That's BS. Nobody outside the big-7 is going to watch it. Won't even be on tv in most countries, why the hell would it be ? You want to be an elitist, fine, but don't claim most people would like it when everything points in the other direction. Or that it will grow hockey, it has never grown anything. This elitism is also one reason why so many people even in the big-7 countries don't give a fück about the World Cup, supposedly a higher-calibre tournament than the World Championships.
Also it's funny you choose Finland as your example because had your elitist views been implemented back then, Finland most probably would never have been a big-7 country.
Don't feel bad, you're not the first poster to give up and resort to name calling. The tone of your post seems a little angry, it must be hard to realize you've been wrong all this time.
Obviously no one likes being called an elitist, considering what the word really means in every day terms. But in this context you are right, I am an elitist. I enjoy watching elite hockey. If you think about it every competetive sports league is essentially elitest, because if you're not good enough, you don't play.
The World Cup, being run by and played in North America, definitely gives Canada and the US an advantage. Just like IIHF tournament rules and rinks give Europeans an advantage. The difference between the World Championships and the World Cup are the quality of players who attend. The other difference is that the European clubs aren't really that competetive with Canada when playing by NHL rules.
The rise of Finland, Sweden or any other elite hockey nation has nothing to do what international tournaments they attended. They are all in places where outdoor skating is popular, and the people naturally fell in love with the game.
Producing good players has little or nothing to do with the Olympics or the World Cup. Look at Vanek, Huet, and Kopitar, they all come from nations that basically never play in elite tournaments.