Anyone else surprised at the US record at World men's championship?

[Joe Zanussi]

Barring this pandemic this is the best tournament to watch and attend. And if you are Hockey fan and don't attend this tournament it's quite sad to see and you can not call yourself a fan of the game. Canada is always stacked with great elite players and it's honestly only the us that makes an excuse.

The best part is actually there are no Americans at the tourneys and generally everyone wants them to lose. It's a beautiful tournament , great Hockey, beautiful atmosphere and no Americans. Literally can't ask for more at an international tournament.

Lol. Aggressive. Glad you enjoy the tourney.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Let's use the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the break-up of Czechoslovakia as the beginning of the "modern era" in world hockey, since that really changed the landscape of world hockey.

Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Canada	8	6	1	15
Czechia	6	1	5	12
Sweden	5	6	7	18
Russia	5	3	5	13
Finland	3	8	3	14
Slovakia	1	2	1	4
Switzerland	0	2	0	2
US	0	0	6	6

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

I am one of those rare Canadians who follows this tournament regularly - have done so since the early 1980s. So I would have seen the US lose quarter or semifinal games with regularity in that time. (I will also note that I typically watch games with the sound off so I wouldn't have heard if commentators have mentioned this.) It's kind of stunning to see this written down, given that the US has been among the world powers in the sport since the mid 1990s, that they haven't won a semifinal game in the tournament's history.

Canada's attitude to the world men's tournament has been spotty, we can admit. While we typically send a good team to the tournament, it's rare that we don't hear of very good players refusing to participate despite being available. But the US record should be an embarrassment to US players. What will it take to change the attitude so the US starts sending teams capable of actually getting to the final?

Not really sure if the purpose of this post is to create controversy or merely based on a lack of understanding; both of the priority placed on the tournament by the powers that be (and fans) in the USA and the status of the sport in the USA.

Unlike in Europe, the focus in the US has always been on the NHL with little interest in the WC.

And unlike Canada, where hockey is practically a national sport, hockey remains a game that is accessible only to the most affluent elements of society; with top athletes frequently drawn to football, basketball, baseball (also cost prohibitive) and in more recent times lacrosse.

For all the NHL rhetoric, the reality of middle class or poor kids having access to the sport remains a pipe dream except in cold weather communities.

 

[cleveland408]

Northern Americans in general have a weird obsession with college sports while those are a non-factor in Europe so that's certainly a factor too.

It's not weird when you consider that college sports take the function of club sports.

 

[Faterson]

It's not weird when you consider that college sports take the function of club sports.

Still very weird. And I have no idea what you mean by "club sports". I'd call the NHL "clubs sport", too, even though they're professional clubs (sometimes to the detriment of the game). Did you perhaps mean "amateur sports"?