would become less relevant at the OG but history has shown that has very little to do with the growth of the sport in general.
 
Mr Kanadensisk said:
It helps a bit, but is too infrequent to make a big impact. The day in and day out exposure that leagues provide help a gazillion times more in growing the sport. You start a league with a strong base of cities and then slowly expand into new markets if you really want to grow the game effectively. Also I don't think anybody is talking about taking hockey right out of the Olympics. New fans won't be able to tell the difference between NHLers and minor leaguers, so it really is only people who are already fans that care about this.
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Tell that to the United States! It was the 1980 Olympic win over the Soviet Union that caused an explosion of hockey in the USA, not day-to-day NHL play. Hockey wouldn't be one-tenth as popular in the US without the Olympic classic of USA vs. USSR.
 
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