WJC 20/21 should be cancelled

[Gregsky99]

I literally said I watched it. Have you? Because he quite literally did not say what that poster is saying he said lol

 

[TheBeastCoast]

View attachment 379057

And? You do understand this isn't a conversation about whether he said the team will go undefeated or not right?

 

[Talus]

According to Craig Button on YouTube, the 2021 Canadian WJC team is the greatest junior team in the history of hockey. With all of the other conditions and circumstances in their favor, this is Canada's tournament to lose, according to the top Canadian expert.

Button sometimes gets carried away and his predictions and are a little off sometimes. in saying that Canada will have a competitive team.

 

[Talus]

I know, i just have a strong gut feeling about it, Selanne said half of our team consists of players who he's had in his goal scoring academy, not that it matters that much but i think Finland will come with some good offensive power this time.

hope they do well.

 

[ORRFForever]

So... No news is good news again, today?

 

[Karl Eriksson]

Does COVID have favorite nationalities? No? Ok then play on.

 

[NyQuil]

Obviously, you won't find anyone who is shocked that all the referees will be Canadian. Outrage would be wasted energy. This tournament belongs to Canada, and probably rightfully should. Canada provides all the funding and all the fandom. The fact is, without Canada, this tournament probably would have died 30 years ago. The expense and rigid protocols of a covid WJC could only happen in Canada. If the tournament were to die out, I wonder if anyone in the USA or Europe would even care. It just never caught on in any of those places, even though their teams win as often as not.

I'm pleased by this perspective because it gives you insight into North American opinions about the IIHF World Championships.

Sure, I watch it, but I grew up in Europe and I attended a tournament later on in Hannover. It's fun to see some novel line combinations and party with some fans. That's about the extent of it.

I will say that the European and American prospects who are interested in making millions in the NHL probably still have a vested interest in the WJC.

Performing well, rightly or wrongly, has an inevitable impact on draft position and on their future career.

 

[ORRFForever]

TBH, I expected bad news by this point.

Thanks to all the kids giving up their time to quarantine. Let's hope it pays off.

 

[Yakushev72]

I'm pleased by this perspective because it gives you insight into North American opinions about the IIHF World Championships.

Sure, I watch it, but I grew up in Europe and I attended a tournament later on in Hannover. It's fun to see some novel line combinations and party with some fans. That's about the extent of it.

I will say that the European and American prospects who are interested in making millions in the NHL probably still have a vested interest in the WJC.

Performing well, rightly or wrongly, has an inevitable impact on draft position and on their future career.

To be honest, I don't disagree with a word you say. The Stanley Cup is your world championship, the WC is the same to most Europeans. I would even say that European hockey fans have almost no interest in the Stanley Cup in comparison to Canadians, much less the WJC. Of course, when their team wins, they are more interested then, but even then, there is very low interest. But on a transactional level, when you are talking about fishnagels, players are well aware that NHL money is better. For Swedes, Finns, Czechs and Slovaks, and to a lesser degree Russians, the goal of any prospect is to make it to the NHL, because their "major league" teams only start to look good after the 10th beer, and the salaries are pocket change.

 

[Zine]

Here is the transcript of where I think you're getting that. Duthie references dream team types of scenarios, from what I assume would be a reference to the 3 prior times the NHL wasn't ongoing because of lockouts. This time it's because of covid. I guess that's where you're getting that from. Button doesn't say anything about it being one of the best ever.

Duthie: "Now Canada has iced 3 so called dreams over the year at the world juniors. They have 2 golds and a 4th place finish. That 2005 team that outscored opponents 41 to 7 is regarded as the greatest world junior team ever. Now, no Alexi Lafreniere but this is pretty close to a dream team scenario for Canada this year. Who ranks as Canada's chief rival for a 2nd straight gold Craig?"

Button "I think it's a repeat of last years gold medal game with Russia. Russia has an outstanding goaltender, defense is strong, and they can score up front, but make no mistake about it Canada's depth of talent is enormous. I think they go undefeated and win the gold"

Button has no clue. Our defense is sub-par, even by Russian standards (the key guys are either undersized or young). And the center depth is beyond atrocious. Askarov will need to stand on his head for us to be competitive against USA and Canada.

That said, he's right about the Canadians. They're gonna blow up this tourney. Their roster is their best since 2005; at least on paper.

 

[Canada4Gold]

Button has no clue. Our defense is sub-par, even by Russian standards (the key guys are either undersized or young). And the center depth is beyond atrocious. Askarov will need to stand on his head for us to be competitive against USA and Canada.

That said, he's right about the Canadians. They're gonna blow up this tourney. Their roster is their best since 2005; at least on paper.

I don’t care too much about whether he’s right. I always take things Button ways with a grain of salt. I agree the Russian D is weaker than average but they do make up for that elsewhere. There was just an argument about what Button actually said so I transcribed it

 

[Fatass]

I don’t care too much about whether he’s right. I always take things Button ways with a grain of salt. I agree the Russian D is weaker than average but they do make up for that elsewhere. There was just an argument about what Button actually said so I transcribed it

Doesn’t Russia have the best goalie?

 

[Mikeshane]

It should have been played in Florida. This news about The Raptors having fans for their games is just salt in the wounds. We could have been watching WJ hockey with fans 10 days from now.

 

[DJB]

Terrible take by the OP. Awful

 

[Statsy]

It should have been played in Florida. This news about The Raptors having fans for their games is just salt in the wounds. We could have been watching WJ hockey with fans 10 days from now.

If you held it in Florida, you WOULDN'T have fans in the stands, even without Covid.

 

[jetsforever]

Sweden hasn't lost a preliminary WJC in regulation since 2006, a span of 52 games. Crazy that they have only won gold once in that span (2012). I guess OP is worried that record is in jeopardy.

Whoa, that seems more deserving of a thread than this thread

 

[Oleksiak]

If you held it in Florida, you WOULDN'T have fans in the stands, even without Covid.

You'd get more fans if you hosted it in Mexico and marketed it to Canadians.

 

[FinPanda]

Team Finland practised on small groups in Finland based on where they lived so I am happy how we handled the situation, so no suprise there hasn't been cases.

 

[Yakushev72]

Most WJC tournaments are on Canadian home ice, where you have the spectacle of 250,000 fans crammed into a 12,000 capacity arena. When Canada scores, you have delirious fans exploding with emotion and crawling over the plexiglass and writhing on the ice in celebration. I wonder whether there will be an emotional contrast when the team can only respond to artificial, piped in noise! Fake, electronic joy, like they had in the Stanley Cup! That should be interesting to see.

 

[Statsy]

Most WJC tournaments are on Canadian home ice, where you have the spectacle of 250,000 fans crammed into a 12,000 capacity arena. When Canada scores, you have delirious fans exploding with emotion and crawling over the plexiglass and writhing on the ice in celebration. I wonder whether there will be an emotional contrast when the team can only respond to artificial, piped in noise! Fake, electronic joy, like they had in the Stanley Cup! That should be interesting to see.

These days they hold Canadian WJC's in NHL arenas, so that 12,000 stat would be more like 18,000 for a Canada game. That detail aside, I think you're right that it'll be a different emotional dynamic. I assume it won't bother some players while others may not quite get that extra level that they would have. For the majority of the game it likely won't matter, but that fan boost comes at critical junctures when your team is pushing.

The counter argument is that a game without fans would also favour a more talented team with the game flow dictated less by emotion and more by the technical aspects. Canada is set up pretty well for that too, so I'll guess we'll see.

 

[Yakushev72]

These days they hold Canadian WJC's in NHL arenas, so that 12,000 stat would be more like 18,000 for a Canada game. That detail aside, I think you're right that it'll be a different emotional dynamic. I assume it won't bother some players while others may not quite get that extra level that they would have. For the majority of the game it likely won't matter, but that fan boost comes at critical junctures when your team is pushing.

The counter argument is that a game without fans would also favour a more talented team with the game flow dictated less by emotion and more by the technical aspects. Canada is set up pretty well for that too, so I'll guess we'll see.

From the other side, you could easily conclude that it creates a genuine neutral ice setting. Both teams will seemingly have equal volumes of fake electronic joy piped in when they score, so any home ice advantage could theoretically be negated. .

 

[PatrikBerglund]

Sometimes far more than that.

Far more than 4 elite players?

When and which players?

 

[ORRFForever]

Just checking HF. Looks like NO news is good news, again.

 

[ORRFForever]

Far more than 4 elite players?

When and which players?

LOL. Canada has lost tons of players in past years.

 

[JackSlater]

This thread consistently brings the laughs.