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

[kingsholygrail]

I'd rather they skip the break and have the playoffs start in April rather than May.

 

[Yukon Joe]

Germany and Switzerland don't have enough NHL players to field a team and this being an all NHL tournament is why they don't have teams. The Czechs are the only other country that could put together an all NHL team that would be allowed to play(Russia could as well but that's not gonna happen)

This is not a hard tournament to understand!

Russia is out because they're an international pariah.

NHL doesn't want to share revenues with the IIHF, so therefore only NHL players can play.

Czechia is the only other country that might be able to put together a full roster - but even Finland has some issues.

Watching Germany, Switzerland, Latvia, Denmark play would be amusing - but they can't make a roster out of NHL players, and they'd almost certainly lose badly in any event.

"Team Europe" and "Team North America" were interesting but when 2016 final was Canada versus "Team Europe" it just didn't have the same jam as nation vs nation.

I could wish for any one of the above factors to not be true (#1 on my wish list - for Russia to not be invading Ukraine), but it's not the world we live in.

So we take what we can get. And I'd much rather watch the 4 Nations than another All-Star game.

Canada vs Sweden is tomorrow...

 

[1909]

Bad time of the season for such a competition. And without the Russian NHL players, it is pointless.

 

[SirPaste]

Bad time of the season for such a competition. And without the Russian NHL players, it is pointless.

Agreed, seems like there is absolutely zero buzz about this tournament at all. Nobody cares.

 

[Crosby2010]

If the players play hard, it’ll be some of the best hockey we ever get to see.

If the players treat it as exhibition or worse, an all-star game, I will quickly tune out.

My thought too. I am hoping it is the former. But if it is just "Oh Tkachuk, I don't want to hurt you............hey text me in between periods so we can chat" type of thing then no thanks. The last best on best has been so long that the players now probably couldn't recall when this sort of hockey was really intense.

 

[Duder54]

Even if I wanted to watch, the only way to watch here in Switzerland is by buying Sky Sports for $30/month and even then, half the games are only available with German commentary.

Not available at all for NHL TV that I already pay for.

Lol @ the NHL.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Agreed, seems like there is absolutely zero buzz about this tournament at all. Nobody cares.

Doesn’t seem like you’ve read the room correctly.

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

Not interested at all. It’s not the Olympics it’s a pure marketing spectacle. The Stanley Cup is the only trophy that matters!

 

[ToDavid]

Is he going to play right after the tournament?

If he does, it makes a mockery out of the tournament.

I don’t see why it should be any different than a player that sits out the ASG.

You can't comprehend how a player might be injured now but ready to go in two weeks?

I've never heard of a player being penalized for missing the all-star game when they're injured prior to the break.

 

[Back in Black]

I'm happy it's gonna be NHL rules. No pansy Hockey, there will be fights!!!!

Especially Saturday night

 

[Back in Black]

The "All Star game" has become such a bore.....

 

[TheLegend27]

This tournament will get a few thousand views at most. Hopefully the NHL sees that the small bit of revenue they will collect isn’t worth it and it’s a one off tournament that won’t be repeated.

 

[Golden_Jet]

This tournament will get a few thousand views at most. Hopefully the NHL sees that the small bit of revenue they will collect isn’t worth it and it’s a one off tournament that won’t be repeated.

A few thousand views lol.
Be prepared to be disappointed then, as the players are saying something different.

 

[antiqueslivers]

not interested but will watch because nothing else on

 

[TheBeastCoast]

It is pretty clear that the players all care about this a lot. It will be really good hockey. Why not sit back and enjoy it?

 

[GuyCANCZE]

Bad time of the season for such a competition. And without the Russian NHL players, it is pointless.

Wrong. So wrong. This tourney is far from Pointless, Brayden Point - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

 

[VivaLasVegas]

I'd rather they skip the break and have the playoffs start in April rather than May.

The last regular season game is April 17, so the playoffs probably start on April 19 or 20.

Nonetheless, I fully agree with your sentiment and myself would do away with the ASG/4Nations and start the playoffs in March and have the SCF end by May 1.

But, the NHL would likely point out, an earlier playoffs would conflict with the highly-popular NCAA basketball finals a/k/a "March Madness" and might generate poor TV ratngs, plus most players could use a 10-day break in the middle of the season to rest up.

Shorten the season? The NHL and NHLPA both vote no.

So we are stuck.

 

[Nicky Santoro]

here in MTL where hockey is KING, i've yet to meet 1 person excited for this. Everyone i know says it's a gimmick. no interest at all. No russia which kills the whole thing cuz they can win this.. No Panarin, ovi, kucherov, vasilevsky, etc.

i watched every US sports show and not 1 mention of it. And it starts tomorrow and US have a great team. No one seems to even know about it. I fear NHL will be a laughing stock in US when it's completely ignored.

And i wonder how many fans will be in BOS for FIN/SWE at 1pm on a saturday?? will we even hit 6,000 fans???

Will the SAT night of US/CAN even get 1m viewers on ABC?? It's also going up against NBA all stars skill challenge.

I'd bet my life Bettman regrets doing this now.. Also, u think these players really wanna be here, or be on a beach for 2 weeks with their wives and kids who they never see for 8 months.. I feel bad for these players.

This dumb tourament has the making of the biggest flop in sports history. At least in the US. i pray i'm wrong.

 

[ozzie]

Germany and Switzerland don't have enough NHL players to field a team and this being an all NHL tournament is why they don't have teams. The Czechs are the only other country that could put together an all NHL team that would be allowed to play(Russia could as well but that's not gonna happen)

How did I forget about the Czechs. If any nation should be there not named Russia, it's Czechs! Is Jgar still playing?

 

[Sun God Nika]

ya im in the minority excited to take in some elite level hockey and not having to worry about my NHL team for a bit. Does suck they didn't let Russian athletes in.

 

[PAZ]

I'm intrigued, but it depends on the players.

My guess it'll be good hockey since a lot of players have been starved from meaningful international tournaments. Technically this one isn't meaningful, but it's above the World Championships.

All I know it's better than the All-Star games.

 

[Seiza]

I don't think I will watch a single game actually. It's fun and all, but I won't sit up in the middle of the night to watch hockey on a workday. Maybe I will watch a period of Sweden - Finland, we'll see.

 

[Maverick41]

My interest in the tournament is different among three parts of it:

1) The games themselves: Zero interest, don't care, won't watch. I have other hockey I can watch that I am more invested in personally, and the time the games are played at doesn't help. However, I hope everyone who does watch gets to enjoy it and that the players play hard and take it serious.

2) The results of the games: Mild interest, I will probably check the scores in the morning, unless I forget.

3) How is the tournament received by the public: This I am interested in. I am really curious what people will make of it. How will hockey fans react? How will it be presented in the media? How will it be received differently in NA and Europe? All these things interest me.

 

[Seras]

No Russia (I get why they are excluded) and also no Draisatl who's second in scoring...this is a sham of a tournament. They should have made a different format, to include the "best-on-best".

I don't.

If waging wars were reasons to be excluded the US would have been left out for the last 40ish years