World Cup 2016: Best On Best?

[snipes]

Then hallelujah I don't have to start studying American players in the Finland and the KHL.

I'm with you. I will be ****ing outraged if they don't find a way to make a deal happen.

Canadians will be livid. Bettman is pragmatic, I think a deal will get worked out. The IOC needs to get over their ego and pay the insurance.

 

[zeke]

What if the NHL works out a last minute deal with IOC and the IOC smartens up and pays the insurance?

no thanks.

there is no reason for the NHL to be the only major pro league in the world that shuts up shop to play in the olympics.

 

[TLeafsFan]

they would be fighting for 4th line spots on those teams which didn't even bother to invite guys like seguin and kessel, which would be a travesty.

this should teach them a good lesson.




oh yay some gritty crap teams with a hot goalie can bunker down and trap all game and once in a while the bounces will go their way!

riveting stuff.

In B4 me.

 

[Big Phil]

they would be fighting for 4th line spots on those teams which didn't even bother to invite guys like seguin and kessel, which would be a travesty.

this should teach them a good lesson.

Seguin was invited and actually played in the exhibition games but got injured on an icing call. Kessel just simply wasn't invited. It happens.

oh yay some gritty crap teams with a hot goalie can bunker down and trap all game and once in a while the bounces will go their way!

riveting stuff.

Canada outshot Latvia 57-16 in the quarterfinals in 2014. I would hardly call that a "trap" team hanging on. They just had a goalie that played the game of his life. They could barely get out of their own zone. Yet they nearly upset Canada. I am not calling for Latvia to be in this tournament, but Slovakia and Switzerland? Of course. Slovakia by the way has HHOFers on their roster.

So what do you find more enjoyable? Team Canada vs.................Team Canada 66% to United States 33%? You find that "riveting"? I feel sorry for you if you do and stuff like the Canada Cup in 1987 doesn't float your boat. At least we had an enemy and a rival back then.

It's a fun tournament. Yea it doesn't "mean as much" but a lot of you guys need to chill.

The All-Star game doesn't mean as much and we accept it. We just don't bother watching it because it has no passion or intensity to it. We tend to remember the World/Canada Cups as exciting and passionate and an "Us vs. them" type of feel. This doesn't have it at all. Will I enjoy it if Canada beats McDavid and co? No.

 

[Whiston532]

I think the people desperate to proclaim this better than the Olympics are the ones who need to chill. Most of the rest of us are fine with some extra exhibition hockey.

I agree those people are being silly. I'm going to enjoy this tournament but to compare it to say a Canada vs US or Russia gold medal game is rediculous.

But atleast they're enjoying something meant to be fun instead of these guys going "It's not a LEGITIMATE game." "It's making a mockery of the soul of the game." Or "here's my breakdown of why this tournament is stupid"

I'm not saying people have to enjoy it. But whatever, you know.

 

[TLeafsFan]

I see a tilt in the poll. Nice.

 

[snipes]

no thanks.

there is no reason for the NHL to be the only major pro league in the world that shuts up shop to play in the olympics.

If the costs are covered they'll do it. At least "break even" and they will, Bettman is pragmatic enough to make a deal happen if the insurance and travel costs are covered. Like they have always been since the NHL started participating.

 

[Xokkeu]

I agree those people are being silly. I'm going to enjoy this tournament but to compare it to say a Canada vs US or Russia gold medal game is rediculous.

But atleast they're enjoying something meant to be fun instead of these guys going "It's not a LEGITIMATE game." "It's making a mockery of the soul of the game." Or "here's my breakdown of why this tournament is stupid"

I'm not saying people have to enjoy it. But whatever, you know.

I enjoy the game, but I also enjoy Tuesday night regular season games between Vancouver and Edmonton so.....

 

[Canuck21t]

weird. i had no problem cheering for them today.

in fact you guys seem to be trying very, very hard NOT to cheer. seems to me it's something to do with bettman, who you guys keep mentioning over and over again for some reason.

I want to cheer for players who are citizen of my country, but when Canada plays against North America which consists of future Team Canada players, how the heck do you expect a true international competition fan to be excited about this? It makes no ****ing sense.

 

[zeke]

If the costs are covered they'll do it. At least "break even" and they will, Bettman is pragmatic enough to make a deal happen if the insurance and travel costs are covered. Like they have always been since the NHL started participating.

meh, i always liked the canada cup better anyways.

ruining an nhl season to have an injured Olympic tourney makes no sense to me.

 

[Xokkeu]

Seguin was invited and actually played in the exhibition games but got injured on an icing call. Kessel just simply wasn't invited. It happens.





Canada outshot Latvia 57-16 in the quarterfinals in 2014. I would hardly call that a "trap" team hanging on. They just had a goalie that played the game of his life. They could barely get out of their own zone. Yet they nearly upset Canada. I am not calling for Latvia to be in this tournament, but Slovakia and Switzerland? Of course. Slovakia by the way has HHOFers on their roster.

So what do you find more enjoyable? Team Canada vs.................Team Canada 66% to United States 33%? You find that "riveting"? I feel sorry for you if you do and stuff like the Canada Cup in 1987 doesn't float your boat. At least we had an enemy and a rival back then.



The All-Star game doesn't mean as much and we accept it. We just don't bother watching it because it has no passion or intensity to it. We tend to remember the World/Canada Cups as exciting and passionate and an "Us vs. them" type of feel. This doesn't have it at all. Will I enjoy it if Canada beats McDavid and co? No.

I think North America actually has more Americans on it if I'm not mistaken.

 

[zeke]

I want to cheer for players who are citizen of my country, .

why?

 

[TLeafsFan]

I agree those people are being silly. I'm going to enjoy this tournament but to compare it to say a Canada vs US or Russia gold medal game is rediculous.

But atleast they're enjoying something meant to be fun instead of these guys going "It's not a LEGITIMATE game." "It's making a mockery of the soul of the game." Or "here's my breakdown of why this tournament is stupid"

I'm not saying people have to enjoy it. But whatever, you know.

This tournament hasn't hit the championship SERIES yet. Keep that in mind.

Agree otherwise.

 

[Canuck21t]

why?

Because I feel there's a closer rapport between those players with me as opposed to American players as they are not from MY country. Seriously, do you really have to ask this? It's pretty obvious isn't it? Fine if you don't care for nationality, but that's basically the main point of international competition which the World Cup is supposed to be but in reality is only pretending to be one.

 

[llwyd]

Oh, I enjoy the tournament quite a bit, it's great fun, but I just don't feel that it's that important. If we'll do badly (as now seems likely), I'll shrug it off pretty much in minutes (and will thank god that it wasn't anyway a genuine best-on-best). And it's good preparation for us if (and hopefully when) we'll have the actual, real best-on-best Olympic tournament in Korea when our team will be more balanced and more experienced.

 

[Xokkeu]

why?

Because unlike NHL teams, which are completely made up, they actually represent people who were born and raised in your hockey system. (With the exception of some dual nationals)

Seeing Auston Mathews succeed growing up and developing as a hockey player in Phoenix is much more exciting to me than Nathan MacKinnon or Oliver Ekman-Larsson who just came out west because they were arbitrarily assigned to go there. All I want is once every few years to celebrate the players who were developed in my home on the same team and cheer for them. I had 82 other games a year to enjoy hockey on made up teams.

 

[Big Phil]

Did he just text you that he wouldn't be or something?

I think it's been pretty fun and that's it but to each his own I guess.

Watch the World Cup in 1996. Canada and the USA played each other 4 times not including exhibition games. They hated each other with a blind passion. You could see it. The fans felt it too. Sidney Crosby is not going to HATE Connor McDavid. Man, people have GOT to watch these old tournaments to see what it was really like. We want fun, but we want passion too. We want intensity.

They can't compete because Switzerland, Germany, Slovakia can't maintain a strong tournament. They can pull out an upset or close game but they can never win the whole thing. That's not competing it's playing potential spoiler. And let's not pretend that those close games were because of up tempo hockey that kept Canada on their heels. It was Canada 90% of the time followed by those teams cashing in on their 3-4 chances.

Having a legitimate threat such as Team NA is more entertaining then watching Latvia curl up in a ball praying for a miracle every single game.

Finland has never won in a best on best either. Russia hasn't in 35 years. Sweden, USA and Czechs did once. The Czechs have been nowhere near since 1998. You are basing it on how often Slovakia and Germany and Switzerland win this tournament? Canada has won it 8 times out of 12. Why even bother having a tournament if one country wins it 75% of the time by your logic?

Pavol Demitra can within a whisker of sending the game into overtime in 2010. You can't tell me 2010 was not great hockey. It was. Almost every game was great. It was memorable and one of those "1972" moments especially for Canadians. The current format at the 2010 Olympics takes Crosby, Toews and Doughty off of Team Canada. Try and defend that.

weird. i had no problem cheering for them today.

in fact you guys seem to be trying very, very hard NOT to cheer. seems to me it's something to do with bettman, who you guys keep mentioning over and over again for some reason.

They aren't Canadian. Sorry, that is not Team Canada. I can't cheer for them. Why would I? I'm Canadian.

no thanks.

there is no reason for the NHL to be the only major pro league in the world that shuts up shop to play in the olympics.

At least the fans can depend on a world class tournament every 4 years deciding who is the best hockey nation on the planet.

 

[gwh]

I see a tilt in the poll. Nice.

Going to continue.

People who think this is crap won't vote anymore. They just dont watch it and see traverse games or other hockey.

Personally I am waiting for one of the allstar teams to make the finals and win this thing. "winner of the worldcup 2016 - Team Leftover allstar team"

 

[JackSlater]

Well, it's simply not best on best: for example the USA was prevented to have its best team in the tournament - I think it would be totally legitimate if they would not count it among their best on best tournament history.

Yes, it isn't even a debate. Four of the teams cannot take their best. It's basically a small number of people who don't understand the term best on best struggling to justify their position and failing.

Can we just make a Canada cup for fans who clearly don't care about international hockey. Well play it in February. Mid season. Pick the best players. Assign them teams like North America and Europe and have them play each other

Alphabet Cup. It will give the exhibition that some want. This tournament obviously appeals more to people who don't actually like international hockey, so they may as well go all out and drop the facade of an international tournament and go full all star. Many fans of this format would be thrilled by that I assume.

They will compete, but I want more than that. I want pride and rivalry. Will Connor McDavid be proud to play for his freaking age group against his OWN country? Will there be a new rivalry between Canada and its ONW continent? The only reason the NA youngsters would be competitive is so they could in the future represent their respective national team which they have to beat at this present tournament. For the life of me, I don't understand how some of you can't see how messed-up this is.

If you are just looking for an all star exhibition, as opposed to an international tournament or better yet a best on best, it makes perfect sense.

Going to continue.

People who think this is crap won't vote anymore. They just dont watch it and see traverse games or other hockey.

Personally I am waiting for one of the allstar teams to make the finals and win this thing. "winner of the worldcup 2016 - Team Leftover allstar team"

We will finally know who owns hockey. The European Leftovers. Funny how they rarely get mentioned when hockey powers are discussed. The proud tradition of Europe minus Russia/Sweden/Finland/Czech Republic should be acknowledged.

 

[Jussi]

What makes matters worse is that TSN is now drinking the Kool-Aid and betraying the fans by promoting this format. It is obvious the NHL is putting pressure on them and other news sites to not speak ill of the format. They wrote an article asking - in an excitable way - how the under 24 team would have looked in 1987. Mario, Robitaille, Roy, Tocchet, Neely, etc. It is pathetic. Are they suffering from dementia? Do they not realize the greatest hockey that was ever played happened between Canada and Russia in 1987 BECAUSE of the normal format and not the gimmicky one? There would be no Gretzky to Lemieux with that silly format. Which would be awful, but don't tell the clowns at TSN that, they think it would have been NEAT to watch!

Wait, the same network that was laughing about the format on air during Trade Deadline last year (Duthie made several comments about and BobbyMac was laughing in the background with him)?

 

[Gary Nylund]

They can't compete because Switzerland, Germany, Slovakia can't maintain a strong tournament. They can pull out an upset or close game but they can never win the whole thing. That's not competing it's playing potential spoiler. And let's not pretend that those close games were because of up tempo hockey that kept Canada on their heels. It was Canada 90% of the time followed by those teams cashing in on their 3-4 chances.

Having a legitimate threat such as Team NA is more entertaining then watching Latvia curl up in a ball praying for a miracle every single game.

This. I've resisted saying something like because I don't want it to sound like I'm putting down these countries but in all honesty, it's true and I'm getting sick of hearing how competitive Switzerland and Slovakia and whoever else would be in this tournament. They wouldn't be, end of story.

I agree those people are being silly. I'm going to enjoy this tournament but to compare it to say a Canada vs US or Russia gold medal game is rediculous.

But atleast they're enjoying something meant to be fun instead of these guys going "It's not a LEGITIMATE game." "It's making a mockery of the soul of the game." Or "here's my breakdown of why this tournament is stupid"

I'm not saying people have to enjoy it. But whatever, you know.

Well put! No matter what happens in this World Cup, it can't possibly be as memorable as some of the Canada/World Cups of the past but considering the state of international hockey today, watching team NA do their thing is probably more interesting than watching Canada dominate like we did in the last Olympics. Maybe 4 years from now things will be different but for now, that's just the way it is.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Going to continue.

People who think this is crap won't vote anymore. They just dont watch it and see traverse games or other hockey.

Personally I am waiting for one of the allstar teams to make the finals and win this thing. "winner of the worldcup 2016 - Team Leftover allstar team"

You mean they can only vote once?

 

[Big Phil]

I am cheering hard for Russia tonight........................

Look, I have zero allegiance to Team North America. None. It isn't Canada. The reason I am cheering for Russia is because the only thing that can salvage this tournament is for the semi finalists to be Canada and/or Czech and USA as Russia/Sweden/Finland. If the other two make it to the semi-final it will de-legitimize this tournament even more. Perhaps we'll forget about that if we see another Canada/Russia final because it would be just downright awful if NA is in the final vs. Canada.

 

[Canuckistani]

I am cheering hard for Russia tonight........................

Look, I have zero allegiance to Team North America. None. It isn't Canada. The reason I am cheering for Russia is because the only thing that can salvage this tournament is for the semi finalists to be Canada and/or Czech and USA as Russia/Sweden/Finland. If the other two make it to the semi-final it will de-legitimize this tournament even more. Perhaps we'll forget about that if we see another Canada/Russia final because it would be just downright awful if NA is in the final vs. Canada.

Nah, I hope TNA wins the whole thing, after knocking off Canada in the SF. I want this thing to be a total joke so that no one will be fooled when they look at the results years from now.

Canada vs Sweden or Russia vs USA in the final makes it appear normal and legitimate.

Yet no one can look at "Canada vs North America" and see it for anything other than what it is.

 

[Big Phil]

Nah, I hope TNA wins the whole thing, after knocking off Canada in the SF. I want this thing to be a total joke so that no one will be fooled when they look at the results years from now.

Canada vs Sweden or Russia vs USA in the final makes it appear normal and legitimate.

Yet no one can look at "Canada vs North America" and see it for anything other than what it is.

I agree, I mean, egg on the face of the NHL and NHLPA (sorry, Crosby, Price, Toews and co. are traitors in this charade as well) is what they deserve. It reeks of the crease rule from 1999 and the NHL deserving the Hull goal.

However, the nostalgic factor in me still wants to forget about these two gimmick teams and see an old fashioned rivalry go at it in the final.