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If Hockey had a real World Cup, would that be the best way to grow the game?

Maestro84

Maestro84

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May 3, 2018
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Toronto
With the World Cup going on right now, I always wondered what an equivalent in hockey would look like and do for the game. Growing the game is something we often criticize the NHL for not being good at doing and the patheitc attempt at creating a "world" cup with 6 teams and two continental teams that were created under weird formats is just not it. If they created a 48-country tournament (like the football world cup plans on doing by 2026), would that be the greatest way to generate real growth in this beautiful sport of hockey? Many countries will get to see their teams perform on a big stage against the world's best and hopefully it'll inspire future generations. Going by IIHF rankings, this is how the event will look like:

First Round:

(1) Finland, (2) Canada, (3) Russia, (4) USA, (5) Sweden, (6) Czechia, (7) Switzerland, (8) Slovakia, (9) Germany, (10) Denmark, (11) Latvia, (12) Norway, (13) France, (14) Belarus, (15) Austria, and (16) Kazakhstan will all get a "bye" in the first round. Other first round matchups include,

(17) Italy vs (48) Turkmenistan
(18) Great Britain vs (47) Hong Kong
(19) Slovenia vs (46) Thailand
(20) South Korea vs (45) North Korea
(21) Hungary vs (44) Luxembourg
(22) Poland vs (43) UAE
(23) Lithuania vs (42) New Zealand
(24) Romania vs (41) Georgia
(25) Japan vs (40) Belgium
(26) Ukraine vs (39) Taiwan
(27) China vs (38) Turkey
(28) Estonia vs (37) Bulgaria
(29) Netherlands vs (36) Australia
(30) Serbia vs (35) Mexico
(31) Croatia vs (34) Iceland
(32) Spain vs (33) Israel

Second Round:

(1) Finland vs (32) Spain/(33) Israel
(2) Canada vs (31) Croatia/(34) Iceland
(3) Russia vs (30) Serbia/(35) Mexico
(4) USA vs (29) Netherlands/(36) Australia
(5) Sweden vs (28) Estonia/(37) Bulgaria
(6) Czechia vs (27) China/(38) Turkey
(7) Switzerland vs (26) Ukraine/(39) Taiwan
(8) Slovakia vs (25) Japan/ (40) Belgium
(9) Germany vs (24) Romania/(41) Georgia
(10) Denmark vs (23) Lithuania/(42) New Zealand
(11) Latvia vs (22) Poland/(43) UAE
(12) Norway vs (21) Hungary/(44) Luxembourg
(13) France vs (20) South Korea/(45) North Korea
(14) Belarus vs (19) Slovenia/(46) Thailand
(15) Austria vs (18) United Kingdom/(47) Hong Kong
(16) Kazakhstan vs (17) Italy/(48) Turkemnistan

Round of 16:

1 vs 16
2 vs 15
3 vs 14
4 vs 13
5 vs 12
6 vs 11
7 vs 10
8 vs 9

And then Quarterfinals, Semis, and Finals, I think you know how the rest of this hypothetical events this works. I feel like this type of tournament could be a great way to introduce competitive hockey to many countries. I know the end result will be the same with Canada or USA or Russia or one of the top nations winning but it wouldn't be about these big countries but rather than small hockey nations, similar to how imo, I always saw the football WC as being an event for the smaller footballing nations to showcase their talent to the world and grow it back in their homeland.

What are your thoughts?
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Lolonegoal

Lolonegoal

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Jan 25, 2012
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What a pipe dream. Hockey can't get equality amongst a dozen countries, let alone what you've suggested.

I honestly believe if hockey wants a reasonable world cup, then it needs to condense teams not add. The fact that only 6 or so teams can win, and with half of those teams being a very rare occurrence, does add to the competitiveness or excitement. Hockey isn't as big as other sports and is a strictly winter sport. It's also expensive to get started up. It's just not going to take off in countries that can't support its requirements.

I'd like to see a tourney/cup set up like:

Canada
USA
Russia
Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark)
Rest of Europe (Czech, Slovakia, Germany)

Then we'd see some stacked teams with some balance competition, rather than some poor countries with 3 NHL players get slaughtered by teams with the NHLs best.

Have each team play each other once and knock off the 5th place team. 1v4, 2v3 and winners go to the gold match, and loser's bronze.
 
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jcs0218

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Apr 20, 2018
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I would look forward to watching Canada vs. Iceland. To see if Gunnar Stahl can lead the Icelandic team to a stunning victory.

I would also like to see how Team Mexico's defense and goaltenders would match up against Kucherov, Ovechkin, and Panarin for Russia.
 
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hamzarocks

hamzarocks

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Jul 22, 2012
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Pickering, Ontario
Saudi Arabia beating Argentina

In the NHL that's like Italy beating Sweden/Finland

Only way that could happen in hockey is if the random teams goalie let's in 1 or less

Need a 1-0 or 2-1 win
 
SeawaterOnIce

SeawaterOnIce

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Aug 28, 2011
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hamzarocks said:
Saudi Arabia beating Argentina

In the NHL that's like Italy beating Sweden/Finland

Only way that could happen in hockey is if the random teams goalie let's in 1 or less

Need a 1-0 or 2-1 win
Click to expand...
Didn't France once beat Canada?
 

Hockey4Lyfe

Registered User
Feb 26, 2018
6,723
4,220
I like the thought but there is just too many countries worldwide that either don’t participate in hockey or simply are that young to the sport that playing in a World Cup would be ridiculous. I believe only Algeria and South Africa are the only two countries in Africa to even play ice hockey.

May be one day it could be done as these countries become more advanced in ice hockey and a similar qualifying events can be held.

Would love to see what the final score would be of a US/Finland/Canada vs Somalia (insert all other African/Middle eastern/Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, etc.) teams with country full of inhabitants that haven’t seen a single snowflake let alone an ice rink. Add in the fact that hockey is not cheap to play and the large majority of those countries aren’t prosperous.
 
biturbo19

biturbo19

Registered User
Jul 13, 2010
25,790
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The reality is, hockey is not soccer. It's a completely inaccessible sport for most of the world.

Soccer is a universal sport. It's played in practically every country in the world.

Got a patch of relatively level ground? Got a ball? Good to go. You're soccering. That's your basic barriers to entry, and they're as low as they can get. Hockey is the absolute opposite. It's never going to "grow" like Soccer.



A elaborate tournament demonstrating how pointless it is to incorporate that many teams isn't going to "grow" the game. It'd just highlight how far apart the gulf actually is in a really demoralizing and pointless way.
 
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Maestro84

Maestro84

Registered User
May 3, 2018
2,120
1,634
Toronto
Asinine said:
Looks like a lot of effort just to watch Canada win gold.

Let's face it, were not growing the game in Turkmenistan.

There's a higher skill cap in ice hockey than kicking a ball around on a plot of grass...and that's okay.
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Didn't they used to be part of USSR though (a hockey crazed nation)
 

jimmysheva

Registered User
Mar 16, 2014
809
691
The nature of the game itself makes it hard to grow. Not every country has ice rinks. It's much easier for the common people to play soccer and basketball.
 

Civetty

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Jan 2, 2017
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Maestro84 said:
With the World Cup going on right now, I always wondered what an equivalent in hockey would look like and do for the game. Growing the game is something we often criticize the NHL for not being good at doing and the patheitc attempt at creating a "world" cup with 6 teams and two continental teams that were created under weird formats is just not it. If they created a 48-country tournament (like the football world cup plans on doing by 2026), would that be the greatest way to generate real growth in this beautiful sport of hockey? Many countries will get to see their teams perform on a big stage against the world's best and hopefully it'll inspire future generations. Going by IIHF rankings, this is how the event will look like:

First Round:

(1) Finland, (2) Canada, (3) Russia, (4) USA, (5) Sweden, (6) Czechia, (7) Switzerland, (8) Slovakia, (9) Germany, (10) Denmark, (11) Latvia, (12) Norway, (13) France, (14) Belarus, (15) Austria, and (16) Kazakhstan will all get a "bye" in the first round. Other first round matchups include,

(17) Italy vs (48) Turkmenistan
(18) Great Britain vs (47) Hong Kong
(19) Slovenia vs (46) Thailand
(20) South Korea vs (45) North Korea
(21) Hungary vs (44) Luxembourg
(22) Poland vs (43) UAE
(23) Lithuania vs (42) New Zealand
(24) Romania vs (41) Georgia
(25) Japan vs (40) Belgium
(26) Ukraine vs (39) Taiwan
(27) China vs (38) Turkey
(28) Estonia vs (37) Bulgaria
(29) Netherlands vs (36) Australia
(30) Serbia vs (35) Mexico
(31) Croatia vs (34) Iceland
(32) Spain vs (33) Israel

Second Round:

(1) Finland vs (32) Spain/(33) Israel
(2) Canada vs (31) Croatia/(34) Iceland
(3) Russia vs (30) Serbia/(35) Mexico
(4) USA vs (29) Netherlands/(36) Australia
(5) Sweden vs (28) Estonia/(37) Bulgaria
(6) Czechia vs (27) China/(38) Turkey
(7) Switzerland vs (26) Ukraine/(39) Taiwan
(8) Slovakia vs (25) Japan/ (40) Belgium
(9) Germany vs (24) Romania/(41) Georgia
(10) Denmark vs (23) Lithuania/(42) New Zealand
(11) Latvia vs (22) Poland/(43) UAE
(12) Norway vs (21) Hungary/(44) Luxembourg
(13) France vs (20) South Korea/(45) North Korea
(14) Belarus vs (19) Slovenia/(46) Thailand
(15) Austria vs (18) United Kingdom/(47) Hong Kong
(16) Kazakhstan vs (17) Italy/(48) Turkemnistan

Round of 16:

1 vs 16
2 vs 15
3 vs 14
4 vs 13
5 vs 12
6 vs 11
7 vs 10
8 vs 9

And then Quarterfinals, Semis, and Finals, I think you know how the rest of this hypothetical events this works. I feel like this type of tournament could be a great way to introduce competitive hockey to many countries. I know the end result will be the same with Canada or USA or Russia or one of the top nations winning but it wouldn't be about these big countries but rather than small hockey nations, similar to how imo, I always saw the football WC as being an event for the smaller footballing nations to showcase their talent to the world and grow it back in their homeland.

What are your thoughts?
Click to expand...

It wont work but if you want to grow the game to at least get more influence internationally we probably need to start with making a more exciting qualifying process. Not the sad things there is today.
 
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PlayersLtd

PlayersLtd

Registered User
Mar 6, 2019
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Out of curiosity, anyone want to take a stab at what team sport is the best comparable to hockey in terms of international parity....

Would it be baseball?

You have 5 teams or so that can win it in

USA
Japan
S Korea
Dominican Republic
Cuba

Then you have 5 or 6 more teams that aren't a complete embarrassment on the international stage in

Mexico
Canada
Taiwan
Puerto Rico
Panama
Venezuela

And then you have a bunch of losers. That to me is way better than basketball considering only the US can win. But parity in volleyball is probably better than hockey (can our fellow posters from the Netherlands confirm?). Rugby is up there. Cricket isn't. No none cares about handball or waterpolo.

What sport internationally is the closest thing to hockey would you say?
 

jimmysheva

Registered User
Mar 16, 2014
809
691
For a long time Badminton was dominated by China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea and Denmark. Now India and Japan have joined the elites. Carolina Marin from Spain was #1 women singles for several years but it's probably a one off.
 

ijuka

Registered User
May 14, 2016
22,446
15,098
Olympics would be the best way, since you introduce tons of new fans who've never watched the sport before that way. I know many people who only watch sports during olympics, and for myself, Olympics is where I discover all the new sports.

Hockey world cup tends to only be watched by people who already are hockey fans.


It's so obvious but NHL's allergic to making smart and logical decisions, it seems.
 
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