At least EVERY woman was eligible to play.Is the Gold won by the American woman fulfilling to them because its a tournament with only 2 team capable of winning gold?
At least EVERY woman was eligible to play.Is the Gold won by the American woman fulfilling to them because its a tournament with only 2 team capable of winning gold?
Is the championship of the toughest hockey tournament the most prestigious? That is what I am basing it on. I guess you would be correct that there could be different definitions of what prestigious is but to me the football world cup is obviously the most prestigious football tournament that there is because of the level of play and the history and that is also how I view the Stanley cup.
Nah, I don't think I'm missing the point. It is the point that all teams are hurt by the nhl not being able to compete in the Olympics (some more than others). Russia may have had some players in the khl, but Canada still had some talent to pick out of the ahl and retired nhl players. Maybe it's a little in Russias favor, but Canada has had a clear advantage in terms of ability to produce talent.
North American hockey fans need to understand that for an European hockey player winning Olympic gold or the World Championship means more to them then the Stanley cup. And i dont have a problem with that. Who are we to be judging him. thats how he feels thats how we feel period. we have to respect that, the NHL in Europe is not very important. Here in North America we have such a big ego about our Leagues.
Is the Gold won by the American woman fulfilling to them because its a tournament with only 2 team capable of winning gold?
Wow, all the crying from NA in this thread, glorious.
Lol but he's a role model for the young Russians so he "has to" say that to influence the in the right direction. Obviously he would not trade his SC ring for gold medal in the Olympics and obviously they played against a harder team in the SC finalsDatsyuk: Olympic gold medal means more than Stanley Cup
“When you play for your country and I win this medal, this special time, it’s more important,” Datsyuk said. “I have accomplished my dream. Now I have no dream.”
I hope this puts to rest the questions on whether this was important or not to Russians.
That's fine, if his dream is to beat severely handicapped competition all the power to him.
Now I have no dream. LOLZ. You beat teams that were playing college players and has beens. GREAT JOB DATSYUK!
Congrats on beating teams multiple levels below you?
....and his comment should not come as a surprise.
Unless you are born and raised in North America, its not difficult to see an olympic gold medal hold more prestige than a Stanley Cup.
A Stanley cup woudn't mean much if you barely edged out an ECHL team in game 7 OT to win it...
But this topic is not about the fans, its about datsyuk, and how much the medal means to him. Its not up to us to decide how much it means to him, or how much it should mean to him.
The way the OAR celebrated after that OT goal, you could tell it meant something. What do you think a kid growing up in Russia, especially in datsyuk's time was thinking about as his pinnacle? An olympic gold medal, or a Stanley Cup?
North American hockey fans need to understand that for an European hockey player winning Olympic gold or the World Championship means more to them then the Stanley cup.
His point still stands though, what would a Canadian or American kid think about finally getting to a Stanley Cup final only to know you are going to face an ECHL team? Would he still be as estatic and value it as much as he would have facing the best opposing N.H.L team? not bloody likely.
And would this same kid value an olympic gold against the best the world had to offer more then the Stanley Cup against an ECHL team? My guess is yes, I know I would.
So the circumstances under which datsyuk won it make some fans over here scratch their head why he would value it more considering the level of competition was so low and far from the best in the world. i mean, winning it did not mean Russia was the best in the world, we all know that.
Still, i agree it is his decision what he values, it is just that so many people question how he can value it so highly under those circumstances. His Stanley Cup win was indeed a far bigger accomplishment in terms of level of competition. I guess the disconnect comes from some people thinking any olympic gold has high intrinsic value no matter the competition and others think it really only holds high value when it is won against the top competition.
Its certainly a cultural thing, and what you have become accustomed to.
Didn't the Soviets send their best back when the USSR was a thing, while the NHL did not? Soviet kids watching those olympic and world championship teams have success were probably thinking that they would like to do that one day. That's where the meaningfulness stems from IMO.
In Europe, the sporting culture is different. Take soccer for example. There are no salary caps. You have a few powerhouse teams that accumulate the vast majority of talent, and a ton of "have not" teams. Kids dream of playing for a club like Real Madrid, where you are playing with the best of the best, and you win lots of trophies. They don't think twice about their level of opponent.
In north america, we strive for parity, and the mentality is very different. I think its just best to defer to the athletes, and let it mean to them what it means to them, and accept it.
If that makes you feel better then sure. But just know they beat up on vastly inferior competition and if it were true best on best they would not have gone home with gold.It doesn't, at least not to me and others. Please realize that the entire planet doesn't need to subscribe to the view of the world favored in Toronto. A North-American $$$-obsessed regional league decided, as the only league on this planet, to sabotage the Olympics. So what? Olympic Gold is still Olympic Gold, and a regional league sabotaging the contest is an unimportant footnote in terms of winning or not winning the Olympic Gold.
Datsyuk is a legitimate Triple Gold Crown member, and not one with a footnote, just because one regional league decided to sabotage; that has nothing to do with Datsyuk, and you can't put an asterisk next to his name just because of what a regional league decides to do or not to do. That is outside of Datsyuk's scope of action, and you can't penalize Datsyuk with an asterisk because of other people's actions or non-actions. No one is required to pay attention to that regional league despite it being the best regional league.
Yep, some folks may wish to turn the world on its head by proclaiming a regional league more important than a global competition, and a footnote more important than the main text, but it just isn't so.