WJC: What does the IIHF need to do to make the World Juniors more popular in Europe?

[svartgul]

First of all it's Sweden, not Sweeden.

Maybe the best way to make it more popular is to host it there more? Hard to blame anyone for not caring when the games are on in the middle of the night.

http://norran.se/sport/hockey/skellefteaaik/article1119051.ece

Skellefteå has expressed interest to host it with Piteå. Yes please!! wont probably ever happen though but should.

 

[Chimpradamus]

How do the FIFA U-20 & U-17 tournaments do in Europe?

Largely ignored I'd say except for the host countries. TV ratings are not high for them
either unlike the WJC in Canada.

A good example of why. Even the biggest sport in Europe, football, does barely get any interest at all when it comes to international U20 and U17 tournaments. How many spectators do they have in the stands, about 500? Some channel like Eurosport might show some games, but barely anyone will watch them.

Fans watch the elite leagues and the real national teams, there is simply no interest for the rest. Why watch worse, when you can fill your satisfaction with the best? This is also why the olympic football gets zero interest. Having that U21 rule makes the tournament uninteresting.

There simply is no recipe to make the World Juniors popular in Europe, because they're junior players playing in tournaments with age restrictions.

 

[KRM]

A good example of why. Even the biggest sport in Europe, football, does barely get any interest at all when it comes to international U20 and U17 tournaments. How many spectators do they have in the stands, about 500? Some channel like Eurosport might show some games, but barely anyone watch them.

Fans watch the elite leagues and the real national teams, there is simply no interest for the rest. This is also why the olympic football gets zero interest. Having that U21 rule makes the tournament incredibly uninteresting.

Ehm, I think both Gothenburg and Malmö had more than 16,000 in attendance for some games not involving Sweden during the FIFA Euro U21 last summer. And games between the most obscure nations had some 7,000 in attendance.

 

[Jussi]

Ehm, I think both Gothenburg and Malmö had more than 16,000 in attendance for some games not involving Sweden during the FIFA Euro U21 last summer. And games between the most obscure nations had some 7,000 in attendance.

Ticket packages.

 

[KRM]

Ticket packages.

And?

 

[Latex*]

Nobody under the age 25 cares about hockey in Finland and nobody over 25yo is willing to stay awake and watch the games.

 

[Aaaaaaaaaaaaa]

They gave us "The best hockey country with population of only 5 million which about 80% don`t care about hockey" trophy.

That's a pretty weird trophy.

I wouldn`t be against it.

As for the thread question:
Most of European teams don`t do too well in this tournament. Only Russia and Sweden have a chance to medal unless something weird happens. There`s no reason for other countries to get excited over this tournament.

So you only watch sports where your nation wins? I watch basketball, and the only team based in Canada is horrible. I watch NFL, and there are almost no Canadians involved. Sometimes it's just about a love for the game.

This. Besides, junior sports are not a big deal in Europe. We don't have anything that compares to the NCAA system or the CHL in Canada.

Personally I've always found it a bit odd how people get so aggravated and hyped up over a tournament which basically involves kids.

18 and 19 year old men are not kids. Don't make it weird. We just like hockey, no matter who is playing.

We acknowledge Canada as centre of universe, we awe your perfection in every aspect as a nation.

Your lack of maturity astounds me. I hope you are 14 years old. If you are full-grown...just wow.

Bigger mystery is why Canadians like this tournament so much. Could it actually be because their team is successful in it ?

TSN has done a great job of marketing the tournament to the average fan. Guys like me have watched it from the beginning, but now it is a holiday tradition in Canada. Casual fans even get caught up in it. There is a lot of hype surrounding it, and it will continue to be watched, even if we do poorly (which will never happen again, because a lot of money and time goes into building these teams now). Back in the day, there was a smaller staff of scouts assembled and the team was quietly picked. Because of Canada's wealth of players, choices were often political (you have to take a French-speaking goalie and two d-men from the WHL, etc). Now, every pick is scrutinized. This is both bad and good, but it does usually mean the best players get to play.

First of all it's Sweden, not Sweeden.

Maybe the best way to make it more popular is to host it there more? Hard to blame anyone for not caring when the games are on in the middle of the night.

True, but I will say that when the games are held in Europe, one of my favorite things to do on a cold winter night is to get up at 4:00am in the morning, brew a pot of coffee, and enjoy a world junior game. No kidding, many of my Christmas holiday memories stem from this. It is something I have loved doing since I was very young, and is a tradition. A part of me wishes I could do it more often.

I think the main reason this is not bigger in Europe is because most of these players will never play in "our" league. For people in Canada and the US most of these players have just been or will be drafted. That is what makes it fun to watch these games for fans of these teams. Its a chance to watch prospects before they arrive at their NHL teams.

But why would a Swedish hockey fan that only follows Swedish hockey watch a match between Russia and Czech Republic? If you're not very interested in hockey its a just a match with a bunch of players you've never heard of. Ofcourse there's people in Europe that follow the NHL intensively but these are in the minority compared to the ones following the national leagues.

In short, I don't think its possible to create the same amount of interest in Europe as their is in Canada (when its not the home-nation playing).

This is possibly the best answer I have heard yet, and one I had not considered. Admittedly, I am pretty NHL-centered. I also have to admit that it is probably why I am not too interested in the Spengler Cup, which is on TV and held at the same time as the world juniors, but largely ignored by Canadian viewers like myself. I'll watch it if there is nothing else to do, but I don't make it a priority, let's put it that way.

Don't you get Finland is pretty unlikely to win any kind of competition. Still we watch. Unlike North Americans we don't only watch games where we'll win most of the time.

This is true, although I respect Finland a lot (my ancestors were Finns). They normally have iced great hockey teams at many different levels, and were really the first to play a North American style of hockey that I love so much.

 

[Muuri]

So you only watch sports where your nation wins? I watch basketball, and the only team based in Canada is horrible. I watch NFL, and there are almost no Canadians involved. Sometimes it's just about a love for the game.

Well maybe some Europeans don't love hockey enough to wake up 3am just to see their team to get trashed.

And if I where only watching sports where my nation wins, there wouldn't be much to watch .

 

[Zine]

2 reasons why it's not popular:

1. Junior athletic is not part of the European sporting culture like it is in Canada (CHL/WJC) or America (NCAA).

2. Unlike in Canada, hockey isn't a big enough sport for the average sports fan to care.

 

[Jussi]

And?

If you want to see you home country play, you also have to buy tickets to see games X and Y.

 

[KRM]

If you want to see you home country play, you also have to buy tickets to see games X and Y.

And?

 

[IslesNorway]

The answer has aldready been provided by a few people on here: in Europe we watch grown-ups, not kids.

Because of the European system of promotion/relegation where you can follow your team through divisions, and every club having its own junior team (ie. no draft) makes junior sports uninteresting to us.

 

[Aaaaaaaaaaaaa]

The answer has aldready been provided by a few people on here: in Europe we watch grown-ups, not kids.

Again, this comment. Seems to be a very popular one amongst Europeans.

We get it. You are insulting Canada. Whether or not your insult has some deeply disturbing overtones, I am not sure. Either way, you are saying there is something wrong with us.

You would be wise to remember that Canada as I know it (with no disrespect to the First Nations, the true first people of North America) was created by groups of people fleeing your nations to find a better life.

So I'll take your insult and smile, if you don't mind.

 

[Jussi]

Again, this comment. Seems to be a very popular one amongst Europeans.

We get it. You are insulting Canada. Whether or not your insult has some deeply disturbing overtones, I am not sure. Either way, you are saying there is something wrong with us.

You would be wise to remember that Canada as I know it (with no disrespect to the First Nations, the true first people of North America) was created by groups of people fleeing your nations to find a better life.

So I'll take your insult and smile, if you don't mind.

Oh. My. God.

Point----->

You.

 

[Jussi]

And?

Hence the large attendances for non-Swedish games.

 

[zorz]

Again, this comment. Seems to be a very popular one amongst Europeans.

We get it. You are insulting Canada. Whether or not your insult has some deeply disturbing overtones, I am not sure. Either way, you are saying there is something wrong with us.

You would be wise to remember that Canada as I know it (with no disrespect to the First Nations, the true first people of North America) was created by groups of people fleeing your nations to find a better life.

So I'll take your insult and smile, if you don't mind.

I think there is really something wrong with you after I read this comment. lol, insulting, really? I wouldn't find such interpretation if you didn't mention it I don't think he is insulting you or Canada, he's just saying how things work here.

 

[Zine]

Again, this comment. Seems to be a very popular one amongst Europeans.

We get it. You are insulting Canada. Whether or not your insult has some deeply disturbing overtones, I am not sure. Either way, you are saying there is something wrong with us.

You would be wise to remember that Canada as I know it (with no disrespect to the First Nations, the true first people of North America) was created by groups of people fleeing your nations to find a better life.

So I'll take your insult and smile, if you don't mind.

I think come WJC time, many of you WANT to be insulted and therefore choose to take every comment as an insult.

-Lander says USA is the team to beat......"He insulted Canada!"
-Ronberg says Russia and Czech tested his defense more......"He insulted Canada!".
- Poster says WJC is a kids tournament........"He insulted Canada!"


C'mon, for all intents and purposes the WJC is a kids tournament. North American media and fans alike routinely refer to CHL, NCAA players as kids; yet when Europeans do it you say "He insulted Canada!"

 

[Jumptheshark]

As a Canadian living in Europe i think some of the comments show the general ingnorance of Canadians to European hockey and is also an example of how much pressure Canadians put on 17 to 20 year olds

 

[taunting canadian]

Holy crap, we have about 3 or 4 people jumping all over someone for "misinterpreting" something as an insult, but the "misinterpretation police" apparently missed this one:

We acknowledge Canada as centre of universe, we awe your perfection in every aspect as a nation.

In which someone interpreted a question asking how European nations might improve WJC attendance as someone bragging about Canada and its "perfection". And yet, some of you think it's Canadians who are jumping at any opportunity to be insulted. Yeah, this thread is obviously "proof" that it's the Canadians that have exceedingly thin skins.

 

[canucksfan]

Again, this comment. Seems to be a very popular one amongst Europeans.

We get it. You are insulting Canada. Whether or not your insult has some deeply disturbing overtones, I am not sure. Either way, you are saying there is something wrong with us.

You would be wise to remember that Canada as I know it (with no disrespect to the First Nations, the true first people of North America) was created by groups of people fleeing your nations to find a better life.

So I'll take your insult and smile, if you don't mind.

Do you know how to read? No one is insulting Canada they are telling the truth. The majority of Europeans do not care about this tournament. In fact, the majority of Europeans do not watch football tournaments similar to the WJC. Football is by far the most popular sport in Europe yet no one really cares about them.

 

[Latex*]

Not a single friend of mine even knew there was such thing going on as the Hockey WJC. Tells you something about the popularity of hockey in Finland...

 

[Muuri]

Not a single friend of mine even knew there was such thing going on as the Hockey WJC. Tells you something about the popularity of hockey in Finland...

Small sample size like that doesn't prove anything. Hockey is still the most popular sport in Finland.

 

[Shrimper]

One of the things it could do to make it more popular is make the games more accessible to us over here, i'm in a +5 time zone so I can see the earlier games but if I want to see a European team vs Canada, I can't. Playing Canada the USA or Russia is a big draw for some countries and more people would watch that to see them face up against who they perceive to be the best than a normal game such as Sweden vs Latvia. They should rotate it so that North America get's it every 3 years, Europe every 3 years and Russia every three years. I'd like to see Europe host it in London, purely because I could go to it and it'd be a big way to improve the popularity of the game over here.

 

[Mr Kanadensisk]

The reason why the WJC is so popular in Canada is because it was the first IIHF tournament where we could actually send our best players. If it wasn't for the IIHF embargo on NHLers the WJC wouldn't be nearly as popular in Canada as it is today and it will never be a big deal elsewhere in the world.

 

[canucksfan]

The reason why the WJC is so popular in Canada is because it was the first IIHF tournament where we could actually send our best players. If it wasn't for the IIHF embargo on NHLers the WJC wouldn't be nearly as popular in Canada as it is today and it will never be a big deal elsewhere in the world.

That isn't true. The WJC wasn't big until the 90's. Canada could send it's best players before that to the WHC.