You know what's the most laughable part of all of this? The NHL claims about two years ago that they are looking at strongly revamping the international calendar for ice hockey and that global growth for the game is a top initiative. They supposedly put lots of time and effort in figuring out how they want to do this, how to "grow the game", and then come out with this Mickey Mouse ridiculous format. So they want to grow the game by making it the laughingstock of the sports world?
And the supposed reason for the two "other teams" being included as opposed to two nations is that they are worried about blowouts? Did nobody see Germany annihilate Brazil in the World Cup semis this year? Blowouts happen. While only Switzerland can make any claim to have joined the "elite" (i.e. medal contending nations) of international ice hockey recently, the tier below them has expanded and improved significantly. So with a straight face you're going to tell me that Belarus, Latvia, Denmark, Norway, Germany, and France can't compete on any level with the Top 8? Completely absurd. Will any of these 6 win a gold medal in the next decade, I doubt it. But you can't tell me they won't at least pull a few upsets and add some drama and parity to the international game, because they will.
Just look at the way Denmark has improved over the past decade. They now have 6-7 international caliber forwards and a proven international caliber goaltender. They might be struggling to develop some defensemen (Philip Larsen and the Lauridsen brothers just aren't going to cut it) but with all of their top level talent on offer (which for the record they have not had at any tournament), Denmark is not a team I'd take lightly.
Unfortunately the central part of this argument revolves around motivation. What is the NHL's motivation? What is the IIHF's? The NHL wants to make money for itself and have the best players in the world represented in its league and identified with its league. There is nothing wrong with that, as all leagues are primarily self-interest driven. The IIHF wants to evangelize and spread the game of ice hockey. However, the NHL must face the reality that the global marketplace for top-level hockey consumption has changed. The KHL, for all of its imperfections, is a high quality league that draws world-class talent. The top 5 Euro leagues (SHL, Liiga, DEL, NLA, CZE Extraliga) all have a high-level of play and are complemented by top clubs in the EBEL, Slovak league and others. The Champions Hockey League has the potential to create another high-level alternative. There are more high-level hockey players in the world than ever before, and personally I believe there is more appetite for ice hockey around the world than ever before. The NHL needs to recognize that if it wants to be competitive "globally" as it has stated is it's desire, it will need to be a part of the evolving landscape of international ice hockey and not an impediment to it.
The hockey world is large enough for three large players on the club front (NHL, KHL, CHL) to succeed. But in order to succeed they can't be mutually exclusive from each other. Cooperation grows our game and will see everyone succeed. Lack of it could render it irrelevant on the global stage.
All European football leagues have playoff tournaments. Some leagues even have several of those. They've called Cups and have much less prestige compared to Championships, exactly because Europeans think that round-robin system is much more fitted in deciding what's best team.
