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World Cup of hockey 2024, will it happen?

Will it happen?

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I’m thrilled to hear they are planning to drop the gimmick teams. It’s hard for me to understand why anyone would find that disappointing, especially when there hasn’t been a true best-on-best international hockey tournament for the better part of a decade. I just don’t think North American sports fans get the concept of why national teams and international competition are intriguing in and of themselves when compared to pro leagues and franchises.

I just desperately want this tournament to come together as something legitimate, exciting, and ultimately successful. All sports should feature events with true national teams in serious competitions on a regular basis, and I’d love to see more people embrace it.
 
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Honestly, doing it in September is much better than Feb. It gets interest in the league going a month before the regular season starts and gives hockey fans something to watch before the real show starts. The Canada Cup / World Cup has always been held around then, no need to do it mid season (when players are exhausted; at least in September they've had anywhere from 2-6 months off)
 
Having it mid-season with only national teams is definitely a move in the right direction, however will 2024 be a random one-off, or will they make long term plans for 2028, 2032, and so on?
(Would be great to see an international event every 2nd February from now on, alternating between Olympics and World Cup)
 
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Voight said:
Honestly, doing it in September is much better than Feb. It gets interest in the league going a month before the regular season starts and gives hockey fans something to watch before the real show starts. The Canada Cup / World Cup has always been held around then, no need to do it mid season (when players are exhausted; at least in September they've had anywhere from 2-6 months off)
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Nah, in September it's an after thought behind the NFL, CFB, and pennant races. You play it in-between the Super Bowl and March Madness and it's the biggest show going.
 
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Speaking of "World Cup"...

As someone who knows nothing about soccer...

"Canada draws Belgium, Croatia and Morocco in World Cup Group F"​

is that good or bad?

www.tsn.ca

Canada draws Belgium, Croatia and Morocco in World Cup Group F - TSN.ca

Canada will face Belgium, Morocco and Croatia in Group F in the opening group stage of the World Cup in Qatar this November. The Canadian men are ranked 38th in the world compared to No. 2 for Belgium, No. 16 for Croatia and No, 24 Morocco.
www.tsn.ca www.tsn.ca
 
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Got a kick out of this Voracek interview.lol

1648856302297.png
 
ORRFForever said:
Speaking of "World Cup"...

As someone who know nothing about soccer...

"Canada draws Belgium, Croatia and Morocco in World Cup Group F"​

is that good or bad?

www.tsn.ca

Canada draws Belgium, Croatia and Morocco in World Cup Group F - TSN.ca

Canada will face Belgium, Morocco and Croatia in Group F in the opening group stage of the World Cup in Qatar this November. The Canadian men are ranked 38th in the world compared to No. 2 for Belgium, No. 16 for Croatia and No, 24 Morocco.
www.tsn.ca www.tsn.ca
Click to expand...
There was no pot that would be great for Canada tbh. I'd say it's a rough draw though. Croatia punches above their weight routinely, Belgium is very good and I know nothing about Morocco.

I do know that Canada is in the next TWO world cups and hope this builds the sport.. great at soccer and tennis in 2022.. never saw that coming and I LOVE IT!
 
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Czechboy said:
There was no pot that would be great for Canada tbh. I'd say it's a rough draw though. Croatia punches above their weight routinely, Belgium is very good and I know nothing about Morocco.

I do know that Canada is in the next TWO world cups and hope this builds the sport.. great at soccer and tennis in 2022.. never saw that coming and I LOVE IT!
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Thank you.

Last question : Top 2 teams in each division advance?
 
ORRFForever said:
Speaking of "World Cup"...

As someone who knows nothing about soccer...

"Canada draws Belgium, Croatia and Morocco in World Cup Group F"​

is that good or bad?

www.tsn.ca

Canada draws Belgium, Croatia and Morocco in World Cup Group F - TSN.ca

Canada will face Belgium, Morocco and Croatia in Group F in the opening group stage of the World Cup in Qatar this November. The Canadian men are ranked 38th in the world compared to No. 2 for Belgium, No. 16 for Croatia and No, 24 Morocco.
www.tsn.ca www.tsn.ca
Click to expand...
Pretty tough group, Croatia literally made it to the final in 2018 and Belgium is one of the best squads in the world, albeit both are a bit older this time around they are still very good Euro teams. Morocco is one of the better nations in AFCON. Pretty tough group if you ask me.
 
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cg98 said:
Pretty tough group, Croatia literally made it to the final in 2018 and Belgium is one of the best squads in the world, albeit both are a bit older this time around they are still very good Euro teams. Morocco is one of the better nations in AFCON. Pretty tough group if you ask me.
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:(

So the top 2 teams in the division advance?
 
FiLe said:
I don't claim to be an expert, but I'll give it a shot:

Presently, Russian athletes are being banned from competitions where they represent the Russian state - whether it's as teams or individuals. However, when, say, Alex Ovechkin is playing in the NHL, he is not representing the Russian national team but Washington Capitals, an organization that is not in any manner connected to the Russian state.
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And to add to this... Banning Russians from playing in the NHL and European leagues would by no means be a sanction against Russia. It would be the complete opposite. Putin and his oligarchs wouldn't mind the Ovechkin's and Kucherov's to come back to the KHL, I'm sure. This is also why it's silly that CHL forbid teams from drafting Russians.
 
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Elvs said:
And to add to this... Banning Russians from playing in the NHL and European leagues would by no means be a sanction against Russia. It would be the complete opposite. Putin and his oligarchs wouldn't mind the Ovechkin's and Kucherov's to come back to the KHL, I'm sure.
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Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about this. Because the sanctions are about to turn Russia a very unpleasant place to live in. And they will more or less turn the KHL into a regional league come next season. Almost all foreigners have led the KHL, and the meager handful still present will be gone by next season. So, imagine how pleased a career NHLer would be if they have to suddenly go to a league with way worse level of play, the salary is paid in worthless rubles (if at all), and even if the money did have some value, there are little luxury goods one could buy with it.

As that's the point of the sanctions - to grow the resentment against Putin and his cronies to the point that a regime change starts to look like an enticing idea. Now, I'm sure a star hockey player would have it better than the most, but it would still be a drastic drop in quality of life for an NHLer. So it might just be better for Putin if someone like Ovie keeps earning dollars and giving lukewarm comments about the war - as the opposite could just end up backfiring on him. Now, I'm not suggesting that a couple dozen ex-NHLers could become the driving force behind a regime change, but it'd all be more straw on the camel's back regardless.

Of course, there's no way to force a Russian NHLer to go play in the KHL. Even if the NHL made the decision to ban Russians from the league, they can't deport anyone - so most of those Russians would likely just remain stateside and keep living off the millions they already earned. And even if they might not have such a high opinion of Putin, they'd be little actual threat to him, just like most other critics not in positions of influence inside Russia. And, of course, the players would probably still be obligated to the salaries stated in their contracts, so there'd be little winners in all this - Putin would gain or lose nothing, and neither would the ousted players nor the NHL for having a bunch of stars sitting at home fiddling their thumbs.
 
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cagney said:
I just don’t think North American sports fans get the concept of why national teams and international competition are intriguing in and of themselves when compared to pro leagues and franchises.
Click to expand...

I think you are spot on, that has at least been my impression when interacting with North Americans on these forums. I do think that it has something to do with the make up of Europe, were we have a lot small countries with distinct cultures bordering each other. Historically, we have been warring, but in modern times we have replaced it with more peaceful sports rivalries. Seeing your national team doing well is a source of pride and inspiration. North America is basically three massive countries, so they don't have the same rivalries and history.
 
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Elvs said:
And to add to this... Banning Russians from playing in the NHL and European leagues would by no means be a sanction against Russia. It would be the complete opposite. Putin and his oligarchs wouldn't mind the Ovechkin's and Kucherov's to come back to the KHL, I'm sure. This is also why it's silly that CHL forbid teams from drafting Russians.
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But Ovechkin and Kucherov would very much mind it, which is the point of the whole exercise. Hockey can't resolve the situation, but must do what it can to contribute to a solution instead of being a part of the problem. Unfortunately currently at least the NHL is a part of the problem. A small part to be sure, but a part nevertheless.
 
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Off the top of my head I can't think of any other sport than hockey which is internationally as watered down because of the absence of Russia but this is more important than hockey. There must be big changes before they are welcome back.

When you think of soccer you hardly even notice that Russia is gone.

Banning Russia from hockey is equivalent of banning Brazil from soccer.
 
VLK said:
Off the top of my head I can't think of any other sport than hockey which is internationally as watered down because of the absence of Russia but this is more important than hockey. There must be big changes before they are welcome back.

When you think of soccer you hardly even notice that Russia is gone.

Banning Russia from hockey is equivalent of banning Brazil from soccer.
Click to expand...

Too bad.
 
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VLK said:
Off the top of my head I can't think of any other sport than hockey which is internationally as watered down because of the absence of Russia but this is more important than hockey. There must be big changes before they are welcome back.

When you think of soccer you hardly even notice that Russia is gone.

Banning Russia from hockey is equivalent of banning Brazil from soccer.
Click to expand...
Bandy
 
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VLK said:
Off the top of my head I can't think of any other sport than hockey which is internationally as watered down because of the absence of Russia but this is more important than hockey. There must be big changes before they are welcome back.

When you think of soccer you hardly even notice that Russia is gone.

Banning Russia from hockey is equivalent of banning Brazil from soccer.
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... Figure skating?

It's not that difficult.
 
Czechboy said:
Serious question as I don't follow it... Are Russia figure skaters banned from competing?
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Yes which is a pretty big deal since in women for example the 3 Russian skaters tend to sweep the podium, and in ice dance and pairs they tend to be very high up as well. So it disrupts that sport quite a bit more than ice hockey, I'd say.
 
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ijuka said:
Yes which is a pretty big deal since in women for example the 3 Russian skaters tend to sweep the podium, and in ice dance and pairs they tend to be very high up as well. So it disrupts that sport quite a bit more than ice hockey, I'd say.
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Wrestling and Gymnastics quite easily too.
 
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