Terrible world cup ideas

[sandysan]

Sounds great, too bad the NHL doesn't do that for the playoffs too. Imagine the Tim Horton's Timbits (featuring Giroux and Benn!) against the Kraft Macaroni Noodles (Will Thornton and Mealeau finally get a cup?!). All the leftover players who miss the playoffs could create several great teams.

If the goal is even competition, why have national teams? Just divide the NHL into eight teams for a tournament, and there will be more balance and a higher average talent level than this tournament will provide.

You know what, if the Tim horton's tidbits had the best players on the planet ( you know the one's overwhelmingly currently in the NHL) i'd be down to watching it.

I have zero allegiance to either the IOC OR the NHL. I want to see the best players play. If that's the NHL, great. If it's the olympics ( not likely) great. If it's the world cup, fine by me.

The whole idea of the olympics has ALREADY been bastardized by the inclusion of professional athletes ( in an animal farm kind of way some countries earlier than others) and the inclusion of diaspora of convenience. To hold up the, at worst, second most corrupt committee as some sort of paragon of hockey vitae that cannot be crossed is patently heeee-larious.

If you don't like the format, don't watch. Where the NHL's bread is buttered the world cup will have lots of people who will pay, and pay handsomely to watch.

Mabey between now and the cut off date you can float citizenship of convenience to players like Girona and then convince yourself he's really.one of you on his great aunt's dude, thrice removed.

Given the choice of team leftover vs team sacrificial lambs, how any HOCKEY fan chooses the latter is beyond me.

 

[Mehar]

I still cannot believe that this Euro All-Star team and NA Young Stars team idea will be going ahead (LOL). Imagine if we had this idea in the World Cup of Soccer last year? The outcry would be unbelievable.

So, if the NA Young Stars face and beat Canada or USA in the finals of the World Cup, i guess they will still display both the Canadian or US flags, along with singing the same anthems after the game? (LOL). What a joke of an idea and insult to the Slovaks and the Swiss. The Slovaks gave Team Canada a tough match in the 2010 Olympic Semis and came close to tying the game in the end. The Swiss have beaten Canada in the past in the Olympics, and they always play their hearts out against Canada. Both teams should have been included in this "World Cup".

 

[Yakushev72]

Clearly, the NHL, in its format, is trying to make sure that the tournament AVOIDS anything that could be construed as any kind of championship or best on best tournament. It wants to keep it light and more of a spectacle, like the NHL all-star game. But they got into trouble when they started trying to contrive these hybrids like NA U23 or European All-Stars.

 

[sandysan]

Clearly, the NHL, in its format, is trying to make sure that the tournament AVOIDS anything that could be construed as any kind of championship or best on best tournament. It wants to keep it light and more of a spectacle, like the NHL all-star game. But they got into trouble when they started trying to contrive these hybrids like NA U23 or European All-Stars.

How? The powerhouse teams are exceedingly already largely NHL players. And many teams with depth have tons of players who won't be selected, not because they are not good but because they are further down on the depth chart.

The inclusion of team leftover WILL have more talent than previous national teams, especially those with insufficient depth to fill a roster with first class players. Team leftover and team young guns won't have this problem.

Would it be better or worse if players who are not selected ( and again for countries with depth this includes lots of hood players) were then allowed to assemble into team second chance?

If does the prospect of having, essentially an A and B team Canada also rustle your jimmies?

 

[Mehar]

Clearly, the NHL, in its format, is trying to make sure that the tournament AVOIDS anything that could be construed as any kind of championship or best on best tournament. It wants to keep it light and more of a spectacle, like the NHL all-star game. But they got into trouble when they started trying to contrive these hybrids like NA U23 or European All-Stars.

The 2004 World Cup of hockey was great hockey, and it was a Best on Best tournament. I attended the final game between Canada and Finland, and it was an unbelievable hockey. The 2004 World Cup was a Best on Best tournament. This 2016 World Cup where you have a second NA team and European All-Star team is definitely more of a spectacle. It would be hilarious if the NA All-Stars face Canada in the end. It will be Canada vs. Canada (LOL). What a joke of an idea. I hope someone can come to their senses, and reverse this terrible idea. The Slovaks and the Swiss should be allowed to compete in this tournament.

 

[Scotty B]

...Except for those who have recently undergone frontal lobotomies, everyone else is going to expect a boring, uncontested summer farce. Given the fact that Canada has already won the last 2 Olympics, and that they will be playing in front of frenzied home fans with loyal native-born Canadian refs overseeing this travesty.

Kinda early for the Conspiracy theories ain’t it? They will be NHL Refs, that is to say High Quality officials, same as at OG’s, not Canadians per se....Not that Team Maple Leaf would need any help from Refs to beat Ov, Kovy, Malkin and Company, as ur ‘ travesty’ of a team proved in Vancouver and again at WHC 2015

......everybody will automatically assume that Canada will trounce the opposition

Sans doubt...But ONLY because Canada has far and away The BEST TEAM not because of any perceived Home Ice advantage which certainly didn't help ur sorry squad at Sochi

...Yes, it will be a Canadian jamboree that will delight the likes of Scotty B, but what about the poor chumps who have to wear the uniforms of the United States,

For the record...since I’m tacitly being accused of Rabid Jingoism....I wasn’t ONLY cheering for B Team Maple Leaf at WC 2015, but for those Yankee School Boyz too...who came within a whisker...a BOB tail if u will ...of beating a Russian team chock full of its OG guys ...again without help from the zebras ...

Also for the record, and as evidenced by this thread, .I’ll be cheering mightily for Our Young Guns at World Cup...So much so...that when they face TC's A team, I’ll probably be somewhat torn...

...start searching for alternative channels broadcasting good cartoons.

If u prefer watching cartoons...steada seeing ur team getting CREAMED BY TC YET AGAIN...Can’t Say as I’d blame t ya

PS: Unlike many Euros , Yanks won’t use our supposed home ice advantage, much less a bogus ref bias. as an excuse when ( not if) TC beats their A Team...They’ll just continue to crow, as per usual , about World CUP 1996, World Jrs 2004 + 2010, yadda, yadda...

 

[Yakushev72]

How? The powerhouse teams are exceedingly already largely NHL players. And many teams with depth have tons of players who won't be selected, not because they are not good but because they are further down on the depth chart.

The inclusion of team leftover WILL have more talent than previous national teams, especially those with insufficient depth to fill a roster with first class players. Team leftover and team young guns won't have this problem.

Would it be better or worse if players who are not selected ( and again for countries with depth this includes lots of hood players) were then allowed to assemble into team second chance?

If does the prospect of having, essentially an A and B team Canada also rustle your jimmies?

Its a shameless attempt to try to seduce a few TV viewers (e.g., Slovenians to watch Kopitar and Austrians to watch Vanek) that would otherwise completely boycott the tournament. TV viewers outside of Canada will be in precious and short supply!
'
BTW, can you translate "rustle your jimmies?" That's new to my vocabulary.

 

[Scotty B]

The 2004 World Cup of hockey was great hockey, and it was a Best on Best tournament. I attended the final game between Canada and Finland, and it was an unbelievable hockey. The 2004 World Cup was a Best on Best tournament. This 2016 World Cup where you have a second NA team and European All-Star team is definitely more of a spectacle. It would be hilarious if the NA All-Stars face Canada in the end. It will be Canada vs. Canada (LOL). What a joke of an idea. I hope someone can come to their senses, and reverse this terrible idea. The Slovaks and the Swiss should be allowed to compete in this tournament.

Come on, even setting politics aside...with all the talented U23's Yanks have these days...team will be split pretty much 50/50 insofar as NA Nationalities go....But I suspect u already know that...

 

[Mehar]

Come on, even setting politics aside...with all the talented U23's Yanks have these days...team will be split pretty much 50/50 insofar as NA Nationalities go....But I suspect u already know that...

So if the Young Stars win and beat Canada or USA in the finals- i guess they will then display both the US and Canadian flags? They will probably play both the US and Canadian anthems? If you think this idea is rational, then you are in the minority. Of all my years in hockey, this is the most ridiculous idea i have ever heard. Looking forward to seeing Canadian players competing against other Canadian players on the Young Stars team, to find out which country is the best (SMH). This is not a real World Cup. Slovakia and the Swiss should have been allowed to compete. Imagine last year in Soccer- if they had this terrible idea? The outcry would have been unbelievable. Yet in hockey- i hear some people say this is a great idea.

 

[sandysan]

Its a shameless attempt to try to seduce a few TV viewers (e.g., Slovenians to watch Kopitar and Austrians to watch Vanek) that would otherwise completely boycott the tournament. TV viewers outside of Canada will be in precious and short supply!
'
BTW, can you translate "rustle your jimmies?" That's new to my vocabulary.

Etymology of unfamiliar sayings can be discerned via this new fangled approach called " google".

And if the people who largely contribute VERY LITTLE to the coffers of the NHL decide to boycott because a near best on best tourney with a decreased disparity because it doesn't meet their idea of "nationalism", well quelle domage.

( p.s. The last part means what a shame)

 

[sandysan]

So if the Young Stars win and beat Canada or USA in the finals- i guess they will then display both the US and Canadian flags? They will probably play both the US and Canadian anthems? If you think this idea is rational, then you are in the minority. Of all my years in hockey, this is the most ridiculous idea i have ever heard. Looking forward to seeing Canadian players competing against other Canadian players on the Young Stars team, to find out which country is the best (SMH).

The purpose of this tourney is to find out what team is the best and unlike the olympics it provides the opportunity to showcase young talent that would be excluded based on depth and allows team leftover to ice a full roster of first class players as opposed to a smattering with the rest filled in with chaff to endure they roll over to teams with more depth.

 

[Mehar]

The purpose of this tourney is to find out what team is the best and unlike the olympics it provides the opportunity to showcase young talent that would be excluded based on depth and allows team leftover to ice a full roster of first class players as opposed to a smattering with the rest filled in with chaff to endure they roll over to teams with more depth.

If that is the case- Change the Name of the tournament from the World Cup of Hockey to the 2016 Hockey Classic.

 

[sandysan]

If that is the case- Change the Name of the tournament from the World Cup of Hockey to the 2016 Hockey Classic.

Why, it's a private, invitation only tourney that national hockey federations have little if any say in.

A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet. And if we are intent on being factually accurate are we going to force the IIHF to rename their " best of the rest" tourney the world shampionships of hockey?

What's it's called us not nearly as important as the talent pool depth, which right now is, overall, higher than the IOC and miles ahead of the world shampionships.

 

[Scotty B]

So if the Young Stars win and beat Canada or USA in the finals- i guess they will then display both the US and Canadian flags? They will probably play both the US and Canadian anthems?

Doubtless the toadies of the class A shareholders of the World’s Central Banks have already got a few potential anthems for the North American Union in the works...Bearing in mind Globalists not so secret plans to divide the planet into 10 super-states, as per that prescribed back in the 1930's by H.G. Wells in his books ‘ The Open Conspiracy’ and ‘ The New World Order’

Plus it seems like some here have already agreed on Our Flag

Just Say'in...

 

[JackSlater]

You know what, if the Tim horton's tidbits had the best players on the planet ( you know the one's overwhelmingly currently in the NHL) i'd be down to watching it.

Well I can't come close o understanding that, but at least your owning your opinion.

I have zero allegiance to either the IOC OR the NHL. I want to see the best players play. If that's the NHL, great. If it's the olympics ( not likely) great. If it's the world cup, fine by me.

I agree.

The whole idea of the olympics has ALREADY been bastardized by the inclusion of professional athletes ( in an animal farm kind of way some countries earlier than others) and the inclusion of diaspora of convenience. To hold up the, at worst, second most corrupt committee as some sort of paragon of hockey vitae that cannot be crossed is patently heeee-larious.

Yes. I have no idea why you are saying this.

If you don't like the format, don't watch. Where the NHL's bread is buttered the world cup will have lots of people who will pay, and pay handsomely to watch.

I won't watch. Just like any kind of pornography, I have no doubt that there will be a market that exists for this thing.

Mabey between now and the cut off date you can float citizenship of convenience to players like Girona and then convince yourself he's really.one of you on his great aunt's dude, thrice removed.

I have no idea what you are talking about. If you are trying to project some opinions regarding nationality on me, you are failing terribly. I've said nothing on the matter in this thread, but I have said numerous times that I am against players playing for any country other than the one that developed them.

Given the choice of team leftover vs team sacrificial lambs, how any HOCKEY fan chooses the latter is beyond me.

Your whole premise is faulty. There is no reason to think that the leftover team or the Young Gunz team are anything other than sacrificial lambs. The leftovers will be somewhat more talented than the alternatives, but they will not have anywhere the cohesion that the alternatives would and they have next to no motivating factor. Several of the players presumably expected to play for this team have said what a bad idea it is already. The Young Gunz will be talented, but terribly inexperienced and once again with no legitimate motivation. If you're a member of that team who grew up rooting for your country, how motivated would you be to have the chance to beat your own nation? This should be obvious to anyone.

Even if the goal was more balanced teams, that's fine - just don't have a tournament under the guise of an international tournament. International literally means between nations, and until someone can show me a country called "European Leftovers" or "NA Young Gunz" on a map, this simply isn't an international tournament.

Clearly, the NHL, in its format, is trying to make sure that the tournament AVOIDS anything that could be construed as any kind of championship or best on best tournament. It wants to keep it light and more of a spectacle, like the NHL all-star game. But they got into trouble when they started trying to contrive these hybrids like NA U23 or European All-Stars.

No, the NHL is actually encouraging people to think of this event as a best on best tournament. Bill Daly (stupidly) called it as much when the tournament was announced.

Come on, even setting politics aside...with all the talented U23's Yanks have these days...team will be split pretty much 50/50 insofar as NA Nationalities go....But I suspect u already know that...

Nah, it's pretty clear that there will be more Canadians. Of course, trying to balance players from different nationalities shouldn't be an issue in what is supposed to be an international tournament.

 

[Scotty B]

Nah, it's pretty clear that there will be more Canadians. Of course, trying to balance players from different nationalities shouldn't be an issue in what is supposed to be an international tournament.

Granted there are more Canadian than American NHLers, But ( barring a rash of injuries or smthg unforeseen ) I'll lay u dollars to donuts that team will be pretty close to 50/50...replete with BOTH McD and Eichel on it...in part, for their obvious Marquee Value...

NHL Brass/ advertisers know sacred cows ( read cash cows ) when they see em...

 

[Jussi]

The whole idea of the olympics has ALREADY been bastardized by the inclusion of professional athletes

Oh not this crap again...

It's been said a million times on this site already, but you really need to do some research what those "amateurs" orginally meant. Hint: it wasn't athletes who didn't get paid for competing. After you've done that you may begin your search amateur athletes in the biggest sports included in Olympics.

 

[1Gold Standard]

Granted there are more Canadian than American NHLers, But ( barring a rash of injuries or smthg unforeseen ) I'll lay u dollars to donuts that team will be pretty close to 50/50...replete with BOTH McD and Eichel on it...in part, for their obvious Marquee Value...

NHL Brass/ advertisers know sacred cows ( read cash cows ) when they see em...

On a 25 man roster? I doubt it. On mock roster I did when this abomination was announced, I think I had 7 or 8 Americans on the team. but I'll look again.

 

[86Habs]

On a 25 man roster? I doubt it. On mock roster I did when this abomination was announced, I think I had 7 or 8 Americans on the team. but I'll look again.

Between 7 and 10 sounds reasonable, but they'll try and shoehorn as many as possible in there for political purposes and my guess is that they end up at 10-12 out of 25. Not quite 50-50, but perhaps a few more than the "ideal" construct.

 

[Flukeshot]

Obviously no one likes the two bastardized teams but people need to remember this is an NHL event not an IIHF event. They want to avoid non-NHL players and no one outside the top 6 countries can ice a team of all NHL or AHL players. Slovakia is probably close, they had 12 NHL players in Sochi but the Swiss only had 9.

That's why there won't be much of a qualification process in the future.

Also I'm assuming that all players involvement is mandatory at least from a "teams releasing a player availability" perspective. Wasn't it in the CBA

 

[Theokritos]

Obviously no one likes the two bastardized teams but people need to remember this is an NHL event not an IIHF event.

The problem is: this tournament is actually worse than the earlier NHL events it is supposed to succeed. It's a step backwards compared to the Canada Cup/World Cup tournaments we've seen before.

 

[sandysan]

Oh not this crap again...

It's been said a million times on this site already, but you really need to do some research what those "amateurs" orginally meant. Hint: it wasn't athletes who didn't get paid for competing. After you've done that you may begin your search amateur athletes in the biggest sports included in Olympics.

Do when certain countries were sending ( snicker snicker) " soldiers" to beat up on players who would have been excluded for taking a dime as compensation, everything was hunky dory? Article 26 of the 1964 charter seems pretty clear that individuals who receive
renumeration for participation are ineligible


So, the olympics ACTIVITY excluded pros for years ( somewhat subjectively) now sees the draw by allowing REAL pros ( provided they offer their services for free). They KNOW they are pros, but they don't want to pay them as pros and only want to leverage the star power provided they do it for free.

And thus doesn't address that this loosely defined definition of diaspora is laughable on its face. A Korean speed skater can't be part of a Russian dream team by selection, but if Russia decides to outbid other countries for an exchange of naturalization for medal success, well that is just fine and dandy. Because the ioc cannot EVER refuse to allow such transparent opportunism. You know keeping up with the amateurism and all.

 

[sandysan]

Obviously no one likes the two bastardized teams but people need to remember this is an NHL event not an IIHF event. They want to avoid non-NHL players and no one outside the top 6 countries can ice a team of all NHL or AHL players. Slovakia is probably close, they had 12 NHL players in Sochi but the Swiss only had 9.

That's why there won't be much of a qualification process in the future.

Also I'm assuming that all players involvement is mandatory at least from a "teams releasing a player availability" perspective. Wasn't it in the CBA

I like both of the artificial teams, I want to see young guys play from countries with big depth. Team leftovers might actually be competitive, unlike several teams with a smattering of nhl talent filled out with never will be warm bodies.

 

[Gormo]

I like both of the artificial teams, I want to see young guys play from countries with big depth. Team leftovers might actually be competitive, unlike several teams with a smattering of nhl talent filled out with never will be warm bodies.

I think it undermines the sport internationally.

When underdog teams achieve some measure of success is it not a fantastic way to grow the game? It works the same in any sport.

The nations who go further then expected ought to be the ones who benefit the most. We always root for these underdog teams, and the fans of these teams go crazy. I believe that is your best hope of making an impact.

For me these artificial teams suck all of the meaning right out of it.

LETS GO.... wait who?! What is their flag and national anthem again? It will be unbelievably awkward to say the least.

 

[sandysan]

I think it undermines the sport internationally.

When underdog teams achieve some measure of success is it not a fantastic way to grow the game? It works the same in any sport.

The nations who go further then expected ought to be the ones who benefit the most. We always root for these underdog teams, and the fans of these teams go crazy. I believe that is your best hope of making an impact.

For me these artificial teams suck all of the meaning right out of it.

LETS GO.... wait who?! What is their flag and national anthem again? It will be unbelievably awkward to say the least.

So a team like Latvia, featuring an over the hill sandis ozolinsh and a Canadian coach who trap the hell out of everyone, that's good for growing the game? A team that finishes 8th?

And I'd you want to root for an underdog, what team is more under doggy than a team full of young players who would likely be excluded by a nations depth?

As for who to cheer for, we don't have a problem cheering for fish, cats, bears and climatic events.

As for "growing the game" that's not the freaking NHL's job, they are a private company. Latvia has what 5000 hockey players total, let their federations grow the game, because, believe it or not that IS their job.

As for the anthem, bon Jovi has two albums of songs for young guns 1 and 2 (perhaps dead or alive or blaze of glory?)