News Article: Canada wins Gold at Hlinka U18

[chipsens]

The Canadians dominated the Swedes in the final 7 - 3. I was impressed by Nolan Patrick and Clague.

Click to read more...

 

[Back in Black]

 

[dumbdick]

Tsn needs to get on this tourney the way they do the juniors. Everybody is starving for hockey at this time of year.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

Tsn needs to get on this tourney the way they do the juniors. Everybody is starving for hockey at this time of year.

Tsn should just buy up the rights to junior hockey in general. Imagine how hype tsn coverage of 67s, Olympiques or a game of the week type CHL broadcast would be on TSN? It'd be easy to sell since Candia already love the WJC and want to see the top prospects for their team play. Tsn can sell that. They turned an obscure tournament like the WJC into a national phenomenon, they can do it with the CHL. Treat it like college football.

 

[OTownApologist]

Two Ottawa natives on the team, Will Bitten and Zach Poirier.

 

[playasRus]

Two Ottawa natives on the team, Will Bitten and Zach Poirier.

Wonder if any of them pasted their name on Marian Hossa cards

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Was this tourney on regular cable tv at all? Totally missed it.

 

[FuriousSenator]

Tsn needs to get on this tourney the way they do the juniors. Everybody is starving for hockey at this time of year.

Speak for yourself. Yeesh. I'm usually so 'hockeyed-out' by June I can barely get it going for the SCF.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, a 62 game season would be perfect for the NHL. Reduces injuries, increases importance of games, keeps interest high.

 

[FuriousSenator]

Tsn should just buy up the rights to junior hockey in general. Imagine how hype tsn coverage of 67s, Olympiques or a game of the week type CHL broadcast would be on TSN? It'd be easy to sell since Candia already love the WJC and want to see the top prospects for their team play. Tsn can sell that. They turned an obscure tournament like the WJC into a national phenomenon, they can do it with the CHL. Treat it like college football.

This. Get the CHL on TSN asap please. Such a mistake for them to re-up with Sportsnet who treats them like peasants basically.

 

[Back in Black]

Speak for yourself. Yeesh. I'm usually so 'hockeyed-out' by June I can barely get it going for the SCF.

I agree with you on the NHL front, but as far as Team Canada tournaments, they don't last as long, therefore I can get into them quite easily!

 

[Samsquanch]

Speak for yourself. Yeesh. I'm usually so 'hockeyed-out' by June I can barely get it going for the SCF.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, a 62 game season would be perfect for the NHL. Reduces injuries, increases importance of games, keeps interest high.

HATE this idea...

Being what I would consider a hardcore fan, I'm certainly not "sick" of hockey by June, personally.

Hockey is not football, game results are more random, and shortening the season doesn't increase the drama in the regular season games imo.

It increases the chance that a pretender got hot at the right time, and stole a spot from a better team in a slump.

Theres drama in hockey late in the season. That same drama happens at the end of the regular season whether it's 82, 62 or 42 games imo.

Playing 82 games just ensures that the best teams are likely in a playoff spot by that point.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

We need year-round hockey.

I'm at the point where I dread seeing June come up on the calendar because it means three months with no games on the tv.

 

[maclean]

if nothing else, they should start the season a month earlier. the wait for the start of the season seems extra long, it should start with the school year. and then it would also end at a time when it§s not already 30 degrees out

 

[Senator Stanley]

Tsn needs to get on this tourney the way they do the juniors. Everybody is starving for hockey at this time of year.

They have an exclusive deal with Hockey Canada, so they presumably could broadcast this tournament if they wanted to.

 

[BondraTime]

Tsn should just buy up the rights to junior hockey in general. Imagine how hype tsn coverage of 67s, Olympiques or a game of the week type CHL broadcast would be on TSN? It'd be easy to sell since Candia already love the WJC and want to see the top prospects for their team play. Tsn can sell that. They turned an obscure tournament like the WJC into a national phenomenon, they can do it with the CHL. Treat it like college football.

Unfortunately, outside of the die-hards on this forum and other guys heavily into hockey, a large majority of fans/casuals wouldn't be able to name their teams prospects, let alone care about what they are doing before they are actually playing for the team.

The World Juniors is a completely different beast. It's an international event during a holiday where there is no NHL to rival it, and is pretty much become a Christmas tradition in Canada. The whole country cheers for them, not because of who drafted them or who they play for, but because it is Team Canada. I don't think the same could be said about a Tuesday line-up of Charlottetown vs. Cape Breton on TSN5, and Sarnia vs. Ottawa on TSN3.

Aside from that, the large majority of CHL games are played Friday-Sunday.

 

[Back in Black]

Unfortunately, a large majority of fans/casuals wouldn't be able to name their teams prospects, let alone care about what they are doing before they are actually playing for the team.

This is how I first heard about Karlfredsson when he played in Ottawa's 2009 world Juniors. I was wondering what all the fuss was for him on the Swedish Defence line.

Canada shut him down good. He's sure shown what he can do since!

 

[Larionov]

The difference in interest level is, of course, prospects. Unless your team is in the Cup Final, it is sometimes hard to get excited about it after a long season. Hard core fans, otoh, love seeing prospects in action, and even if your team doesn't have a prospect there it is always cool seeing Canada play internationally. Heck, I even watch the Spengler Cup a bit at Christmas even though it is the weirdest tournament going. ("Team Canada" playing against other Canadian dudes playing for Euro club teams - like I say, weird.)

As for an early start, the American owners would kibosh an early start to the year. They already hate the early season games, as they don't tend to sell as well. This is what the NHLPA doesn't get - when the CBA is up, the American team owners really don't care if they lose the first half of the year, because that's their lousy half anyway in terms of attendance, ratings, etc.