Will you be OK if fans of the winning country at the 4 Nations refer to their country as the "world champs"?

[WarriorofTime]

Then we won a silly little tournament.

Inclined to agree but curious what sort of bragging rights the winner will claim.

 

[ORRFForever]

Inclined to agree but curious what sort of bragging rights the winner will claim.

Canada has won many tournaments so it won't matter too much to Canadians. We'll just put the trophy on the shelf with the rest of them.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Canada has won many tournaments so it won't matter too much to Canadians. We'll just throw the trophy on the shelf.

I see the smack talk has already begun

 

[ORRFForever]

I see the smack talk has already begun

LMAO!!!!

Oh, my friend, just enjoy this silly little tournament without putting too much weight behind it. The Olympics will be in 12 months. Then you can stress.

 

[MXD]

It would out these fans as people to laugh at.

 

[catnip]

I'm gonna call them the Olympic champs. I know it's not the Olympics but I don't see why that would matter.

 

[ORRFForever]

I'm gonna call them the Olympic champs. I know it's not the Olympics but I don't see why that would matter.

Well done.

 

[Garl]

A better question is, can they call themselves "best team in the World"?

 

[alko]

Every team, who doesn't beat Slovakia, shouldn't be referred as a best team on the world.

 

[torniojaws]

Canada Cup winners didn't call themselves world champions, so it's no different this time around.

 

[JoVel]

I'll never watch a single hockey game again if they do.

 

[Dirtyclapper]

No, this is an NHL tournament, many teams not represented. Olympics would be a world championship.

 

[Quinntessential]

Depends. Let’s see the level of hockey first. I’m giving it a chance but my expectations aren’t that high.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

I doubt anyone will care 5 minutes after this is over…

 

[Kaners PPGs]

I won't care.

 

[ricky0034]

No, this is an NHL tournament, many teams not represented. Olympics would be a world championship.

I mean the Olympics will have what like 12 teams competing? that's more than 4 but there's like 200 countries in the world

we'll never truly know if whoever wins the Olympics would have beaten Djibouti or San Marino

 

[pld459666]

I'm fine with anyone being wrong.

 

[K1900L]

The question is there really another country/ team that could beat the champs of this tournament though? Maybe Russia but I highly doubt that.

If you play an actual tournament with two dozen of teams competing, anything can happen, especially if you've got the knockout/elimination system where one loss is enough to go home (similar to how soccer tournaments are done, or the hockey WC). Hockey is such a luck-based game where two unlucky bounces and a terrific goalie could mean your end, that yes, I could see Canada, Sweden or the US lose to someone like Russia, Switzerland or the Czech Republic. It happens all the time in sports that are less luck-based imo, e.g. : Germany, Spain or France being world champions and losing to countries like South Korea, Chile and Switzerland to be eliminated from the following tournament.

This would give rise to the question if this was fair, though. And I know that many North Americans are not a fan of this system.

 

[Summer Rose]

I mean the Olympics will have what like 12 teams competing? that's more than 4 but there's like 200 countries in the world

we'll never truly know if whoever wins the Olympics would have beaten Djibouti or San Marino

The Olympic tournament at least has qualifying. All IIHF members are welcome to enter the qualifying stage of the tournament if they didn't automatically qualify based on their world ranking (or in the case of Italy, being the hosts). The following countries got eliminated in the first (officially named "round 2" because "round 1" ended up being cancelled): Iceland, South Africa, Bulgaria, Netherlands, Georgia, Thailand, Croatia, Chinese Taipei, and Turkey. Estonia, Spain, and Serbia won their groups and advanced to the next round.

In the next round, the following countries got eliminated: Lithuania, Spain, Romania, China, Serbia, South Korea, Poland, and Estonia. Japan, Hungary, Great Britain, and Ukraine advanced to the final round.

In the final round, the following countries got eliminated: Kazakhstan, Austria, Hungary, France*, Slovenia, Ukraine, Norway, Great Britain, and Japan. Slovakia, Latvia, and Denmark won their groups and qualified for the Olympic tournament.

*France came second in their group and is listed as an "alternate." I don't know what that actually means.

 

[JPT]

I'm a hockey fan and you're asking if I'm going to be OK if some minor shit happens? Absolutely f***ing not. It will ruin my entire life for a few days, at least.

 

[Faterson]

Silliest thread title in a long time.

 

[Dirtyclapper]

I mean the Olympics will have what like 12 teams competing? that's more than 4 but there's like 200 countries in the world

we'll never truly know if whoever wins the Olympics would have beaten Djibouti or San Marino

There's also qualifications through IIHF leading up to that. The 12 best teams in the world are represented, much better then 4, Russia isn't even in the tournament and it's only NHL players. I also wouldn't call it a world championship without Russia playing.

 

[Elvs]

As exciting as it is to see all the best players available for the national teams again, the tournament in itself is only a cash grab with no history or culture. There's nothing at stake, like, at all. Somehow, even as Swede, I'd be most looking forward to a Canada vs USA final, and even then it would just be for the politics and not for the hockey.