Canada wants to host WJC every 3 years. Good/bad?

[RorschachWJK]

If the games were in a huge demand to be shown on TV, why didnt they just put them on tape delay and show them the next morning/afternoon. It happens all the time with the Olympics. Doesnt seem to affect there ratings.

I don't even know if they did. I've been living here in Toronto since September 2003, so I don't follow Finnish television very much at all.

 

[mikeg]

have it here every year for god sake. we're the only country that seems to care about it.

 

[RorschachWJK]

have it here every year for god sake. we're the only country that seems to care about it.

Do you think that would improve the situation in other countries? Somehow I think that it wouldn't promote the sport too well.

 

[Vladiator]

For those of you who think that WCJ will gather 200 stectators abroad...What a load of crap! You think no one followed this WCJ in Russia, Sweden, Finland? You think Moscow, which has a population almost equal to the population of the whole Canada, won't be able to fill up our stadiums?

WCJ every 3 years in Canada? Would be an aweful thing to do. What's next? Automatically award Canada WCJ every 4 years? Every second Olympics in the USA?

 

[Macman]

For those of you who think that WCJ will gather 200 stectators abroad...What a load of crap! You think no one followed this WCJ in Russia, Sweden, Finland? You think Moscow, which has a population almost equal to the population of the whole Canada, won't be able to fill up our stadiums?

No, European cities don't fill the stadiums for it and that's precisely why the IIHF is considering putting more of these things in Canada.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

the IIHF puts on these tourny's to promote the sport and make money. Plain and Simple.
When they choose to go to a country, they don't go there "hoping" to make money, they go there to earn a profit. When they look at Canada, they know they're gonna make a profit just cause we've embraced this so much more than any other country in it's 30 year history.
I'm all for the IIHF going to countries like Germany and Switzerland to promote the sport but if it doesn't work there, why go back? They don't want to lose money.

 

[RorschachWJK]

the IIHF puts on these tourny's to promote the sport and make money. Plain and Simple.
When they choose to go to a country, they don't go there "hoping" to make money, they go there to earn a profit. When they look at Canada, they know they're gonna make a profit just cause we've embraced this so much more than any other country in it's 30 year history.
I'm all for the IIHF going to countries like Germany and Switzerland to promote the sport but if it doesn't work there, why go back? They don't want to lose money.

I always thought that the role of IIHF was more in the promoting side of things than the money making. The NHL and co. are already there for the money making.

 

[Seachd]

If the NHL, IIHF, and Hockey Canada have any interest in the future of hockey they won't make Canada host the WJC every 3 years.

The current NHL doesn't have a deep enough talent pool. They MUST PROMOTE HOCKEY IN NON TRADITIONAL MARKETS, not just in the Southern United States, but also Countries with emerging hockey programs. (Swizterland, Denmark, Norway, Belarus etc). Norway should be a prime target for the expansion of hockey, I would think, especially given that it is so close to Sweden.

You don't promote Hockey in other countries by making 1/3rd of the premier Junior Ice Hockey Tournment in Canada. Simple as that.

I disagree with pretty much every word. Why would they ever even consider holding the World Juniors in the Southern US, when a hockey market like Boston can hardly get anyone to attend?

And teams like Germany, Denmark, Norway, Belarus, etc. have to pretty much permanently make the top pool, or it doesn't make sense. Those teams are always Canada, the US, Russia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, and Switzerland. So those are the only places they'll be held for the foreseeable future. Holding it in Sweden once every 5 or 6 years isn't exactly going to be devastating to the sport.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

plus, isnt' soccer more popular in Sweden and the Czech Republic?
how much exposure does it get in countries like that?

having it in those countries every 6 years or so won't hurt the sport...
course, I'm a greedy SOB

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Haveing the tourney in Canada will make it easier for Scouts to access and mass media should also help recognize prospects.

 

[BCCHL inactive]

For those of you who think that WCJ will gather 200 stectators abroad...What a load of crap! You think no one followed this WCJ in Russia, Sweden, Finland? You think Moscow, which has a population almost equal to the population of the whole Canada, won't be able to fill up our stadiums?

Almost equal to the population of Canada? You're telling me Moscow has a population close to 35 million people? I don't think so.

I've watched this tournament for just over a decade now, and the only tournaments where games not involving the host country are sold out, are tournaments hosted by Canada.

I always thought that the role of IIHF was more in the promoting side of things than the money making. The NHL and co. are already there for the money making.

You speak as if the IIHF doesn't have to pay money to put these tournaments on...which is not the case.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

No, according to the rules, each team can only play one semi-final game. Of this I am almost certain.

his point was the winner of USA/Russia would have no chance. Funny, I believe Canada had the poorest big 6 record going into the quarters yet had the easiest path to gold.

 

[chicpea*]

his point was the winner of USA/Russia would have no chance. Funny, I believe Canada had the poorest big 6 record going into the quarters yet had the easiest path to gold.

You have once again proved yourself a genius. Why I am constantly nice to you I'll never understand.

 

[ES]

Once in three years is too much IMO. But once in three years in North America could be good, or even twice in five years.

But I think it's not good to have two successive NA tournaments.

Last year the games in Finland were played in Helsinki (older arena, capacity bout 8000) and Hämeenlinna (5000), so they were very good spectator rates.

And in 1998 there were many sold out games in Hartwall Arena (capacity about 13500)

 

[Canuck21t]

Yeah whatever ... another unbiased north american has spoken.

I'm telling you, hockey in Canada is like the NHL, it's all about the money. Nobody even really cares about the game, but just the BUCKS!!! $$$

The NHL (especially right now) and the WOrld Cup are great examples.

As if in Russia it is only about the game. Don't kid yourself. It's funny how you complain about North American bias while you're the most biased Russian fan in these boards. On top of that, the majority of your posts are childish and make no sense.

 

[Camshaft77]

The IIHF should give the European countries a chance to host the tournament more often, but on conditions of having like 70%-75% capacity for the total seating of the tournament. Because to look at it from the IIHF Canada gurantees over pretty much a sell out for every game played, and thats very attractive, but i have no problem if the European nations can start filling buildings, then by all means give them the tournament.
As of right now the tournament should be in canada every 4-5 years because of the support and media coverage the tournament receives.

 

[Jazz]

The main reason Canada hasn't hosted the WCs is because the NHL doesn't want it to happen, thinking it will interfere with the Stanley Cup playoffs...

Dude you are DEAD WRONG here - Canada and the US were not allowed to host the IIHF World Championships - you can read this in the IIHF's history pages on their site.

 

[Panopticon]

All I'm saying is:

a) I want to watch the games
b) don't care about other people
c) don't care if it makes profit

When the games are in NA, I can only see them on TV, at night (I wouldn't watch them on tape delay even if they did that) if these bastards would actually show them. You can get ESPN here, but that doesn't help if they only show the US games.

I can't afford to travel there. I can afford to go to Sweden or Czech Republic, though.

 

[Panopticon]

As of right now the tournament should be in canada every 4-5 years because of the support and media coverage the tournament receives.

Every 4-5 years is actually OK, but more often than that is not.

 

[Jazz]

You guys can compare the attendances from the Czech Republic in 2002 here:
http://www.iihf.com/hockey/x/0102/W20/gs/pg000032.htm

to Canada's in 2003 here:
http://www.iihf.com/hockey/x/0203/W20/0203/scripts/teamstat/pg000050.htm

and Finland's in 2004 here:
http://www.iihf.com/hydra/tournaments/output/W20/attendance.htm

Canada's 2003 drew more than that of the Czech Republic's and Finland's combined in the years before and after it. I even remember there being a sellout (over 10k) when Germany and Belarus played the 9th place relegation round game in Halifax.

It basically comes down to money - of course it has to - but keep in mind that that IIHF gets the majority of this money - and it is the IIHF which should use this money to help promote hockey in non-tradtional markets. For example, you now see the Euro Ice Hockey Tour as an attempt by the IIHF to get the 2nd tier of hockey nations to play more games against each other during the year with the goal of improving their respective federation's level. If I am not mistaken, they are also hosting more internation symposiums than before as well.

Of course I would rather hockey be more popular in other parts of the world (you only have to see my posts in this and other forums regarding ways to promote the game in other markets (such as expanding the World Juniors to a 12 team format)). The sad truth is that the IIHF recognizes that there is more money to be made in hosting the tournament here - that is why they are even considering this possibility of hosting here every 3 years.....Hopefully this situation will change.

I always thought that the role of IIHF was more in the promoting side of things than the money making. The NHL and co. are already there for the money making.

The IIHF does not run a charity business - they need to make money in order to promote the sport etc.

On another note - politics also come into play when a host site is determined. For example I have read that when Switzerland was awared the 1997 WJC, they put it in the French part of the country (where hockey is not as popular) because the German part (there hockey is more popular) had hosted a recent World Championships.

 

[Raimo Sillanpää]

You guys can compare the attendances from the Czech Republic in 2002 here:
http://www.iihf.com/hockey/x/0102/W20/gs/pg000032.htm

to Canada's in 2003 here:
http://www.iihf.com/hockey/x/0203/W20/0203/scripts/teamstat/pg000050.htm

and Finland's in 2004 here:
http://www.iihf.com/hydra/tournaments/output/W20/attendance.htm

Canada's 2003 drew more than that of the Czech Republic's and Finland's combined in the years before and after it. I even remember there being a sellout (over 10k) when Germany and Belarus played the 9th place relegation round game in Halifax.

It basically comes down to money - of course it has to - but keep in mind that that IIHF gets the majority of this money - and it is the IIHF which should use this money to help promote hockey in non-tradtional markets. For example, you now see the Euro Ice Hockey Tour as an attempt by the IIHF to get the 2nd tier of hockey nations to play more games against each other during the year with the goal of improving their respective federation's level. If I am not mistaken, they are also hosting more internation symposiums than before as well.

The euro Hockey tour isn't an IIHF event, it's an event by the 4 nations involved. Which is why sometimes a team of european Canada has played at odd tournamnets.

100k+ attendance in the Czech and Finland, thats good imho. If there's 100,000 people willing to attend, then why not host it?
Beside,s could we rather compare previous attendances with a tournament in Canada prior to this year? Lockout hockey starved Canada would surely see a spike in attendance, Id really like to compare with attendaces during an nhl season.

Of course I would rather hockey be more popular in other parts of the world (you only have to see my posts in this and other forums regarding ways to promote the game in other markets (such as expanding the World Juniors to a 12 team format)). The sad truth is that the IIHF recognizes that there is more money to be made in hosting the tournament here - that is why they are even considering this possibility of hosting here every 3 years.....Hopefully this situation will change.

The IIHF does not run a charity business - they need to make money in order to promote the sport etc.

On another note - politics also come into play when a host site is determined. For example I have read that when Switzerland was awared the 1997 WJC, they put it in the French part of the country (where hockey is not as popular) because the German part (there hockey is more popular) had hosted a recent World Championships.

Hmm, I guess thats a decision amde by the Swiss.
In 2003 in Finland, Hämeenlinna hosted the other games, because world Championships etc are usually hosted on the Helsinki-Tampere-Turku axis.
Besides, the arena in Hämeenlinna was big enough to cover the relative attendances that came.

 

[Jazz]

The euro Hockey tour isn't an IIHF event, it's an event by the 4 nations involved. Which is why sometimes a team of european Canada has played at odd tournamnets.

Terve Raimo! I think that you are thinking of another tournament. My understanding is that it is IIHF sponsored - though I may have used the wrong name - I have also seen it as the "Euro Ice Hockey Challenge".

In fact now I am convinced that you are referring to something different, as there has never been a Canadian entry to this EIHC, or any other of the Top-7 nations for that matter. This is an event that takes place during the 4 international breaks during the European season (though only 2 this year due to the Olympic qualifications) and only involved countries like Slovenia, Belarus, Denmark, Hungary, France, Britian (when they bother to send a team - but that's another matter), Poland, Norway etc etc.

For example, in this season, the first even took place in September:
September 2004 with the following groups of 4:

Italy, Slovenia, Poland, Netherlands
Hungary, Denmark, Norway, Croatia
Latvia, France, Ukraine, Belarus

and then this round in last month, with these groups of 4:

Poland, Belarus, Norway, France
Ukraine, Latvia, Hungary, Croatia
Slovenia, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands

This series of tournaments is only in its 2nd or 3rd year running, and started as an attempt by the IIHF to get the 2nd tier of nations playing each other more often.

 

[Jazz]

100k+ attendance in the Czech and Finland, thats good imho. If there's 100,000 people willing to attend, then why not host it?
Beside,s could we rather compare previous attendances with a tournament in Canada prior to this year? Lockout hockey starved Canada would surely see a spike in attendance, Id really like to compare with attendaces during an nhl season.

First of all, the stats I gave above were for the 2003 World Juniors held in Canada - when there was an NHL season concurrent with the tournament.

Secondly - I never said that the tournament drew flies in Europe, only that it is significantly more in Canada, plus I never said to never host it in Europe, so yeah, "why not host it?" I think (and I could be wrong here, so feel more than free to correct me) that it is not just the attendance numbers that should be looked at, but other things like corporate sponsorship, and TV rights-fees. I know in Canada it is huge, but it might not be the case when it is held in Europe.

My point is this: You have seen it held in Canada in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2006 - every 3/4 years. The IIHF is awarding these events to Canada, not Canada running up and hogging it - this combined with the fact that the IIHF is considering the every-third-year-in-Canada proposal means that the IIHF sees value (or more value) in holding it here a more often - that is in fact a sad commentary about the state of the WJC that I hope will one day soon change so that one country is not looked upon like Canada is here.

 

[stv11]

While I admit that the argument that Canada is the only coutry were the WJC get that much attention is valuable one, I'd like to add that some canadians fans using it shouldn't then complain about the World Championnships being never held in Canada. The "don't get the attention it deserves" argument works both way.

By the way, Canada never got the senior championnship simply because it never apply to host it, not because of an IIHF conspiracy like some fans seem to think.

On another note - politics also come into play when a host site is determined. For example I have read that when Switzerland was awared the 1997 WJC, they put it in the French part of the country (where hockey is not as popular) because the German part (there hockey is more popular) had hosted a recent World Championships.

You shouldn't give too much credit to that kind of issues in Switzerland as they mostly come from people trying to raise controvery between the different language communities. Hockey is popular in every part of Switzerland, the reason why the 1998 worlds championnships were held in German speaking cities was a business decision.

 

[Jazz]

While I admit that the argument that Canada is the only coutry were the WJC get that much attention is valuable one, I'd like to add that some canadians fans using it shouldn't then complain about the World Championnships being never held in Canada. The "don't get the attention it deserves" argument works both way.

By the way, Canada never got the senior championnship simply because it never apply to host it, not because of an IIHF conspiracy like some fans seem to think.

Incorrect
Both Canada and the US were not allowed to host it. Look at this excerpt from IIHF.COM

...Dr. Sabetzki and the top officials of the professional ice hockey resulted in a solution which was satisfactory for both parties: the Canadians and the Americans were allowed to enhance their world championship teams with professional players; in order to be able to achieve that most effectively, the world championships should in future take place as late as possible thus ensuring that a suitable player selection from among the NHL teams eliminated from the Stanley Cup would be available.
In their turn, the Canadians and Americans undertook to participate regularly in the world championships. In addition, they relinquished their application to host any future world championship tournaments.

link: http://www.iihf.com/iihf/history/1975.htm

You shouldn't give too much credit to that kind of issues in Switzerland as they mostly come from people trying to raise controvery between the different language communities. Hockey is popular in every part of Switzerland, the reason why the 1998 worlds championnships were held in German speaking cities was a business decision.

No worries - I only mentioned it in passing because I had read it once somewhere...