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World Cup: 2016 World Cup — Team Europe

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oobga

oobga

Tier 2 Fan
Aug 1, 2003
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Elvs said:
I'm surprised Krueger would even take on this "team". It's a job doomed for failure. The NHL must have been throwing some nice money his way.
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I don't think Krueger would need to be motivated by money to do this. The guy enjoys taking on challenges wherever they are, and has great passion for hockey. He's faced much tougher odds coaching international hockey before as well with the swiss team.
 
Elvs

Elvs

Registered User
Jul 3, 2006
12,284
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Sweden
Yeah, I'm surprised the team came together this way. Still, another team Europe in 4 years might not come together at all.

Also, I suspect very underwhelming tv ratings from this final. Most people in Europe just doesn't care about "Team Europe". And the people of North America didn't get their dream final of USA-Canada.

If the gimmick teams weren't in the tournament to begin with, we'd have two actual countries in the final right now. Which is what most people want to see. And if Slovakia or Switzerland somehow had made the final, plenty of people would have an underdog to cheer for.

Team Europe is an underdog sure. But their biggest question mark before the tournament was moral and work ethic. Now that they seem to have those things, they have a team that's good enough to win this thing. Them winning this thing wouldn't be an upset nearly as big as the U.S. in Lake Placid or Belarus beating Sweden.
 
SotasicA

SotasicA

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Aug 25, 2014
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Tomas Tatar sunk Sweden but in doing so he may have also altered our understanding of what international hockey could be. It's the year 2016 and playing for your teammates trumps patriotism.

Team Europe in the World Cup is like John Scott in the all-star game. Haters said he doesn't belong, but it ended up being a great story. And by far the best and most competitive all-star game ever.

I'm now in anticipation of "haters gonna hate" memes with Kopitar hoisting the cup.
 

NHLFAN82

Registered User
Jul 15, 2014
147
6
These are some fantastic reads now.

FiLe said:
*Sigh*
The whole point of international competition is for a player to play for his country. That's their source of motivation, and therefore also the source of this "amazing" hockey you seem to take for granted.
Slovakia is a country. Slovenia is a country. Austria is a country. Switzerland is a country. "Europe", however is NOT a country. You take that aspect away from a player, and they don't have a single source of motivation left. Therefore, no "amazing" hockey for you.
Well, there is one other thing that can motivate a player. Money. But that's what we already have the NHL for. World Cup is unnecessary in that sense.
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albator71 said:
Thats not the point, u dont see MLB, the NBA go that way with their World Cups?
Its suppose to be the World Cup of hockey, World to me means countries not Euro All-Stars and under-23 Team, NHL stay the **** away from international tournament you have no idea what you are doing.
Thats what happens when all you care about is $$$$, players should boycott i know if i was a Slovak, German or a Swiss player I would give the middle finger to this joke of a tournament.
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albator71 said:
We shall see, Im not convince that all the players will agree to this joke of a tournament, and if they do agree they will treat it as a training camp, If im Kopitar why would I risk an injury to play in a World Cup thats thats means absolutely nothing to me? And the same aplly to Germans, Swiss and Slovaks players thay dont even play for their own country.
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FiLe said:
If they do show up wearing their gimmicky jerseys and also put up a show, good for you. But in your shoes I'd still figure out where I could ask for my money back if I end up paying a princely sum for watching Team Leftovers figure skate.
And oh, if that happens, absolutely no complaining here on HFBoards. Because you can't say you weren't warned.
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No complaints from me - it has been a fantastic tournament so far.


Canuckistani said:
I can't see anyone risking injury, or their self-respect, to wear the jersey of Euro Leftover, or the U23 kiddie team.
The best hope of this insulting tournament being altered (or killed alltogether) is for players to openly state that they'll have nothing to do with it, starting with the Slovaks and Swiss who have been so horribly insulted by Bettman and his fellow dirtbags
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QnebO said:
Do you really think any one's gonna care about Canada vs European allstars? This tournament is a failure already. Its a farce. If they wanted to maximize their profit they would have Slovaks and Swiss in.
This tournament keeps much less value now than IIHF World Championships.
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Faterson said:
Likely the opposite: it will decrease the quality of the product offered, because of at least one team lacking the top motivation to give it their best. That wouldn't be the case with a national team, no matter how weak on paper.
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QnebO said:
People who think team europe from leftover countries is a good idea don't know whole alot about nationalism and why international games are even played. It's because players have heart in the game when they play for their country. They don't have heart in the game when they play for team leftovers.
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