NHL may not participate in Olympics after 2010

[willie]

Best solution:

No World Cup in 2008.

NHLers in 2010 Olympics.

Restart the World Cup in 2012 or 2014 for every 4 years.

For the Olympics, every 4 years you 'cancel' the WJC and let the WJC teams duke it out for the Olympics.

Market the future.

 

[Jazz]

Best solution:

No World Cup in 2008.

NHLers in 2010 Olympics.

Restart the World Cup in 2012 or 2014 for every 4 years.

For the Olympics, every 4 years you 'cancel' the WJC and let the WJC teams duke it out for the Olympics.

Market the future.

We need some consistency, pick one and stick to it....

As much as I enjoy the World Cup - it has hardly any credibility outside of Canada, and to a smaller extent Sweden and Finland...that's it.

It will also not reach as wide a world audience as the Olympics will, and because it is in the off season, the hockey simply is not as good. Don't get me wrong, I would prefer both the World Cup and the Olympics every 2 years, but it looks like the NHL players are thinking that it might be too much to frequently...so if we are going to choose one, the Olympics is better for hockey.

Also, if we have a WJC every Olympics, then what about players like Crosby? Would Pittsburgh have to release him? Aren't we opening another can of worms...?

 

[A Good Flying Bird*]

Why in the world would you clap for a post that doesn't reflect past or present realities?

 

[Garbs]

Yeah, the NHL won't go to Vancouver. That will happen.

 

[A Good Flying Bird*]

Best solution:

No World Cup in 2008.

NHLers in 2010 Olympics.

Restart the World Cup in 2012 or 2014 for every 4 years.

For the Olympics, every 4 years you 'cancel' the WJC and let the WJC teams duke it out for the Olympics.

Market the future.

How in the world can you FORCE it to be a World Juniors Tournament?

If a 27 year old wants to play, why shouldn't he play?
Why shouldn't a country to be able to field it's best possible team for hockey when it does that in virtually every other sport?

Now, if the NHL doesn't participate, that changes things, especially for Canada and the US.

But if the Euro leagues want to cooperate, and if they're gracious enough to realize the importance of INTERNATIONAL games like these (I know unilateral Americans hate thinking the world is more important than one country), then why shouldn't they be able to send their best?

Does anyone really want to see our 18-22 year olds playing Adult teams from Russia, Finland, Czech, etc.

I don't.

 

[Jazz]

How in the world can you FORCE it to be a World Juniors Tournament?

If a 27 year old wants to play, why shouldn't he play?
Why shouldn't a country to be able to field it's best possible team for hockey when it does that in virtually every other sport?....

Well, technically, they (the IIHF) can force anything. For the Summer Olympics, FIFA has made it an Under-23 event (with 1 or 2 over-age expections).

No doubt that move was done so the Olympics would not compete with their World Cup. But hockey does not have a 'world' recognized World Cup (it is only given importance in Canada, Sweden and Finland) like soccer does...

 

[willie]

How in the world can you FORCE it to be a World Juniors Tournament?

Hello? Calling the Olympic soccer tournament. It would be obviously brokered amongst the various factions of the IIHF.

 

[willie]

No doubt that move was done so the Olympics would not compete with their World Cup. But hockey does not have a 'world' recognized World Cup (it is only given importance in Canada, Sweden and Finland) like soccer does...

Sure right now it isn't. But it can be marketed and developed as such. As it stands, Europeans place a huge amount of emphasis on the World Championships.

Why not, every fourth year, delay the world championships until after the NHL season is over and then have the World "Cup" with every team's best players. A few players who go deep in the playoffs will have to grind it out but that is a small minority. (and since it is clear the NHLPA - and the NHL for that matter - do not like the current format, this would probably be more agreeable to the NHLPA)

 

[Jazz]

Sure right now it isn't. But it can be marketed and developed as such. As it stands, Europeans place a huge amount of emphasis on the World Championships.

Why not, every fourth year, delay the world championships until after the NHL season is over and then have the World "Cup" with every team's best players. A few players who go deep in the playoffs will have to grind it out but that is a small minority. (and since it is clear the NHLPA - and the NHL for that matter - do not like the current format, this would probably be more agreeable to the NHLPA)

Yes, of course, everthing can be developed....but how long would it take to match the appeal and the reach of the Olympics? A couple of decades at least....why waste that time when we can go ahead with the Olympics and grow even further from there?

Accomodating the Olympics once every 4 years is not as hard as most people make it out to be....

 

[e-e]

Agree completley.

The World Cup is a far superior tournament.

for who? have any idea how many people around the globe watch olympic hockey?

i'd take olympics over "world" cup any day

 

[Tadite]

To heck with all these glorified exhabition games. Not worth the time or the money.


You want to have useless games like this? Send college kids or minro leaguers. Not people who are actually important to their teams.

 

[A Good Flying Bird*]

To heck with all these glorified exhabition games. Not worth the time or the money.


You want to have useless games like this? Send college kids or minro leaguers. Not people who are actually important to their teams.

Wow.
Not sure why. But Americans seem to be most opposed to it.

Course, of all the major countries in the Olympic Hockey, Americans care least about the sport.

 

[joshjull]

I'm sorry, I can only equate that with narrow-minded and inward thinking.
How can promoting the game (via the Olympics) to a wider world audience not be good for the NHL? What if hockey becomes more interesting to fans around the world after seeing world-class action...what if they start taking part in their countries national program....then we have a wider area to eventually draw more NHL players from. Have you not seen the increased international flavor of basketball since the NBA started going to the Olympics? Well it could even be more-so for the NHL.

I am not even factoring increased jersey sales worldwide and things like that....

There is more to the hockey world than North America...

Now I will shake my head at your ignorance. My thinking isn't narrow minded it is grounded in reality. Your problem is you equate NHL with international hockey. They are NOT the same thing. As for your basketball analogy, are you kidding me? Basketball was already played all over the world well before the pros went to the olympics. Also the NBA didn't have to shut down during the season to participate. Hockey is played primarily in North America and Europe.
Your right that there is more to the hockey world than North America. But Europe's impact on NHL revenue is minimal at best. You may not like it but the reason the NHL went to the olympics was to grow the sport in the US. Then to use that increased interest to get better TV money and other revenue streams. Not to grow the sport around the world "for the good of the game".

 

[joshjull]

Wow.
Not sure why. But Americans seem to be most opposed to it.

Course, of all the major countries in the Olympic Hockey, Americans care least about the sport.

Are saying American hockey fans care the least about it? I would say that isn't the case. Americans as a whole you are probably right. But we have more hockey fans in this country than many of our opponents have citizens.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

Really, what makes the Olympics any less "meaningful" than the NHL?

All sports are meaningless.

 

[A Good Flying Bird*]

Are saying American hockey fans care the least about it? I would say that isn't the case. Americans as a whole you are probably right. But we have more hockey fans in this country than many of our opponents have citizens.

Yes, that's what I meant. As a whole.
And even the fans who love hockey, for whatever reason, really aren't keen on the Olympics.

But Americans, in general, don't really go for international things.

They like their own internal championships better.

 

[A Good Flying Bird*]

Really, what makes the Olympics any less "meaningful" than the NHL?

All sports are meaningless.

Ask the typical Canadian where they were when Canada won gold in 2002.

They know.

It was bigger than any Stanley Cup celebration, that's for sure.