Why does the IIHF force losing players to stand around after games?

[Canadian Game]

It did feel like a lot more speechifying than usual last night. "I now declare the IIHF junior championships closed." This ain't the Olympics, for pete's sake. We know the tournament's over, the clock reached 0:00.

Get a bunch of the suits off the ice next year. Present the medals & the trophy then GTFO so the winners can celebrate.

100% agree. While Gary Bettman does make a brief appearance to present the Stanley Cup, thank goodness he doesn't ramble on and declare the NHL season over.

 

[RandV]

I was thinking last night when the Russian captain was handed the silver trophy they should have done a few victory laps with it.

 

[QnebO]

I don't see problem there. They did their best and lost but they can come back another year - no reason why they couldn't stand proud and respect the winning team during the anthems and as long as they have received their medals.

 

[Wry n Ginger]

That is almost like saying they should only hand out gold medals at the Olympics.....just give the silver and bronze medals out in secret so the athletes don't have to face their shame.

 

[Mr Kanadensisk]

I really can't stand the whole gold, silver bronze concept. It is just so arbitrary. Why not have awards for 4th, 5th and 6th. You don't win 2nd place in the NHL playoffs, you lose in the finals, and it is no different here. Bringing 2 teams back to play for third place is an even dumber idea than handing out silver medals.

 

[BobDobolina]

I really can't stand the whole gold, silver bronze concept. It is just so arbitrary. Why not have awards for 4th, 5th and 6th. You don't win 2nd place in the NHL playoffs, you lose in the finals, and it is no different here. Bringing 2 teams back to play for third place is an even dumber idea than handing out silver medals.

Ask the Slovak players and Slovakian hockey fans how they feel about the 3rd place game today. Pretty damn good I would bet.

 

[Mr Kanadensisk]

Ask the Slovak players and Slovakian hockey fans how they feel about the 3rd place game today. Pretty damn good I would bet.

Just like the USA was thrilled to defeat Denmark and win the Aluminum medal for 5th place. If there was no game for third no one would miss it, just as no one missed the game for 5th.

 

[Jakk123]

So, say a team gives up the GWG in OT in the finals. What do you want them to do, run over and celebrate with the other team, shouting "Good for you!"?

Are they not allowed to be disappointed that they didn't win it all? If you're not disappointed about not getting something, you either never expected to get it or never even wanted it. Imagine a player is mic'ed up for the finals, and literally two seconds after losing, he sighs and says "Oh, well!"

Nobody is saying that the silver medal means nothing. It's still an achievement. But it's absolutely reasonable for the players to be so dejected after losing the finals, even though they won the silver medal. It's like the old saying that it's easier to make a child cry if you give him something then take it away. The players are given a chance for one of the greatest achievements they can get, and something they've been aspiring toward for a long time, only to have it taken away from them.

Winning the silver medal still means that you just lost the biggest game of your life, and it's going to take any human being a while to get over that fact.

What are you talking about? I didn´t say absolutely anything about celebrating and not being disappointed.

 

[Sharpshooter]

Anyone who has ever played sports knows when you lose, let alone a big game, you just want to go back to your room and collect yourself.

Those players, just completely deflated by a tough game & loss, gotta stand around and watch some fat bureaucrat give out awards to the refs??? What the hell is that?

Most NA pro sports have it right, the defeated move off the field quickly after some quick sportsmanlike acknowledgements to their opponents, and then the victors get to whup it up with their trophy.

 

[Statsy]

Just like the USA was thrilled to defeat Denmark and win the Aluminum medal for 5th place. If there was no game for third no one would miss it, just as no one missed the game for 5th.

Well, 5th isn't 3rd. Even Canadian players that are ONLY about the gold have often said that they regretted losing the Bronze medal game after the fact.

Besides, like many people, you seem to have too narrow a view of the whole event. It's not just about this year's tournament, there are medal standings that show how a team has fared historically. If you only awarded gold medals it would be much more difficult to judge the relative performance of each nation throughout the years.

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

I really can't stand the whole gold, silver bronze concept. It is just so arbitrary. Why not have awards for 4th, 5th and 6th. You don't win 2nd place in the NHL playoffs, you lose in the finals, and it is no different here. Bringing 2 teams back to play for third place is an even dumber idea than handing out silver medals.

It might have been "arbitrary" well over 100 years ago, but at this point the word you're looking for is "tradition".

 

[geoo9]

I like Can - Usa matches . Even russian commentators said at 1 period @Will be fight@ and right before end fight always begins )))) but after it all shake hands

 

[Mr Kanadensisk]

Well, 5th isn't 3rd. Even Canadian players that are ONLY about the gold have often said that they regretted losing the Bronze medal game after the fact.

Besides, like many people, you seem to have too narrow a view of the whole event. It's not just about this year's tournament, there are medal standings that show how a team has fared historically. If you only awarded gold medals it would be much more difficult to judge the relative performance of each nation throughout the years.

No they, don't, I hardly ever hear bronze medal games even discussed in Canada. I like games where both teams have any equal desire to win and that is just not the case in most bronze medal hockey games. I don't get the rest of your post. Its not like the teams couldn't be assigned final rankings without a medal being associated with the placing.

 

[Mr Kanadensisk]

It might have been "arbitrary" well over 100 years ago, but at this point the word you're looking for is "tradition".

Yes, an arbitrary, pointless tradition. I kind of get arbitrarily handing out ribbons to the top X number of finishers in something like a race, but calling back two loser to battle it out for third just seems beyond stupid to me. I guess boxing has found the best way to handle this at the Olympics, but the whole notion just seems silly to me.

 

[Jussi]

Just like the USA was thrilled to defeat Denmark and win the Aluminum medal for 5th place. If there was no game for third no one would miss it, just as no one missed the game for 5th.

When did this game take place?

 

[Mr Kanadensisk]

When did this game take place?

Road hockey game behind the ACC.

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

Yes, an arbitrary, pointless tradition. I kind of get arbitrarily handing out ribbons to the top X number of finishers in something like a race, but calling back two loser to battle it out for third just seems beyond stupid to me. I guess boxing has found the best way to handle this at the Olympics, but the whole notion just seems silly to me.

The real question, though, is exactly what level of OCD or contrariness do you have to have before the "arbitrary" nature of athletic award tradition gets to you?

 

[Mr Kanadensisk]

The real question, though, is exactly what level of OCD or contrariness do you have to have before the "arbitrary" nature of athletic award tradition gets to you?

I guess I'm not as much about the awards as I am about the game.

 

[ebis]

Yes, an arbitrary, pointless tradition.

Yeah, I'm sure you have the same opinion when it comes to other sports too

Like, Canada by some miracle ends up 2nd in the football World Cup after losing in the finals, you would go "What a disappointment, bunch of losers!"

 

[Sam Spade]

Sportsmanship?

 

[Do Make Say Think]

In my eyes, if you can´t appreciate silver, you don´t deserve gold.

If you "deserve" gold, you don't have to appreciate silver

If you "deserve" gold you won gold

 

[Mr Kanadensisk]

Yeah, I'm sure you have the same opinion when it comes to other sports too

Like, Canada by some miracle ends up 2nd in the football World Cup after losing in the finals, you would go "What a disappointment, bunch of losers!"

I'd be happy if they finished 2nd, just wouldn't expect a medal for that.

 

[saskriders]

It may be difficult right after the game, but players will appreciate a silver medal after some time passes

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

Sportsmanship?

This really could have been post #2 and a /thread.

 

[Statsy]

No they, don't, I hardly ever hear bronze medal games even discussed in Canada. I like games where both teams have any equal desire to win and that is just not the case in most bronze medal hockey games. I don't get the rest of your post. Its not like the teams couldn't be assigned final rankings without a medal being associated with the placing.

You seem to not get a lot of things.

Perhaps you don't watch as much hockey as I do. I have multiple times heard people say they regret not winning the bronze. The Canadian team in regards to losing the Bronze to Finland at the Olympics were the best example, and that is pretty widely known.

As for my other point I'll try to say it again...in much simpler language for you. There is this thing called a medal table. It tracks what teams have collected in terms of medals throughout their history in this tournament. It allows for easy comparisons as to what each country has achieved. You've asked why they couldn't do that without attaching silver and bronze to the chart. Well they could, but then they'd have to remove the gold and just call it first, which sucks. It also points out the fact that first to third are better than 5th to whatever, which is true. Arbitrary perhaps, for them to stop at three, but that concept dates back several hundred years, so I don't personally have an issue with it.