World cup is better than Olympics

[Gary Nylund]

Really?

So say Canada wins a thriller over Sweden in the final. Next year you go to Sweden and start bragging about how awesome that game was, we'll see how you feel when the only reply you get is "Huh?".

If only one country cares about the "world" cup, it's not a world cup. It's a joke.

Yes really. Don't twist my words please, all I said was that there are people outside of NA who remember some of these events quite well. I know this to be true, period.

 

[Auston Marlander]

It's more free flowing cause the players don't care.

The olympics MATTER so they are a lot more hesitant and defensive.

That's just not true. Anyone who has watched a game can clearly see that.

 

[Diagonaali]

WC is nothing compared to Olympics. Even in Europe 99% of common folks don't even know that such an event is going on. Talk Asia/Africa we get approximately to 100% Only nation WC matters to is Canadians. An Olympian gold medal is recognized all around the world by most of the population. WC is just an NHL exhibition show for hockey fanatics.

 

[Itkonen]

The gimmick teams make it really hard for me to respect this tournament as much as the olympics. I'm gonna watch Finland's games (and probably the finals) and root for them but only because Finland has a proper national team in the tournament. If the U24 players of Finland would be part of some other team or if Finland was combined with Sweden to form some Team Scandinavia I wouldn't honestly care at all. If the gimmick teams were replaced with Slovakia and Switzerland I would respect this tournament as much as the olympics. Now it's just casual entertainment but not something to be as excited about as the olympics.

 

[Gary Nylund]

WC is nothing compared to Olympics. Even in Europe 99% of common folks don't even know that such an event is going on. Talk Asia/Africa we get approximately to 100% Only nation WC matters to is Canadians. An Olympian gold medal is recognized all around the world by most of the population. WC is just an NHL exhibition show for hockey fanatics.

I guarantee you if a European team wins this thing, all of a sudden it will no longer be nothing in that nation.

 

[al secord]

If Canada loses the Summit Series, and the '87 Canada Cup do we view them as important tournaments? The rest of the world certainly didn't care much about them.

The Olympics matter to everyone. North American hockey fans just happen to be late to the party.

 

[TheTotalPackage]

The quality of hockey is going to be better. Nothing to do with the Team NA and Europe teams and mostly because larger ice surfaces generally don't make for good hockey.

However, the pride of watching Canada in the World Cup will not come close to that in comparison to the Olympics (maybe the next go around or two).

 

[Gary Nylund]

If Canada loses the Summit Series, and the '87 Canada Cup do we view them as important tournaments? The rest of the world certainly didn't care much about them.

The Olympics matter to everyone. North American hockey fans just happen to be late to the party.

Don't be so cynical. 1981 was important and we all got clobbered. Any time Canada's best players take to the ice, it's important to me, period.

 

[djpatm]

Don't be so cynical. 1981 was important and we all got clobbered. Any time Canada's best players take to the ice, it's important to me, period.

This is basically the hockey equivalent of the Grey Cup.

Canadians REALLY care. No one else does.

 

[hirawl]

A preseason tourney with gimmick teams is better than the Olympics? Give me a break. World Cup is not an international tournament. It's an exhibition tournament for NHL.

Bottom line is an Olympic tournament with best players sells hockey and NHL 10 times better than a World Cup.

 

[stepdad gaary]

They're all exhibition games, right to the end.

i mean i understand that but in the end teams in the semi's and beyond will really want to win.

You think Canada and the US are going to want to lose to their "little brother" NA? When it gets to the end, it will pick up.

 

[djpatm]

i mean i understand that but in the end teams in the semi's and beyond will really want to win.

You think Canada and the US are going to want to lose to their "little brother" NA? When it gets to the end, it will pick up.

If I turn on a show like the Pardon The Interruption and a Canada/USA final isn't even mentioned, that's when you'll know that this is a total joke. These international tournaments aren't just for the players. It's for the fans. If the other teams fans don't care then that ruins the tournament

 

[JackSlater]

That's the most hilarious bit.

The Bettman Cup is being advertised as deciding which country "owns hockey" but when it's all said and done we still might not know.

Obviously there is a good chance that North America under 24 owns hockey, or that Europe other than Sweden, Russia, Czech Republic and Finland owns hockey. That's common sense.

I still consider the Olympics (with NHL participation of course) to be the gold standard for international hockey. Without NHL participation, the Olympics are meaningless to me. The World Cup could have surpassed the Olympics in my estimation, with the benefit of better timing, full training camps, not having shootouts decide playoff games and a best 2/3 final, but the gimmick teams at this current tournament ruined its credibility / importance in my view.

I agree. The World Cup could easily surpass the Olympics. There are built in advantages. The NHL has had some good ideas this time, or at least carried them over from the Canada Cups, but the gimmicks ruin that potential.

Better by what standards? Quality of hockey? Sure. International appeal? No. The gimmick teams have to and will eventually be dropped because they're not appealing to anyone not on HFboards. World Cup of Hockey is projected by the NHL to pull in 100 million dollars, the last Rugby World Cup (a sport 3rd most popular in England, second in Australia, and first in a few island nations) pulled in 400 million. The last Super Bowl pulled in 620 million. The last cricket world cup revenue was projected 1.5+ billion. The last Association football World Cup pulled in 4.8 Billion.

"Good hockey", "Parity", those are important to HFboards people. Actual National teams, "rallying around the flag", that's important to Real World people. So to the hockey fans who think you're in the majority and see "great hockey" as the most important thing, you're in the extreme minority. We are on HFboards because we are crazy about hockey, but our combined capital is relatively small. If the NHL wants (which is doesn't) to keep revenues in the little kid's lemonade stand range then it'll keep the gimmicks going.

I haven't seen any indication in the regular world that people actually care either way about the gimmick teams.

 

[tmlmatus]

I guarantee you if a European team wins this thing, all of a sudden it will no longer be nothing in that nation.

It wont compare to bringing home the GOLD from the Olympics. Go look at videos from when the Czechs brought home the gold from Nagano. Everyone partied for 3 days straight and there wasnt a single person in that country that didn't know about it.

Compare it to this tournament, except for people who follow hockey, no one in the Czech republic even knows this thing is going on.

Not to take away anything from the WHC but they are just not on the same level.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Arguably so.

I look forward to seeing Sweden and Finland merged into one team for the next Bettman Cup. Just think of how competitive it will be! Hard to see how anyone could argue against it.

In 4 years Finland will be ahead of Sweden but the D will make Finland much more competitive.

 

[Analyst365]

The argument that the quality is better doesn't even hold water.

The quality looks better to the untrained eye because you get a nice open flow when you have good players scrimmaging.

 

[Confucius]

That's a bold statement considering the tournament has not even started

Lol the World Cup hasn't even started yet ...

Yep, too bad so many put so much stock in pre tournament games.

 

[Auston Marlander]

The argument that the quality is better doesn't even hold water.

The quality looks better to the untrained eye because you get a nice open flow when you have good players scrimmaging.

I forgot how often big hits, scums and check held happen in every scrimmage. Thank you for providing your "trained eyes".

The best part is all these people saying its garbage are either A) watching the games or B) talking out their rear since they didn't watch. If it's A we know that this is entertaining and giving great hockey, and if it is B we know they are just full of it and trying to be confrontational.


I for one love it and no negative nancies are going to change that.

Love live the World Cup of Hockey!!! Go team NA!!!!

 

[Legionnaire]

That's a bold statement considering the tournament has not even started

That's what I was thinking.

 

[syc]

No shootouts and no crappy teams is really nice for an international tournament.

But its still gimmicky.

 

[Osprey]

Only hockey fans care about the World Cup of Hockey, and though diehards around the globe will watch, more casual hockey fans may not bother when the games are on in the middle of the night or day for them. Lots more people care about hockey when it's in the Olympics and will try to watch whenever it's on. That's when you have all kinds of people, who wouldn't ordinarily watch hockey (or even sports, period), tuning in. Consider all of the sports that you watch and follow only in the Olympics (ex. things like field hockey, handball and curling) and how there are no doubt people who do the same thing with ice hockey. I got into both hockey and soccer because they were in the Olympics. I didn't tune into either's World Cups until I first watched the sports at the Olympics and got interested.

As an aside, this tournament is a bit like soccer at the Olympics. Unlike the FIFA World Cup, soccer at the Olympics isn't really a best-on-best tournament, because teams have be composed of under-23 players, with only three overagers allowed. Powerhouse nations get gimped, likely explaining why Brazil only just won its first Olympic gold in soccer and non-powerhouse teams like Nigeria and Cameroon have won gold. Here, though, instead of teams being largely limited to under-23 players, a couple of teams are stripped of every under-23 player of theirs.

Anyways, to finish up with my point, I think that it would be a mistake to replace hockey at the Olympics with the World Cup of Hockey. The NHL and the sport need the Olympics to bring new people into them. It's true that hockey will be in the Olympics regardless, but with no stars and no real connections to the NHL, I'm afraid that it'll be like how many of us watch most Olympic sports and never bother to follow them to their individual leagues.

 

[kp61c]

the rigged joke of a tourney which heavily favours the na teams and has a couple of rag-tag frankenstein teams in it is better than olympics? jeez, what a travesty

 

[Guided by Veseys]

It has its charm with the novelty factor of Team NA but this has nowhere close to the incredible feel and intensity of the Olympics. I am sure the coaches and players feel the same as well. This still should be a very entertaining tournament nonetheless.

 

[CashMash]

Not even close to it.

Olympics have more prestige and credibility. I like the hockey, but the gimmick teams ruin it completely. Who celebrates if one of those teams win? Sure, some people are rooting for them, but it's still much better with actual national teams.

I have a tough time caring about this tournament as a result.

 

[Analyst365]

Go Team Austria, Belarus, Denmark, France, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland (among others)