Why was the World Cup such a joke?

[bobholly39]

Lack of competition.

Canada was the strong favorite, and never worried. Biggest reason why. Many other reasons too, but that's the main one.

If Russia with Ovechkin and Malkin were firing on all cylinders and made it to the finals and were heavy favorites against a strong canada squad - it would have generated so much more interest.

Sweden too. But going into the final, as a Canadian fan, i never felt Sweden even had a shot.

The olympics have been special in the past because of competition. 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010....2014 a bit less so, but it was the first time really in a long time. World cup was just a continuation of that

 

[JackSlater]

The NHL has no interest in running a real World Cup, rather, an All-Star event to showcase their own players and their own game. At this point, they should change the next "World Cup of Hockey" to the "NHL Ryder Cup". Have team North America vs team Europe play 7 games, all in the ACC in Toronto, where they can charge as much as they want and still sell out. They could plaster everything with advertisements, add new gimmicks each game to keep it exciting, hell, throw in a skills competition in there as well, cause why not? They could hold this at the same intervals that they have held their wcoh at, so the first one could be as soon as 2018, then in 2021, 2027, 2044.5, 2060, and so on (probably in Toronto, each time though)

Indeed, though this past joke tournament makes me think that it isn't a lock that whatever the NHL puts on the ice in Toronto will automatically sell out. Certainly they have actually brought up the Ryder Cup idea.

Then the IIHF could hold their own "IIHF World Cup" as a real replacement to best-on-best Olympic hockey.
The current IIHF rankings could be used to select the top 8,10,12, or 16 teams for the tournament, or however many teams makes sense. They could play it every 4 years and have no gimmick teams, and make the World Cup trophy look like an actual trophy instead of a plastic mess. Unfortunately, it will still need to be held in the summer so the NHL cant stop their players from going.

On top of a real World Cup every 4 years, we still could also have best-on-best Olympic hockey whenever its held in North America or whenever the NHL decides its worth their while, which is nice too, I spose?

I'm doubtful that the players would show up for this "IIHF World Cup". The Olympics and even the Canada/World Cups have a history and reputation that can attract players. It would take some time to build up I suspect, as the situation is very different than in 1976 when the first best on best was created and drew most of the best players.

 

[Yakushev72]

The NHL has no interest in running a real World Cup, rather, an All-Star event to showcase their own players and their own game. At this point, they should change the next "World Cup of Hockey" to the "NHL Ryder Cup". Have team North America vs team Europe play 7 games, all in the ACC in Toronto, where they can charge as much as they want and still sell out. They could plaster everything with advertisements, add new gimmicks each game to keep it exciting, hell, throw in a skills competition in there as well, cause why not? They could hold this at the same intervals that they have held their wcoh at, so the first one could be as soon as 2018, then in 2021, 2027, 2044.5, 2060, and so on (probably in Toronto, each time though)

Then the IIHF could hold their own "IIHF World Cup" as a real replacement to best-on-best Olympic hockey.
The current IIHF rankings could be used to select the top 8,10,12, or 16 teams for the tournament, or however many teams makes sense. They could play it every 4 years and have no gimmick teams, and make the World Cup trophy look like an actual trophy instead of a plastic mess. Unfortunately, it will still need to be held in the summer so the NHL cant stop their players from going.

On top of a real World Cup every 4 years, we still could also have best-on-best Olympic hockey whenever its held in North America or whenever the NHL decides its worth their while, which is nice too, I spose?

Its an interesting idea. I'd really like to see a North America vs. Europe match, mainly because it would be more likely to have competitive balance. It would also highlight different styles. I like it better than the previous format.

 

[jj cale]

Its an interesting idea. I'd really like to see a North America vs. Europe match, mainly because it would be more likely to have competitive balance. It would also highlight different styles. I like it better than the previous format.

I am not sure how much the styles are that different anymore even though some people like to still think there are.

It would look like a modern day hockey game played by the best players in the world and that is it.

Be great games though. You would not see much difference stylistically however.