Who else has very little interest in the Four Nations tournament?

[Hisch13r]

I don’t care. I don’t care about the Olympics either. I only cared about the 2016 WC for team NA. Love the WJC and like the U18s but I do not care about the men’s international events.

 

[McFlash97]

and yet still 100x better than the cringe worthy all star break festivities

Anything is better than the All Star weekend.

 

[Gormo]

It's obviously the correct decision to not include Russia, that's a no brainer. There's no chance in hell we would participate if they would be invited.

That doesnt make sense to me.

There are plenty of Russians playing in the NHL right now and none of their teammates seem to care about that

 

[Albatros]

Obviously the problem is team affiliation and not individual players.

 

[JianYang]

Interest is to be determined.

To me, it solely depends on how seriously the players take it.

There's potential for phenomenal hockey. But if the players are dropping out voluntarily, that would definitely cheapen it.... I just wish the Russian players were part of it.

 

[Calicaps]

Pretty uninterested. Seems mostly like a chance for guys to get injured for a gimmick.

 

[ovikovy817]

I hope 0 WSH players will be selected. Do not want them to get hurt/tired

 

[byrath]

I am interested, but we'll see how the players feel about it. If they care enough to give at least a good regular season effort, it should be a lot of fun.
Then again, I just looked it up and it seems few if any of the games will be on espn+, so I guess I'm not interested after all.

 

[nucks88]

Personally, I would rather have the Canuck players chosen to sit the whole thing out and rest.....

 

[tarheelhockey]

For some reason the NHL just can’t seem to get international hockey right. The old World Cup was perfect.

 

[Stalhandske]

I think it's one those tournaments where people say won't matter now, then if their team goes the final then it matters and if they lose it stops mattering again.

 

[the valiant effort]

For some reason the NHL just can’t seem to get international hockey right. The old World Cup was perfect.

Sure was

 

[Bixby Snyder]

For some reason the NHL just can’t seem to get international hockey right. The old World Cup was perfect.

I didn't really care about it after '96.

 

[Djp]

For some reason the NHL just can’t seem to get international hockey right. The old World Cup was perfect.

They cou ln d hgv Ave donr motor RD teams of Russia didnt invade ukraine.

They could have had nhl p ln syer clubs from
NHL/NA Russian players
Czech team
Then you might merge countries for 2 other teams like slovakia+other countries and Germsny/switz/austria

 

[SEALBound]

They cou ln d hgv Ave donr motor RD teams of Russia didnt invade ukraine.

They could have had nhl p ln syer clubs from
NHL/NA Russian players
Czech team
Then you might merge countries for 2 other teams like slovakia+other countries and Germsny/switz/austria

Yeah I loved all of those pictures of Malkin, Ovechkin, and Kucherov on the front lines.

Without a Team Russia, or even Team Europe Ad Hoc (as you suggest), this is a cop out tournament. This is Temu World Cup. Dollar Store Olympics. This is the "international tournament we have at home".

 

[StreetHawk]

This is a one off tournament. Not something the NHL is committed to holding every couple/few years. So, totally get fans not being that interested. Only interest is from fans that want to see best of best with McDavid and the guys who have not played in the Olympics since the 2014 rosters. Pretty much all of the 201X onwards draftees.

 

[Face Of Bear]

should have done a best of 7 North America vs Europe winners don't make escrow payments

 

[PM88RU]

Blablabla

If you aim to unite, you build bridges. If not, you build walls.

The NHL has built walls, separating its own players on “legit” and “non-legit” dependent on nationality, instead of gathering the best possible crop.

Not only Russians, but also Pastrnak, Drai, Necas, Stutzle and many other great players are not given any opportunity to play together, as if they do not belong to the best NHL crop. That’s pathetic and sad.

It was NHL’s decision to make it this way. There were other options like Team Europe or other.

Bettman said “Not interested”.

Now get the same words from many fans worldwide (though you don’t really care about it).

Don’t worry, more betting ad and expensive tickets will cover the decrease of followers.

 

[Duffy13]

I feel like this is a " OK FINE, HERE YOU GO, now shut up" from the league than it is a serious event.

 

[Brodeur]

For some reason the NHL just can’t seem to get international hockey right. The old World Cup was perfect.

I prefer the World Cup in September as well, but I feel like ESPN/TNT had some input. Tournament would be overshadowed in September with baseball winding down and college/NFL starting up. It not a coincidence that the Four Nations will start right after the Super Bowl and as the NBA goes into their All-Star weekend (and spring training is still a few weeks away). They're trying to capitalize on a mostly empty sports week.

Networks are probably taking an educated guess that a casual fan would be more interested in a Team USA game than a run of the mill NHL regular season game. Most of us who care enough to post on a message board are going to watch. I know it's easy to be cynical about it not being a perfect tournament, but I still remember how the 1996 World Cup helped shape me as a young fan. So this tournament will hopefully have the same effect on some younger kids who haven't seen a best on best.

 

[BruinDust]

I've started calling it the Bullshit Cup to my hockey buddies.

I get my international fix from the WJC and Men's World Championships. I don't need or want these tournaments that interrupt the NHL season, including the Olympics.

 

[ZEBROA]

That doesnt make sense to me.

There are plenty of Russians playing in the NHL right now and none of their teammates seem to care about that

Individual russians aint the same as Russia. And we realy dont know what teamates think. On a team. You are on the same boat, just paddle or sink.

 

[Golden_Jet]

I hope 0 WSH players will be selected. Do not want them to get hurt/tired

Ya Hasek getting injured at the Olympics, and not playing again that year, was maddening for me.

 

[qc14]

I am extremely excited to see the best generation of American talent finally get the chance to play best-on-best. Of course Canadians would see one tournament where they don't have the clear best roster and all of the sudden lose interest ...

 

[Golden_Jet]

I am extremely excited to see the best generation of American talent finally get the chance to play best-on-best. Of course Canadians would see one tournament where they don't have the clear best roster and all of the sudden lose interest ...

Americans best D and goalie’s
Canadians best forwards