Toggle sidebar

World Cup of Hockey 2016 - "All Star Teams"

  • Xenforo Cloud will be upgrading us to version 2.3.5 on March 3rd at 12 AM GMT. This version has increased stability and fixes several bugs. We expect downtime for the duration of the update. The admin team will continue to work on existing issues, templates and upgrade all necessary available addons to minimize impact of this new version. Click Here for Updates
  • We're expecting server maintenance on March 3rd starting at midnight, there may be downtime during the work.
Status
Not open for further replies.

Underhill

Registered User
May 15, 2015
2
0
What do you guys think of the inclusion of two "all-star" teams at the expense of the 7th and 8th seeds (Switzerland and Slovakia) in the World Cup of Hockey 2016 format?

Personally I think that it's terrible. Yet another example of Bettman making a decision that will of course make the NHL and hockey in general look completely amateur. Why?


- There are no "all-star" teams in world cups of any sport. The term world cup implies nations.

- Lack of a passionate country behind them. Seriously...think about standing for national anthems. International sport is an emotional and pride invoking thing.

- The jerseys. They'll look terrible.

- The insult to Slovakia and Switzerland, and to all of the rapidly improving nations outside of the "big six". Do we not want hockey to grow in popularity and competitiveness?

- The break in the history and culture of hockey. International best on best hockey has never had consistency. Of the 12 best on best tournaments, we have the 5 Canada Cups (played at different times), the modern age of 5 Winter Olympics, and a few World Cups of Hockey thrown in, all with different formats. We've never had one consistent tournament, but do we really want to start off a new era of world cups with this crap?


Well that's my rant. I was blown away and really pissed when I heard. It's so, so stupid. I genuinely want to see best on best hockey as much as possible, and I'm happy that the World Cup has returned, but what a terrible job of creating a great cup.
Click to read more...
 
Underhill said:
What do you guys think of the inclusion of two "all-star" teams at the expense of the 7th and 8th seeds (Switzerland and Slovakia) in the World Cup of Hockey 2016 format?

Personally I think that it's terrible. Yet another example of Bettman making a decision that will of course make the NHL and hockey in general look completely amateur. Why?


- There are no "all-star" teams in world cups of any sport. The term world cup implies nations.

- Lack of a passionate country behind them. Seriously...think about standing for national anthems. International sport is an emotional and pride invoking thing.

- The jerseys. They'll look terrible.

- The insult to Slovakia and Switzerland, and to all of the rapidly improving nations outside of the "big six". Do we not want hockey to grow in popularity and competitiveness?

- The break in the history and culture of hockey. International best on best hockey has never had consistency. Of the 12 best on best tournaments, we have the 5 Canada Cups (played at different times), the modern age of 5 Winter Olympics, and a few World Cups of Hockey thrown in, all with different formats. We've never had one consistent tournament, but do we really want to start off a new era of world cups with this crap?


Well that's my rant. I was blown away and really pissed when I heard. It's so, so stupid. I genuinely want to see best on best hockey as much as possible, and I'm happy that the World Cup has returned, but what a terrible job of creating a great cup.
Click to expand...

:laugh:

Yea I think its a horrible idea as well. Only real motivation for players on those teams is to make your parent team regret not selecting you.
 
I would like to see the top 8 nations have a World Cup every 4 years with no made up gimmick teams, but really the Olympics is like the World Cup for hockey. The annual world championship and the Olympics every 4 leaves little room for a true World Cup for the sport of hockey. Betman is certainly greedy, but make no mistake, so is the IIHF. I feel that something else would have to give in order for there to be a true World Cup, such as amateurs in the Olympics, or the World championships only involving players who play outside of North America or the NHL or something.
 
There's no way to know how seriously the players will take the tournament, but if they did all take it seriously, I'm quite intrigued with the Europe at large team. Not so much the U23 team.

In the old Canada Cup days the top 6 of the hockey world was clearly defined... when Czechoslovakia split you created a 7th country that was clearly above the "have nots" but not always fully belonging with the top 6. They seem to be on the wane at the moment, hopefully to improve soon. Since the split, we've also seen the development of great individual players from non big 7 nations but not strong nations themselves. We never get to see these players have a legitimate shot in international competition so I'm interested to see some of the guys get a chance to do that. I actually have pondered this to myself how strong the "field" is compared to the establishment. However, I can't say I've ever wondered or cared how a U23 team would do.

There is lots of outcry from "purists" but it's not like its unprecedented to combine/divide nations in international competition in sports. There's the European team in the Ryder Cup in golf, the West Indies team in cricket... even in soccer there's been talk of the Caribbean nations competing as one team. (Not to mention that in certain events the UK is a unified team and it isn't in other events.) Not exactly the same idea but also the Iriqouis First Nations team in lacrosse as well. So it's not as set in stone as people think.

There's no doubt it raises the skill level of the event, it's just a matter of whether the players buy into the concept (which may not happen for other reasons anyway.)
 
Last edited:
Team Europe will probably be boycotted by the swiss and slovaks. Other countries not so sure.

Why stop at 8 teams though? If you want the sport to grow you need to globalize it. Denmark have a very up and coming team and Germany has always had a decent enough team. Should make it atleast 12. There's always the chance for upsets. Belarus beat Sweden in 02, Slovenia beat Slovakia in 14 and how can anyone forget Switzerland beating Canada in 06?

I'll watch the World Cup....but it really feels like a 6 team tournament. Not very eye popping if you win it.
 
I can't really see how the youngstars will be motivated to play against their birth countries. IMO they would have to group Canada and the USA together in one pool and have the youngstars in the other pool.

Not sure how many would represent "Europe", but I think they could be motivated when the games start to **** Canada, USA, Russia, etc.

Not sure if the groups have been announced, but I hope it is
Canada, USA, Czech Republic, Euro team
Russia, Sweden, Finland, youngstars in the other.
 
It's as summer exhibition tournament with a massive corporate and plastic feel to it. Even more so than the previous "World" Cups. I would decline to take part in this gimmick if I was a player.
 
Nakawick said:
I can't really see how the youngstars will be motivated to play against their birth countries. IMO they would have to group Canada and the USA together in one pool and have the youngstars in the other pool.

Not sure how many would represent "Europe", but I think they could be motivated when the games start to **** Canada, USA, Russia, etc.

Not sure if the groups have been announced, but I hope it is
Canada, USA, Czech Republic, Euro team
Russia, Sweden, Finland, youngstars in the other.
Click to expand...

I disagree.

You don't think guys like MacKinnon or Ekblad will be wanting to show that they can compete against Sid or Weber?

The youngsters will be also trying to show that they should be on the Olympic team 2 years later...if the NHL decides to go.

I have no idea what song gets played if/when they win...lol.
 
It sounds like they are literally throwing hockey at a wall and seeing what sticks.

Farewell World Cup or whatever you're called now.
 
I've never been a fan of the World Cup of hockey but I am intrigued at this newest one especially the young stars team.
 
I think it makes perfect sense.

The NHL's world cup is about ratings and interest in North America - specifically the U.S. which is their more important market.

Why would Americans tune in to a game involving Switzerland or Slovakia? A "junior all-star team" and a "rest of world" all-star team with players they recognize will surely be more appealing to the general public.

If you wanted a legitimate international competition, then you're looking in the wrong place. The NHL has no reason to give a single **** about legitimate international competition. that's not their job. Hence why in past World Cups they made the European teams travel across the ocean half-way through the tournament and didn't even give a couple of the teams (Russia, Slovakia) any home games at all - while Canada played every single game at home.

The NHL's world cup exists to make money for the NHL - they don't give a single **** about fair competition or a legitimate tournament. If you didn't already know this after 1996 and 2004, then hello and welcome nice of you to join us.
 
I live in the US and think this idea of two all-star teams in the world cup is awful. The tournament has no meaning. I will not be watching. This idea has actually hurt my passion for the NHL as a league along with the idea of placing a team in Las Vegas. I no longer have confidence in the NHL to make the right decisions.

I have been watching the IIHF World championships this year and this easily satisfies my interest in international hockey. I love how the tournaments are used to ranks the nations and are used for the Olympic games which is the real world cup of hockey.
 
This "World Cup" is just another way for the NHL to make a good show and earn money with it. That´s why they only want 6 national Teams there. For them it´s not about hockey just about business.
 
stars33 said:
I live in the US and think this idea of two all-star teams in the world cup is awful. The tournament has no meaning. I will not be watching. This idea has actually hurt my passion for the NHL as a league along with the idea of placing a team in Las Vegas. I no longer have confidence in the NHL to make the right decisions.

I have been watching the IIHF World championships this year and this easily satisfies my interest in international hockey. I love how the tournaments are used to ranks the nations and are used for the Olympic games which is the real world cup of hockey.
Click to expand...

LOL Jesus some of you are over dramatic. It's an exhibition tourney with no weighting on anything except to hopefully see some exciting hockey and most of the top players in the world. Is it a cash cow? Most likely, but it's not like this is replacing the Olympics or WC.

Edit:spelling
 
Lame lame lame. This whole format is a joke. Nothing but a commercial enterprise to grab more money from hockey fans.

My god don't these people make enough money as it is.

Don't get me started on the NFL. :rant::rant::rant:
 
The whole thing is stupid.

Just have the best 8 teams in the world:

Canada
Russia
Sweden
USA
Finland
Czech Republic

The last two slots selected either on world ranking or:

Slovakia, Switzerland, Austria, Latvia, Belarus, Denmark, France, Norway, Germany and Slovenia can have a small pre-tournament where the best two go to the World Cup.

Tbh I do not know why 16 teams is out of the question... more than the Olympics and frankly these days there are exactly 16 nations who can field a seriously decent team. (the 16 listed above.)
 
canuck2010 said:
Lame lame lame. This whole format is a joke. Nothing but a commercial enterprise to grab more money from hockey fans.

My god don't these people make enough money as it is.

Don't get me started on the NFL. :rant::rant::rant:
Click to expand...

Yeah i also think so. They should rather work on getting NHL players to the olympics 2018. But for the NHL its all about the money
 
I think that it's a serious tournament. Cash cow? Absolutely, but hell I'm a capitalist. I think that having the tourney in September with a longer prep time is not as ideal as middle of season form, but it has it's own advantages. So long as all of the players get into it then it can be a great tournament. I think the Olympics replacing the Canada/World Cup is fine but the writing is on the wall...it likely won't happen for the next two.

There are a lot of advantages with a World Cup, so long as it's done right. I'd rank all 12 of the best on best tournaments (which includes the 5 nhl participating olympics) over the World Championships. I think the WC's are great, but they're not best on best.

As for the number of teams, 8 just makes sense. Slovakia and the Swiss are 7 and 8 and have been for a while now, and they can take down anyone on their day. 16 teams is cool but I'd rather see 3 group stages and then best of 3 series, not 7 group games and then 3 eliminations. Makes for more excitement and more games for Canada against the big boys.
 
It's a terrible idea.

Switzerland beat Canada at the Olympics in 2006 so it's insulting to think they can't compete.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom