WayTooCold
Canada for gold
- Jun 9, 2023
- 196
- 164
Your dream tournament?
- Thread starter WayTooCold
- Start date
Macbanan
Registered User
jcbio11
Registered User
My dream is to have no made up countries in international hockey. Makes us look dumb. Could you imagine Team North America in soccer? Would be ridiculous.
As for quality, 16 countries is clearly too many, so if we're going for quality, a 10 country tourney would be great. With NHLers obviously. So basically next Olympics hopefully.
As for quality, 16 countries is clearly too many, so if we're going for quality, a 10 country tourney would be great. With NHLers obviously. So basically next Olympics hopefully.
JackSlater
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- Apr 27, 2010
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Ben White
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- Dec 28, 2015
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Any international tournament with gimmick teams is a nightmare tournament not a dream.
Ben White
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This parity idea which is exclusive for the North American pro leagues is poison for the very fundamentals of what constitutes sports. Wouldn’t be surprised if it the idea more or less has it’s roots in WWE - professional wrestling, which as you know in contrary to amateur wrestling is staged and all about entertainment and nothing about honest battle. Parity leagues and tournaments is somewhere in between real sports and WWE.
dr robbie
Let's Go Pens!
Honestly, a dream tournament IMO would be something along the lines of the all star game, but with the players trying to compete and with something on the line. And all players worldwide are eligible and there's no dumb "every team has to be represented" rule. I don't care about where a player was born or their professional team, so dividing based on nationality is boring to me and also creates unfair teams. Just a best-on-best tournament with actual competition.
Ben White
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- Dec 28, 2015
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Canada
USA
Sweden
Russia
Finland
Czech
Germany
Switzerland
Great competitive tournament with enough stars on each team. Anything can happen. And no gimmick teams. This is the World Cup of hockey I’m waiting for.
USA
Sweden
Russia
Finland
Czech
Germany
Switzerland
Great competitive tournament with enough stars on each team. Anything can happen. And no gimmick teams. This is the World Cup of hockey I’m waiting for.
You won’t get actual competition if the players aren’t representing anything like a nation or a club.
dr robbie
Let's Go Pens!
I understand that, but there are other motivators. Keeping in mind this is a "dream" situation, so all bets are off. Throw enough money into the tournament and everyone would be motivated. Or do something out of the box like the winners get to add/remove a number of players from the HHOF. Doesn't always have to be about a nation in my opinion.
Ben White
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It’s a team game though so if you’re not actually representing a team the competitiveness will be more or less manufactured like in the all star game.
Boonk
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- Oct 10, 2017
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Players want to represent their actual country at these events, not some gimmick mismash team "rest of Europe that isnt Finland, Sweden and Russia" or "U23 guys from Canada and US". Otherwise there is no point in calling it a WORLD Cup or WORLD Championship as an international event.
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In my ideal world hockey's "big prestige" international tournament is something similar to the following...
Basics...
-Only national teams (This should be obvious, but, well...)
-Perhaps some tweaks are needed, but the IIHF's eligibility rules seem like a reasonable baseline... Basically would like to avoid countries going heavy on ringers... Example: Italy loading up with NHL'ers from Vaughan or something.
-Held every other year, with the qualification tournament(s) held in the off years.
-Alternate hosting between Europe and NA.
Format...
-12 teams... Maybe 10, but personally would like to see more involved, so going with 12. 16 is probably too many at this point, but something to shoot for. If you've concluded only 4 nations are worthy I'm not sure there is much point to international hockey to begin with.
-Divided into 2 groups of 6, top 4 in each group make the QF, or maybe only the top 3 with group winners getting a bye to the SF, although I think I prefer the former.
-Single elimination knockout round (trying to keep things within 16-17 days)
-Top 4 from each group automatically qualify for next tournament. Bottom 2 teams in each group would have to try to re-qualify.
Will any of this ever happen? LULZ, of course not. I suppose having a hodgepodge of weird and heavily flawed tournaments (including the Olympics) can be fun too.
Basics...
-Only national teams (This should be obvious, but, well...)
-Perhaps some tweaks are needed, but the IIHF's eligibility rules seem like a reasonable baseline... Basically would like to avoid countries going heavy on ringers... Example: Italy loading up with NHL'ers from Vaughan or something.
-Held every other year, with the qualification tournament(s) held in the off years.
-Alternate hosting between Europe and NA.
Format...
-12 teams... Maybe 10, but personally would like to see more involved, so going with 12. 16 is probably too many at this point, but something to shoot for. If you've concluded only 4 nations are worthy I'm not sure there is much point to international hockey to begin with.
-Divided into 2 groups of 6, top 4 in each group make the QF, or maybe only the top 3 with group winners getting a bye to the SF, although I think I prefer the former.
-Single elimination knockout round (trying to keep things within 16-17 days)
-Top 4 from each group automatically qualify for next tournament. Bottom 2 teams in each group would have to try to re-qualify.
Will any of this ever happen? LULZ, of course not. I suppose having a hodgepodge of weird and heavily flawed tournaments (including the Olympics) can be fun too.
some Canadian province best-on-best tournaments (only if there's enough players per team would they be eligible to form a roster, of course); same with US major hockey state vs major hockey state
CHL vs Russian U20 vs USHL vs Swedish/ Finnish other elects (wonder how different it'd be from WJHC but there might be other prospects who we wouldn't get to see?)
Also bring back World Cup of Hockey style play (keep the YoungStars and Team Europe)
I think a shortened 3 v 3 tournament with actual stakes (not just the NHL All-Star game as it is now) would be a competitive format. Could do like first to 5 goals?
CHL vs Russian U20 vs USHL vs Swedish/ Finnish other elects (wonder how different it'd be from WJHC but there might be other prospects who we wouldn't get to see?)
Also bring back World Cup of Hockey style play (keep the YoungStars and Team Europe)
I think a shortened 3 v 3 tournament with actual stakes (not just the NHL All-Star game as it is now) would be a competitive format. Could do like first to 5 goals?
JackSlater
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- Apr 27, 2010
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To me the only thing of note that McDavid has ever said was when he told some interviewer that he would not want to be on the yung gunz again, especially when someone (Friedman or LeBrun I think) said that the NHL was surprised and disappointed that he said it.
Boonk
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- Oct 10, 2017
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It makes sense, there were alot of guys on that U23 squad that should've been on Canada and the US squads for real. The US especially, along with bad roster and management choices got stripped of the opportunity to feature the younger, up and coming generation of US born players and went 0-3. Those guys are in their primes now and have missed 3-4 chances at a best v best level to represent their country. Lots of NHLers go to their countries Olympic qualifiers too, even if their country has no actual shot the opportunity for representation at the highest international level matters to them.
JackSlater
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- Apr 27, 2010
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Yeah it was a joke. USA actually asked for some of the young guys, and while I don't think Canada requested an exemption I recall that Babcock, fairly conservative coach, did want McDavid there even in 2016. McDavid would have still been young gunz age if there had been a 2020 world cup and was asked about returning to that team and said he didn't want to, so credit to him. I don't recall ever reading anything positive about that tournament from McDavid.
USA missed out on a chance to get those young guys involved earlier and Canada missed out on a chance to establish continuity with McDavid and that previous generation. But hey what a dream come true to see the European leftovers and the North American age group yung gunz come to life, just like we've all dreamed.
