WCH - Impressions of the Tournament

[snipes]

There's a poll on Finland's only significant ice hockey forum about the format of this World Cup. The question is: "What do you think about the new World Cup format?"

And this is the result:
"It's excellent" 9%
"It's garbage" 91%

When talking to people in real life, I haven't yet met one single person who thinks it's a good idea. I have seen some incredulous rolling of the eyes though from people who have heard about the format from me for the first time. The last time was on Sunday when I told a colleague about Team North America and Team Europe. His facial expression screamed "are you serious?" loud and clear.

I wonder what the results would be if Team Europe and the Young Guns didn't exist? I suspect that because this event is not a IIHF event, there would still be some degree of dislike for it.

European hockey federations seem to be deferential to the IIHF. Far more than we are over here.

In Canada and the USA, the IIHF has no jurisdiction over us. The IIHF has a long and at times antagonistic relationship with Canada. Hockey is our game, Switzerland does not dictate to us. I'm actually in favour of moving the IIHF headquarters to Canada. That would be a sign of good faith and respect for hockey as being Canada's game.

If I'm forced to choose allegiances, I side with the NHL. Always will. We have a long history with the NHL and it has always been Canada's domestic league. The NHL should never bow before the IIHF. As much as the NHL and Bettman make me angry at times, I don't see the IIHF as being any better.

At least with the World Cup, the NHLPA (players union) share in the profits. The players benefit and receive compensation from the World Cup. I support that. Our hockey players should receive financial benefits from playing the game. All revenue is split 50/50 between the owners and the players.

I'm not sure how many of you know that the players themselves receive a 50 percent share in the revenue. I stand with the players, the players themselves sharing the revenues is better than money going to Switzerland and IIHF bean counters in my view.


Edit: Before anyone accuses me of being some NHL shill, I'm not. I'm just a passionate hockey fan who put on skates as soon as I could walk. I still play this game on the outdoor rinks and will until I physically can't. I know the history of our game and haven't forgotten the way the IIHF treated Canada in the 1970s. They banned our best from playing in international competition, but let Soviet "amateurs" participate. Canadians should never forget that, the IIHF banned us from sharing our best with the hockey world.

 

[FiLe]

At least with the World Cup, the NHLPA (players union) share in the profits. The players benefit and receive compensation from the World Cup. I support that. Our hockey players should receive financial benefits from playing the game. All revenue is split 50/50 between the owners and the players.

If you want to side with the NHL, stick to the NHL - I mean, the actual league. No one demands either that the profits of the league should go elsewhere.

But you can't have proper international competition using NHLers only. If you want NT on NT action, the IIHF must be involved. Simply because those holes in the participating teams the NHL can't fill must be filled somehow.

 

[holyprime]

I know the history of our game and haven't forgotten the way the IIHF treated Canada in the 1970s. They banned our best from playing in international competition, but let Soviet "amateurs" participate. Canadians should never forget that, the IIHF banned us from sharing our best with the hockey world.

Quite the irony, considering the upcoming World Cup and its format

 

[torero]

In no friggin' way should one pretend to know how many people there actually are who think this or that.

You can still have a feeling of what the thought will be.

What will Russians think without their KHL players ... that Russia is playing ? or a NA playing Russian selection.
Same for all other European nations that are respected.
Not talking about the ones who have been thrown into a bag !

the fact is that we are nationalists in Europe. And everyday we meet with other nationalities ...and languages ... but we are very nationalists. And proud of our country.

And our perception is different in Europe than NA ! to highlight this ... do you know that in Sochi Olympic games ... Russia played the USA in hockey .. well the main referee was an American (USA) ... this was not acceptable for us ! But in the NHL you play US vs Canadian team and don't care where the ref comes from.

someone was posting that it could be like an all star game ... could be ! what is at stake ? how much money ? We, in Europe do not consider it as a World Cup ... that is sure. We see it as a preparation tournament for NHL players.

Maybe it could turn into something very competitive ... or have the energy of an all star game. both outcomes are possible.
(the logic being that it should be an all star game, unless some team start lighting the flame .. the young guys who want to show they are the best ... and the others, not wanting to lose turn on the flame .... that would light up battles and rivalries )

But to refocus on your question ... i believe that We, Europeans, can have a feeling of what other Europeans will (and do) feel !
And of course it is not 100% correct ... but we can imagine ... yes.

 

[snipes]

If you want to side with the NHL, stick to the NHL - I mean, the actual league. No one demands either that the profits of the league should go elsewhere.

But you can't have proper international competition using NHLers only. If you want NT on NT action, the IIHF must be involved. Simply because those holes in the participating teams the NHL can't fill must be filled somehow.

Why must the IIHF be involved?

IIHF refs are terrible and the international view of the game is different than we view it here. NHL refs are by far the best in the world and let the players themselves decide who wins. Seeing 6-8 penalties a game per side is not my kind of hockey, usually half or more are eye rolling calls.

Maybe we value rugged toughness and battling through the physical side of the game? Save the soft diving and embellishing to draw penalties on the futball pitch. This is not Euro soccer. Canadians pretend they are not hurt when they are, rather than the acting tradition you see in Euro soccer where a player pretends they are hurt when they are not. Hockey is not for the weak, that's always been the Canadian way. I bet many Finns would rather see the games decided by the toughness and spirit of the players, not opportune powerplays and soft penalties changing the outcome. Let the boys play and fight it out.

If the objection is purely based on non-national teams participating, fine. But if hostility exists because the IIHF isn't involved, maybe it's time to share knowledge. Finns should support the NHL over the IIHF, at least in NA the players themselves profit. Yes, owners make a profit in the NHL. It's a business. But so do the players and the player unions who fought to be compensated well.

I would agree, international competition should not be restricted to only NHLers. Lots of excellent players play in the KHL, Liiga, SHL, NLA, etc. Those players were not restricted from being chosen. Team Russia has KHL guys. The reality is, the NHL is by far the best league in the world. And by a very substantial margin, come on. Watch the Finnish documentary happening right now. Compare the Liiga arenas and dressing rooms to NA hockey. The best players in the world are in the NHL. Period.

Sorry, I disagree regarding the IIHF. They do not need to be involved. Why? So Swiss bureaucrats can profit off the backs of the players? We don't pay homage to them. The IIHF does not dictate to Canada and they never will. Don't take Canadian kindness for weakness, the IIHF already thought they were above Canadians and our game once before. International hockey lost an entire era. The Soviet era is tainted because Canada didn't send our best. Perhaps they would have won throughout the 1970s and 80s, we'll never know because of the IIHF and their hostile policies towards the good Canadian people prevented our best from playing them yearly at the WHC.

IIHF involvement is not a requirement for international hockey. The Canada Cups were some of the best hockey ever played, we saw truly the best in the world. Switzerland will not handcuff us again. Maybe a gesture from Europe would be to move the IIHF headquarters to Canada. We'll still play the WHC every year in Europe, it makes sense purely from the number or European teams participating and how Europeans view the WHC.

Ask yourself, who is the lesser of the evils in hockey? I'm siding with the NHL and the NHLPA every time.

 

[snipes]

Quite the irony, considering the upcoming World Cup and its format

Best players are not restricted though in terms of participating (for which team, yes they are restricted. But they are able to be involved). The tournament is built around the Big 6 hockey powers. The best from smaller nations actually have a chance to participate.

 

[snipes]

You can still have a feeling of what the thought will be.

What will Russians think without their KHL players ... that Russia is playing ? or a NA playing Russian selection.
Same for all other European nations that are respected.
Not talking about the ones who have been thrown into a bag !

the fact is that we are nationalists in Europe. And everyday we meet with other nationalities ...and languages ... but we are very nationalists. And proud of our country.

And our perception is different in Europe than NA ! to highlight this ... do you know that in Sochi Olympic games ... Russia played the USA in hockey .. well the main referee was an American (USA) ... this was not acceptable for us ! But in the NHL you play US vs Canadian team and don't care where the ref comes from.

someone was posting that it could be like an all star game ... could be ! what is at stake ? how much money ? We, in Europe do not consider it as a World Cup ... that is sure. We see it as a preparation tournament for NHL players.

Maybe it could turn into something very competitive ... or have the energy of an all star game. both outcomes are possible.
(the logic being that it should be an all star game, unless some team start lighting the flame .. the young guys who want to show they are the best ... and the others, not wanting to lose turn on the flame .... that would light up battles and rivalries )

But to refocus on your question ... i believe that We, Europeans, can have a feeling of what other Europeans will (and do) feel !
And of course it is not 100% correct ... but we can imagine ... yes.

Good point, we cannot ignore the nationalism in Europe. It would be ignorant to Europe and its history.

Maybe in NA we are less concerned with nationality? In hockey, national pride absolutely matters for Canada. Hockey is how Canadians are defined, but in other areas of life it doesn't matter as much.

To be Canadian is different than to be a Swede, Czech, or Finn for example in the traditional sense. Being Canadian is not an ethnicity distinct from others. We are more of a mosaic. I mean, I'm of Scottish/English descent going back to the old world, but I view myself as Canadian in a distinct sense separate from ancestry. My nationalistic pride comes from being a citizen of a country founded on an idea of cooperation borne out of mutual necessity, not common ancestry if that makes sense. It's hard to explain.

Being Canadian isn't driven by a country of ancestry, it's built more on an idea. It was an experiment that worked. Scottish Protestants and French Catholics realized the realities of surviving harsh and unforgiving Canadian climates depended on cooperation. It was cooperation borne out of necessity, Canada wasn't founded based on a single national identity or common ancestry. Realities of survival were bigger than Franco and Anglo differences.

I'm very well versed through my education on European history, so I do understand the nationalistic aspect of European sport. Hopefully you can understand my different lens through which I view the world and can see why we see things differently. I appreciated reading your viewpoint on the matter. I see why the WHC matters so much in Europe, it's nationalism at its heart.

 

[Tomas W]

My 2 cents: How much you appreciate the "gimmick" teams, depends if you appreciate the NHL stars playing for them. Those in Europe who is more interested in watchning the games for a chance to waive thier flag, will of course be conufsed and angered by the mixing.

But if you are an lets say Dane that follows the NHL, then you appreciate that you at least get to see some Danish NHL action of some sorts, and you at least recognize the others in the team like Kopitar and can sheer for them too.

 

[Faterson]

It's indeed possible that Bettman isn't lying. He could simply have bad data.

A CEO not lying for promotional purposes? Fat chance.

 

[torero]

European hockey federations seem to be deferential to the IIHF. Far more than we are over here.

The IIHF has a long and at times antagonistic relationship with Canada. Hockey is our game, Switzerland does not dictate to us. I'm actually in favour of moving the IIHF headquarters to Canada. That would be a sign of good faith and respect for hockey as being Canada's game.

If I'm forced to choose allegiances, I side with the NHL. Always will. We have a long history with the NHL and it has always been Canada's domestic league. The NHL should never bow before the IIHF. As much as the NHL and Bettman make me angry at times, I don't see the IIHF as being any better.

At least with the World Cup, the NHLPA (players union) share in the profits. The players benefit and receive compensation from the World Cup. I support that. Our hockey players should receive financial benefits from playing the game. All revenue is split 50/50 between the owners and the players.

I'm not sure how many of you know that the players themselves receive a 50 percent share in the revenue. I stand with the players, the players themselves sharing the revenues is better than money going to Switzerland and IIHF bean counters in my view.


Edit: Before anyone accuses me of being some NHL shill, I'm not. I'm just a passionate hockey fan who put on skates as soon as I could walk. I still play this game on the outdoor rinks and will until I physically can't. I know the history of our game and haven't forgotten the way the IIHF treated Canada in the 1970s. They banned our best from playing in international competition, but let Soviet "amateurs" participate. Canadians should never forget that, the IIHF banned us from sharing our best with the hockey world.

The IIHF antagonistic to NHL ? NHL looks at its USD ! exclusively ! And the NHL is against IIHF ... because they look at their USD !!

Switzerland does not dictate to you ? Swizerland dictates nothing !! UN is in Switzerland ... does Switzerland dictate the world ? come on ! Their is a comitee with representatives of the main nations ... don't project your dictatorial view on the others.

You chose NHL vs IIHF ? can we compare both ? do you choses olympic comitee over NHL as well ? ... All countries have a faire representation in these commitees ... do you believe that Canada should dictate the world what should be done in hockey ? is that what you think ?

You are a passionate hockey fan ? how much do you pay your game ticket in NHL ? how much is it in Europe ?

In 1970's ... North Americans were pure professionals while officially Russians were postman, police .. whatever ... what can you do ? Comparable to the non-professional university players ... ?? WTF non-professionals ?? how many hours training ? ...
Olympic games were for non professionals ! it means what it means .... including unemployed guys ! Students ... !It has changed for the good i guess.

 

[snipes]

The IIHF antagonistic to NHL ? NHL looks at its USD ! exclusively ! And the NHL is against IIHF ... because they look at their USD !!

Switzerland does not dictate to you ? Swizerland dictates nothing !! UN is in Switzerland ... does Switzerland dictate the world ? come on ! Their is a comitee with representatives of the main nations ... don't project your dictatorial view on the others.

You chose NHL vs IIHF ? can we compare both ? do you choses olympic comitee over NHL as well ? ... All countries have a faire representation in these commitees ... do you believe that Canada should dictate the world what should be done in hockey ? is that what you think ?

You are a passionate hockey fan ? how much do you pay your game ticket in NHL ? how much is it in Europe ?

In 1970's ... North Americans were pure professionals while officially Russians were postman, police .. whatever ... what can you do ? Comparable to the non-professional university players ... ?? WTF non-professionals ?? how many hours training ? ...
Olympic games were for non professionals ! it means what it means .... including unemployed guys ! Students ... !It has changed for the good i guess.

Look, one thing you need to understand is this, we are fanatical about hockey in Canada. It is one area where we are absolutely insanely passionate. Look up how the IIHF previously treated us, we don't respond kindly to being disrespected like that and we don't forget. Canadians are kind, but we are not weak or submissive when challenged. The IIHF challenged us and altered the history of international hockey by banning our best.

Full time hockey players under the guise of being being "amateurs" in name were professional players the same way as Canadians were. They just didn't get paid the same, but there full time commitment was to hockey. There's an old principle, calling something in name that is in fact different in substance doesn't make it so. Because English is not your mother tongue I assume (I actually mean this in a kind way), what I mean is calling them "amateurs" didn't make them "amateurs" if the reality did not match the label.

The odd part about hockey for us, is in other areas of life and our society, we are far less aggressive and fervent. It's an odd dichotomy, hockey is something that simply means so much to us. It is who we are.

The reality it seems to me is the IIHF is King in Europe. Well, in Canada the IIHF does not have jurisdiction over us. I think that difference is important and overlooked. European federations follow the IIHF and their rules. We do not in Canada. The IIHF has no authority over how we play our game on our soil.

I really wonder how much the IIHF not being the authority over the World Cup affects how it is viewed in Europe. I understand the gimmick teams objection, but lack of IIHF involvement I do not understand.

 

[snipes]

My 2 cents: How much you appreciate the "gimmick" teams, depends if you appreciate the NHL stars playing for them. Those in Europe who is more interested in watchning the games for a chance to waive thier flag, will of course be conufsed and angered by the mixing.

But if you are an lets say Dane that follows the NHL, then you appreciate that you at least get to see some Danish NHL action of some sorts, and you at least recognize the others in the team like Kopitar and can sheer for them too.

That's what it seems like. It's more about nationalism than seeing the best product possible.

I get the objections, I'm not a fan of the gimmick teams. But I am a fan of hockey, my love for hockey is beyond flag waving. Therefore, in that sense I am excited to see the best talent in the world concentrated into 8 teams.

This tournament has the potential to be the best hockey ever played.

 

[torero]

We dont know if he is clearly lying (I like this sentense). yet I would like to know what kind of feedback he got from Europe or rather how or from where he got it to see if he is clearly saying the true. I never heard about anybody being excited by team Europe. NA23 sure, at least here on HF.

Btw. I am sure that if he called EU Commission, they were super happy and completely agreed . However they probably never watched hockey , except swedish, czechs and finnish employees..

Confirmed !
i guess that in our absence, ... we were enthusiastic ;-) ... is lying in opposition of creating ? that is a philosophical

You can add Swiss employees ... hockey is very popular here ! wait ... we are not in the EU commission ...ok ok.

 

[FiLe]

I would agree, international competition should not be restricted to only NHLers. Lots of excellent players play in the KHL, Liiga, SHL, NLA, etc. Those players were not restricted from being chosen. Team Russia has KHL guys. The reality is, the NHL is by far the best league in the world. And by a very substantial margin, come on. Watch the Finnish documentary happening right now. Compare the Liiga arenas and dressing rooms to NA hockey. The best players in the world are in the NHL. Period.

Exactly. And I told you this already: If you want a "true" World Cup with all the best nations with all their best players, you can't do that using NHLers alone. The gimmicks are a clear testament to that. The best NTs besides Canada, USA and maybe Sweden need non-NHLers as well.

And do you even realize what kind of mess it would be if the NHL tried to establish bilateral relationship with every league and every national federation required to bring all these players together to play the international game? Sooner or later, there would be a call for having some separate party that organizes all this, so the leagues can concentrate on running their own day-to-day business.

So, if there only was this kind of... wait. There is. It's called the IIHF.

 

[snipes]

Exactly. And I told you this already: If you want a "true" World Cup with all the best nations with all their best players, you can't do that using NHLers alone. The gimmicks are a clear testament to that. The best NTs besides Canada, USA and maybe Sweden need non-NHLers as well.

And do you even realize what kind of mess it would be if the NHL tried to establish bilateral relationship with every league and every national federation required to bring all these players together to play the international game? Sooner or later, there would be a call for having some separate party that organizes all this, so the leagues can concentrate on running their own day-to-day business.

So, if there only was this kind of... wait. There is. It's called the IIHF.

The IIHF doesn't consider the NHL playoffs or wait until we are done before the WHC.

Players from other leagues could have been chosen. Russia has KHL players going, probably 99% or near that range of the best players in the world, from Europe and NA are in the NHL.

If a team wanted to take Liiga or SHL guys they could have. The IIHF doesn't work around the NHL schedule, players from Euro leagues missing a couple early season games because you start earlier seems like a minimal trade off if they are good enough for the national team. Sweden and Finland have their best players in NA anyways.

The IIHF isn't the sole and overarching power. Sorry, I know it might seem strange, but they don't have the same authority over Canada as they do in Europe.

 

[xxxx]

A certain finnish poll (with how many users, 1000 perhaps?) is showing 91% of dislike of the format? Oh my god, I didn't think about that, that certainly disprove everything about the claim "we're getting positive feedback from Europe". No one can possibly think any claim like this ("we're getting positive feedback") would include 100% of "something", right? Even if the feedback was say, 60% positive, it's still majority, but that's for another debate I don't want to start here. Also, if I recall, he said that a year and a half ago, when announcing the tournament for the first time. No one really knows if that is just a marketing move, or if he really has legitimate positive responses. If he does, I doubt it's from someone who has nothing to do with hockey, lol I could imagine it would be from the national federations, or people around them, if nothing else.

The arguments here have not even NEARLY convinced me that Finland's hockey fans would really generally not like this format. Let alone the whole Europe hockey community Adorable.

 

[FiLe]

The IIHF isn't the sole and overarching power. Sorry, I know it might seem strange, but they don't have the same authority over Canada as they do in Europe.

You really have no clue what it takes to organize an international event, do you? Who dresses the six national teams taking part in this event? Their respective national federations: Hockey Canada, USA Hockey, and the Swedish, Russian, Finnish and Czech Ice Hockey Associations. And those federations wouldn't currently exist without the IIHF.

The World Cup may be an event organized by the NHL, but it runs heavily on the existing IIHF infrastructure. Which proves the point - the IIHF specifically wouldn't be necessary, but the NHL would still need something resembling the IIHF if it wishes to run international hockey, because it can't dress national teams without having those teams' respective national bodies on board. They would also need something that brings those bodies all together.

And naturally, setting up something resembling the IIHF would be redundant, since the IIHF already exists.

 

[snipes]

You really have no clue what it takes to organize an international event, do you? Who dresses the six national teams taking part in this event? Their respective national federations: Hockey Canada, USA Hockey, and the Swedish, Russian, Finnish and Czech Ice Hockey Associations. And those federations wouldn't currently exist without the IIHF.

The World Cup may be an event organized by the NHL, but it runs heavily on the existing IIHF infrastructure. Which proves the point - the IIHF specifically wouldn't be necessary, but the NHL would still need something resembling the IIHF if it wishes to run international hockey, because it can't dress national teams without having those teams' respective national bodies on board. They would also need something that brings those bodies all together.

And naturally, setting up something resembling the IIHF would be redundant, since the IIHF already exists.

The IIHF has their own rules, ice size, and interpretation of how games should be officiated. Those don't apply in NA.

We play our game our way and by our rules. The worst part of IIHF tournaments is the need to call every possible penalty. It's a softer game and frustrating for us because we like a rougher style game with less penalties.

Having NHL rules with NHL refs on an NHL sized rink will be better than anything the IIHF puts on.

 

[FiLe]

The IIHF has their own rules, ice size, and interpretation of how games should be officiated. Those don't apply in NA.

We play our game our way and by our rules. The worst part of IIHF tournaments is the need to call every possible penalty. It's a softer game and frustrating for us because we like a rougher style game with less penalties.

Having NHL rules with NHL refs on an NHL sized rink will be better than anything the IIHF puts on.

And this relates to the thing I'm trying to tell you... how?

 

[1Gold Standard]

You really have no clue what it takes to organize an international event, do you? Who dresses the six national teams taking part in this event? Their respective national federations: Hockey Canada, USA Hockey, and the Swedish, Russian, Finnish and Czech Ice Hockey Associations. And those federations wouldn't currently exist without the IIHF.

The World Cup may be an event organized by the NHL, but it runs heavily on the existing IIHF infrastructure. Which proves the point - the IIHF specifically wouldn't be necessary, but the NHL would still need something resembling the IIHF if it wishes to run international hockey, because it can't dress national teams without having those teams' respective national bodies on board. They would also need something that brings those bodies all together.

And naturally, setting up something resembling the IIHF would be redundant, since the IIHF already exists.

wrong, the IIHF can go the way of the dodo bird and there will still be the need for a governing National body in Canada regulating the game for 600-700 thousand participants and its various provincial chapters. And that would be Hockey Canada. Hockey in Canada does not exist for the international game, it is an offshoot of our domestic game. International hockey can go away tomorrow, it would have a negligible impact on the way hockey is played or consumed in this country.

The international game does exist and thus an international organizing body is needed for that purpose of organizing international tournaments.

 

[snipes]

And this relates to the thing I'm trying to tell you... how?

That the IIHF organizing and profiting off an international event is not required. We don't need their refs or their rules.

The NHL themselves can work with the federations directly and events can be organized without having the IIHF organizing the event and applying their rules.

The NHLPA is getting half of the profits, that's better in my books.

 

[Gary Nylund]

One thing I'm not sure has been mentioned re. WC vs OG - in my opinion, every OG is a potential bust because the winners could be determined by a shootout. That's no way to decide things, simple as that. For this reason alone, the WC >>>>> OG and if I had to choose between on or the other going forward it would be a difficult choice. A part of me wants to appease Euro fans and choose the OG but the part of me that wants to see the best possible hockey tournament would choose the WC (without the gimmick teams of course).

 

[FiLe]

The NHL themselves can work with the federations directly

This part is plain wrong. The NHL can't really work with the feds without the IIHF approval. Even when the IIHF is not directly involved, they still provide the framework. As they do with the World Cup.

Could you please get it? There is no cutting the IIHF out of the picture completely. The federations need the IIHF to operate. They need it both in organizatorial and financial sense. The NHL can't just flat out replace those aspects, even if they can set together a tournament with their own rules with some of the IIHF member feds as participants. However, they can't do even that if the IIHF forbids its member feds from participating.

And there is no way the feds - even the North American ones - suddenly go "rogue" from the IIHF. And even if they were to go, it would just lead to setting up another organization that is essentially a copy of the IIHF. So the IIHF is always involved when there's international hockey to be played. Either directly or indirectly.

 

[Jablkon]

Look, one thing you need to understand is this, we are fanatical about hockey in Canada. It is one area where we are absolutely insanely passionate. Look up how the IIHF previously treated us, we don't respond kindly to being disrespected like that and we don't forget. Canadians are kind, but we are not weak or submissive when challenged. The IIHF challenged us and altered the history of international hockey by banning our best.

Full time hockey players under the guise of being being "amateurs" in name were professional players the same way as Canadians were. They just didn't get paid the same, but there full time commitment was to hockey. There's an old principle, calling something in name that is in fact different in substance doesn't make it so. Because English is not your mother tongue I assume (I actually mean this in a kind way), what I mean is calling them "amateurs" didn't make them "amateurs" if the reality did not match the label.

The odd part about hockey for us, is in other areas of life and our society, we are far less aggressive and fervent. It's an odd dichotomy, hockey is something that simply means so much to us. It is who we are.

The reality it seems to me is the IIHF is King in Europe. Well, in Canada the IIHF does not have jurisdiction over us. I think that difference is important and overlooked. European federations follow the IIHF and their rules. We do not in Canada. The IIHF has no authority over how we play our game on our soil.

I really wonder how much the IIHF not being the authority over the World Cup affects how it is viewed in Europe. I understand the gimmick teams objection, but lack of IIHF involvement I do not understand.

Are you sure about that? I mean in real it's true because NHL is outside Hockey Canada or USA but I thought both associations are members of IIHF so they should probably follow their rules as well. I dont know how much respectful IIHF is in Europe. Czechs attitude changed from "how can some guy from Switzerland told us what to do" to be a partner but honestly I dont know what it means to be under IIHF. Sure you have WC, hockey rules or maybe some contracts you have to follow??? I dont know.

I have to admit I changed my attitude towards IIHF later on mostly for politics reasons. Its a good venue to meet each other and I dont think its its necessarily the enemy.

In terms of that WC I blame little bit more NHL than IIHF, even if I am aware that they both fighting for power. It seems to me that this stage is not really NHLs teritory and also, and this is just my feeling from what I saw, it just seems to me that NHL is more aggressive than IIHF here.

Still I very understand that players are very excited about this tourney. The fact that it is fully serviced by NHL has some role in it, because, and this is unfortunately true, they will have guaranteed comfort that they are used to and they dont have to undergo some punk story to travel to somewhere in the middle of nowhere without ensured flight tickets etc. This is where IIHF or national federations should learn a lot. NHL/NHLPA is garantee that tourney will be well organized from players perspective.

From fans perspective, you already discribed the difference between mentalities so, even if the reaction to two teams was pretty much same on both sides of the pond, it will be probably accepted in Canada and USA. And honestly it is an NA tournament so no one should expect european fans to be highly involved in it. I am sure that if you ask most of normal fans here whether it would be great to see Monohan, Saad or Gaudreau (I guess 90% dont know even McDavid here) on int stage even if they can not make the team, most of the people would aks you "who?" and the second question would be "where is Slovakia?"

But if you ask me about my opinion of income dividing to IIHF a NHLPA, I guess I am not alone here who has this attitude - national jersey is a honour not business. But its a detail that does not decide anything.

We will see what happens but If NHL has more plans to expand to int hockey I really doubt it happens for mostly two reasons : IIHF will protect their territory , and, and this probably culture difference too, people wouldnt accept any league leading int. stage. Fans just dont like it IMO, at least in Europe. More independences - more powers, more conflicts etc....

 

[FiLe]

wrong, the IIHF can go the way of the dodo bird and there will still be the need for a governing National body in Canada regulating the game for 600-700 thousand participants and its various provincial chapters. And that would be Hockey Canada. Hockey in Canada does not exist for the international game, it is an offshoot of our domestic game. International hockey can go away tomorrow, it would have a negligible impact on the way hockey is played or consumed in this country.

Pardon me, I meant they wouldn't currently exist in the international hockey landscape without the IIHF. Because that is the umbrella organization that brings all these feds together. Without the IIHF, these various national feds would likely still exist, but they'd just handle some bits of their respective national hockey operations.

If they wanted to carry on playing international tournaments, they'd still need something resembling the IIHF. And well... there is currently no need for anything else than the IIHF because, well... we already have the IIHF.