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What a great hockey!

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bert said:
All you gotta do is watch Kyle Turris in an NHL playoff game then a World Championship game to prove you couldnt be more wrong. He literally couldnt keep up a month ago and now looks like a star.
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This is the most invalid, typical cherry picking, hair splitting argument ever.

Ovechkin looks like hot garbage compared to his NHL play. Now what?
 
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I don't really get the hostility of some people in this thread.

Is there more skill in a Russia-USA quarterfinal game than in an average NHL game? Yes, there is. Does that always translate into much better hockey? No, it does not.

Why is it so hard to enjoy both?
 
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jj cale said:
One big difference is that fans over here don't make threads pushing their bias of the N.H.L over the WHC, that is your guys yearly schtick.
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I mean, they do though. It's also quite exhausting

garbageteam said:
At the WHCs it's random, sporadic, the rivalries aren't as entrenched. Following a series of 7 games brings you on an emotional roller-coaster ride that's hard to replicate at the WHCs.
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Actually they are quite entrenched. It's not just 7 games, it's decades of games. Look at Finland-Sweden, Canada-Russia, Canada-USA, Russia-Czech Republic, honestly every big team has a very specific relationship to every other big team in many ways, with many historic events that resonate every year. This is a big aspect of what makes this tournament interesting.

That said, I am in agreement that both platforms have their advantages. I agree there's nothing like the intensity of playoff hockey, just as there's nothing like everything being on the line in WC hockey.
At the end of the day though I think it mostly comes down to having a horse to cheer for. If my team is not in the playoffs, I don't much care what happens. If my country drops out of the Worlds, it also becomes a lot less attractive.
 
Jamason said:
Different styles, and both are a lot of fun.

One thing I would like in the international games is for the last couple of rounds to be at least two out of three.
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Nooooo! Worst idea ever. Elimination games are way more exciting, why give teams a second chance all the time?
 
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The NHL playoffs are great in the first round and cup final. I get bored during the middle rounds unless my team is playing (which hasn't been for a long time).

I also don't get to see my country play knockout hockey but as a Brit and a football fan nothing quite matches the do or die of a single elimination tournament like the FA Cup so for that I really enjoy international hockey when it reaches the knockout rounds.
 
Haha, IIHF has been considering a switch to NHL-sized rinks since January 2019, and it got through just now.

WCH should be played on the NHL-sized rinks from the very next year. Goodbye hockey, welcome skate, skate, skate, hit, take the puck, skate, skate, skate, dump, skate, hit, take the puck, circle and shoot.
 
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VictorLustig said:
Nooooo! Worst idea ever. Elimination games is way more exciting, why give teams a second chance all the time?
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I don't think so. Wouldn't you like to see another Sweden/Finland game as exciting as yesterday's? Even just the final - one of the most exciting ever was the 1987 Canada Cup three game final.

I can see both viewpoints, but the games are so good, I want to see more!
 
Jamason said:
I don't think so. Wouldn't you like to see another Sweden/Finland game as exciting as yesterday's? Even just the final - one of the most exciting ever was the 1987 Canada Cup three game final.

I can see both viewpoints, but the games are so good, I want to see more!
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The thing that makes the games as good as they are is because there's only one.
 
Atas2000 said:
This is the most invalid, typical cherry picking, hair splitting argument ever.

Ovechkin looks like hot garbage compared to his NHL play. Now what?
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Oh you dont like it because it doesnt fit your narrative? Anyone that thinks this hockey is as good as NHL playoffs cant evaluate the sport. Its far slower, less physical and less intense. Guys that cant even play in the NHL are thriving, do you actually think the elite players care about this tournament as much as the NHL playoffs? The difference in speed is so obvious.

Doesnt mean that I dont enjoy it, I like the different style of play.

NyQuil said:
It's great hockey.

The whole NHL angle in the OP is unnecessary.
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This I agree with.

The agrument another poster made about the rivalries being just as intense is spoken by someone who has never played a 7 game series. Lining up against the same guy every second night and battling for every inch of ice is a different animal all together. There is so much more invested in playing an entire season with the same group of guys, practicing every day battling through injuries and ups and downs as a group. This tournament is an escape for NHL players that were on bad teams, its like playing hockey on a holiday vacation. Its very enjoyable to watch as I love hockey, any hockey is bonus hockey its interesting to see different players from different teams come together and play in a fun tournament. However its not the same level as the NHL playoffs and there is nothing wrong with that.
 
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Yeah the World Cup of Soccer is the biggest event. That's what we need in hockey. This Stanley Cup thing pales in comparison to representing you're country.
 
bert said:
Oh you dont like it because it doesnt fit your narrative? Anyone that thinks this hockey is as good as NHL playoffs cant evaluate the sport. Its far slower, less physical and less intense. Guys that cant even play in the NHL are thriving, do you actually think the elite players care about this tournament as much as the NHL playoffs? The difference in speed is so obvious.
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It seems that you are the one that reject the examples when they don't fit your narrative. Fact is that Ovecheckin is a 50 goal scorer each year in the NHL, yet he can't score against a team Finland with 18 tournament rookies and looked average at best. I also remember Crosby from the Olympic tournament of 2014 at a time when he was still considered the best player in the world, yet performed very average at best.

In the NHL most Ovechkin goals are generated by him standing still and taking shots from the blue line or the famous "Ovi spot". In tournaments like this one you actually have to work hard and skate to get a goal. Ovechkin doesn't get chances like in the NHL when the other team is desperately defending and putting their bodies in front to block the shots. It's not a superstar versus superstar play and team play decides more than individual effort as opposed to the NHL.
 
stonec said:
It seems that you are the one that reject the examples when they don't fit your narrative. Fact is that Ovecheckin is a 50 goal scorer each year in the NHL, yet he can't score against a team Finland with 18 tournament rookies and looked average at best. I also remember Crosby from the Olympic tournament of 2014 at a time when he was still considered the best player in the world, yet performed very average at best.

In the NHL most Ovechkin goals are generated by him standing still and taking shots from the blue line or the famous "Ovi spot". In tournaments like this one you actually have to work hard and skate to get a goal. Ovechkin doesn't get chances like in the NHL when the other team is desperately defending and putting their bodies in front to block the shots. It's not a superstar versus superstar play and team play decides more than individual effort as opposed to the NHL.
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Team play decides everything in the Stanley Cup finals, if there is one sporting competition that absolutely lives on and is the epitome of team play it's the Stanley cup playoffs.
 
jj cale said:
Team play decides everything in the Stanley Cup finals, if there is one sporting competition that absolutely lives on and is the epitome of team play it's the Stanley cup playoffs.
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Right, I guess I was being a bit overly sarcastic in my response to the previous poster. NHL play-offs are about team play and so are the world championships. Players like Ovechkin are as patriotic as one can be so they'll surely give a 100% effort for their nation, yet the team who played better as a unit won today.
 
stonec said:
Right, I guess I was being a bit overly sarcastic in my response to the previous poster. NHL play-offs are about team play and so are the world championships. Players like Ovechkin are as patriotic as one can be so they'll surely give a 100% effort for their nation, yet the team who played better as a unit won today.
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You beat them fair and square that's for sure.
 
Might be offtopic but list of gold medal winners from IIHF 4 major tournaments between 2010-2019. Under 18 world champs, Under 20 world champs, Mens world champs and the Olympics.
*Either Canada or Finland will add 1 more mens gold medal to resume on sunday

USA total 9
U18 6
U20 3
Men 0
Olympic 0

Canada total 7
U18 1
U20 2
Men 2
Olympic 2

Finland total 6
U18 2
U20 3
Men 1
Olympic 0

Sweden total 5
U18 1
U20 1
Men 3
Olympic 0

Russia total 4
U18 0
U20 1
Men 2
Olympic 1

Czech total 1
U18 0
U20 0
Men 1
Olympic 0
 
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