Hockey Canada should be accountable

[HSF]

I can only speak for myself, but it's hard to let go of things. I grew up reading about Canadian hockey dominance in the 70's and 80's and as soon and I got old enough to appreciate the sport, other countries had caught up. It's like arriving to the party of the year at 4am, I missed out on the glory years.

lmao canada still dominates

if you want there to be one team and the rest then maybe you should stick to the NBA

 

[Dr Pepper]

I can only speak for myself, but it's hard to let go of things. I grew up reading about Canadian hockey dominance in the 70's and 80's and as soon and I got old enough to appreciate the sport, other countries had caught up. It's like arriving to the party of the year at 4am, I missed out on the glory years.

Meh, I'm glad the NHL isn't 95% Canadian like it used to be. Better for the growth of the game, spread the wealth.

 

[Pouchkine]

I can only speak for myself, but it's hard to let go of things. I grew up reading about Canadian hockey dominance in the 70's and 80's and as soon and I got old enough to appreciate the sport, other countries had caught up. It's like arriving to the party of the year at 4am, I missed out on the glory years.

What Canadian dominance? 70's 80's were all Soviets! Canada did dominate the U20 in the 90's though.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.

Some people are curious as to why they are catching up.

I don't think there is a simple reason for that. Its clear player development is getting across the board though. When I was watching the US/Finland game Dave Starman mentioned that there is a lot of collaboration between both country's hockey federations. Just one example.

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

I can only speak for myself, but it's hard to let go of things. I grew up reading about Canadian hockey dominance in the 70's and 80's and as soon and I got old enough to appreciate the sport, other countries had caught up. It's like arriving to the party of the year at 4am, I missed out on the glory years.

Yeah, timing is everything. I'm sure there are a lot of people in a similar position.

 

[WHISTLERNATE]

I feel like people need to just come to the realization that Canada can't win this tournament every year....There isn't some need for a national inquiry to the state of hockey....We literally won the god damn thing last year. There are 5 top tier nations in hockey now....Guess what that means? At least one of em is going home in the quarters every single year now. Get a year where the talent isn't quite there...or you pick a bad coach and it's going to be you! It sucks, but it really isn't the end of the world just move onto next year.

Thank you for this post. Canada had a good team this year, but not as strong as recent years. They lost 2 1 goal games to pretty good teams. They didn't win the tournament in a year where they weren't the clear cut best team, I'm fine with that. I hate this entitlement we have in Canada that if we don't win, something is wrong.

 

[Pouchkine]

Yeah, timing is everything. I'm sure there are a lot of people in a similar position.

At least in those years 70's 80's 90's it was all about scoring goals, not avoiding mistakes...

 

[13 others]

Quantity doesnt equal quality.

60 junior teams + 100 jr A teams. These people play hockey full time. Is that enough quality?

 

[Pouchkine]

Thank you for this post. Canada had a good team this year, but not as strong as recent years. They lost 2 1 goal games to pretty good teams. They didn't win the tournament in a year where they weren't the clear cut best team, I'm fine with that. I hate this entitlement we have in Canada that if we don't win, something is wrong.

The team did not only lose but they showed close to nothing, no offense, lack of skill.

 

[NyQuil]

What Canadian dominance? 70's 80's were all Soviets!

 

[4thlineduster]

Really? Not sure which games you watched but he was only on the ice for 2 goals against all tournament. The first, against Russia, his partner, Markus Phillips gets walked, Bouchard is in the right position and Dipietro gets beat on a cross body shot that's hard to save. Did everything right there. On the second, the first Finland goal, again he's in the right spot, blocking any passes, His D partner, Ty Smith is weak in the corner and gets beat, forcing the forward to leave his position, who makes a bad play diving for a poke check. Again Bouchard is in the right spot, blocking any passing plays and Dipietro doesn't track the puck well here and again gets beat by a cross body shot.

So, only on the ice for 2 GA all tourney, neither of which are on him, playing against all the other team's top players.

He was far and away Canada's best D man.
None of this is on any D or goalie for Canada. You're not going to be Finland or Russia scoring 1 goal.
Canada's power play was pretty bad, and i think a big part of it was that the forwards didn't really use the D, and everyone stood still on the perimeter. Really i think that was their problem all tourney, no one went to the dirty areas to score, and Canada was pretty easy to defend against. Against Russia especially, although they got 31 shots, I wouldn't say they had many scoring chances. In TSN's highlight package they pretty much had all the scoring chances since they were so few.

If you think Bouchard was “far and away Canada’s best D man” then you know nothing of hockey.

Straight up.

He may be great on his club team, and may have a great NHL career.....but his play this tournament was piss poor and there’s no denying it.

 

[tfong]

To me, that is the fault of the people who believe the media not the fault of the media.

Sure, but strong media strategy and over time and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between truth and fake information. Its why propaganda works as a strategy. You're not SUPPOSED to realize the information is false but it will all subconciously be programmed in your mind for you to think a certain way.

Like marijuana being bad for you or something.

 

[tfong]

This. Pretty much same thing I've been saying this whole thread. TSN creates this narrative every year that the WJC gold medal is Canada's to lose, and then when Canada DOES lose it's apparently this big tragedy. Which, at the same time, kind of takes away from every team that beats Canada. Like, they weren't supposed to win, how dare they beat us?

I'm surprised they didn't change the backing on the main TSN website to black, like they do whenever someone dies.

Maybe the flag at TSN HQ is at half mast today, who knows. I bet their viewer ratings take a hit with Canada gone, but again that's their own fault.

TSN is the closest thing Canada has to a "propaganda machine" Imagine if they reported on things not sports related

 

[Dr Pepper]

TSN is the closest thing Canada has to a "propaganda machine" Imagine if they reported on things not sports related

Oh ****, I don't even want to think about that. Perish the thought.

 

[blindpass]

Twice in 4 years losing to very good Finland teams in the QFs. There's no shame in it - Canada should probably start lowering their expectations in these tournaments. The rest of the world has really closed the gap on them.

We knew this wasn't going to be a very strong Team Canada this year. And unfortunately you had to play a very good 3 seed. Realistically Canada was probably not a top 3 team at this tournament.

I generally agree with this but I think it was a top three team here. Not because they were good but because nobody's been showing strength consistently.

The difference between no medal and gold can be one weird bounce, but it terms of evaluation it is all or nothing.

Think of Eberle's goal with 5s left in 2010. They were moments from failure and being remembered as the team that ended a four year gold medal streak.

Occasionally there's a team that stands out and gets it done with confidence the whole way. More often even the best teams in the tournament need some luck to get by the other worthy contenders.

This team was disappointing, and I think there were questionable coaching decisions, esp. that the depth of a team with no elite top end wasn't used more. It sickens me to see the players blamed the way they are. Expectations are unrealistic.

 

[22Brad Park]

I can only speak for myself, but it's hard to let go of things. I grew up reading about Canadian hockey dominance in the 70's and 80's and as soon and I got old enough to appreciate the sport, other countries had caught up. It's like arriving to the party of the year at 4am, I missed out on the glory years.

I can remember Soviet Red Army team hammering NHL Allstars with Ken Dryden and Tony Esposito 8-0 .Not junior but you get my point Canada did not always dominate hockey.

 

[kyle44]

I firmly believe that many of the nations that have made strides at this tournament in recent years (Finland, USA, Sweden) and the usual suspect (Russia), have benefitted from having their players play against older, faster competition in the respective men’s leagues and NCAA.

If you watch these games, the hockey is very fast paced. Players have little time to react and must learn to think the game quickly and make plays quickly in order to survive.

This is not to say that the CHL has fallen off as a development league whatsoever, but it seems to me on many occasions at this tournament over the last several years that these teams make plays at a higher pace than Canada, and Canada seems to struggle in these tight checking games where their time and space is limited.

 

[22Brad Park]

I firmly believe that many of the nations that have made strides at this tournament in recent years (Finland, USA, Sweden) and the usual suspect (Russia), have benefitted from having their players play against older, faster competition in the respective men’s leagues and NCAA.

If you watch these games, the hockey is very fast paced. Players have little time to react and must learn to think the game quickly and make plays quickly in order to survive.

This is not to say that the CHL has fallen off as a development league whatsoever, but it seems to me on many occasions at this tournament over the last several years that these teams make plays at a higher pace than Canada, and Canada seems to struggle in these tight checking games where their time and space is limited.

Very interesting take on it.Remember though Canada won Gold last year

 

[hardclimate]

Small and speedy was what HC seemed to want. That eliminated guys who were big and slower - like Justin Brazeau. Didn't fit the mold but currently leads the O in points. Big frames like that might have been useful when it counted.

 

[danyhabsfan]

Small and speedy was what HC seemed to want. That eliminated guys who were big and slower - like Justin Brazeau. Didn't fit the mold but currently leads the O in points. Big frames like that might have been useful when it counted.

He's almost 21 years old... You sure know your stuff.

 

[Gold Standard]

Small and speedy was what HC seemed to want. That eliminated guys who were big and slower - like Justin Brazeau. Didn't fit the mold but currently leads the O in points. Big frames like that might have been useful when it counted.

dude will turn 21 next month. too old.

 

[ColbyChaos]

Mitchell should have been given a bigger role and you’d think Canada only had 6 forwards with how sparingly the bottom 2 lines were. Brook and McIsaac were pretty forgettable still can’t beleive they made it over Beaudin

 

[LoveHateLeafs]

Could be a cultural thing as well.

Soccer is exponentially more popular globally than hockey is, and as Canadian families grow more diverse each year, it just means more and more kids are choosing to play a sport they're more familiar with. Also means there are more diverse kids playing hockey, of course, but I still think soccer reigns supreme.

Er, "football", rather.

Yeah, but if you look at the main sources of immigration to Canada in the last few decades, they tend not be be football hotbeds(China, the Indian subcontinent, Philippines).

Part of it is economics. It's getting harder and harder for immigrants to get into the Canadian middle class, which is pretty well a prerequisite for enrolling your child in high-level competitive hockey. When my father immigrated to Canada in the late 1960's, an immigrant could expect to catch up to native-born Canadians in terms of earnings in a decade and a bit. Not so much now.

Besides, lots of first-generation Canadian kids played hockey in the past(Joe Sakic, Stan Mikita, Milan Lucic, Steve Staios, Manny Malhotra, Jarome Iginla etc.). But if you have to choose between your son playing rep hockey and saving for his post-secondary education, 95% of parents will choose the latter. It's just that a far greater percentage of immigrant families have to make that choice.

Canada needs a long-term strategy that basically goes around the world, looks at multiple sports and figures out best practices to reduce the cost of high-level hockey for everyone. This might include fewer games and less travel, having gifted players play in house leagues at much higher age levels rather than rep travel teams(combine this with extra practices), and explore the widespread adoption of synthetic playing surfaces if this will help reduce costs. You heard me, we should be trying to figure out a way to take the ice out of ice hockey if it means more people can play.

The US is the biggest threat to Canada in terms of hockey(but thanks for being such great neighbours in every other way!). Hockey can grow so much more there and though it will never be America's pastime, by virtue of sheer numbers the USA could create a player pool that dwarfs everyone else's. We need to set a plan in motion to address this.

 

[pigpen65]

I think it would have been a bigger upset if Canada had beaten Finland. Finland clearly has the higher talent level.

 

[DoyleG]

60 junior teams + 100 jr A teams. These people play hockey full time. Is that enough quality?

The CHL is aimed to produce talent for the NHL, not the Canadian National Team. The expansion of the NHL has pretty much forced the CHL to expand to meet the demands for talent.