WHC history in Europe is long and that is why it is so much appreciated in here. Europeans do not care so much about Stanley Cup finals, if their countrymen or favorite players are not playing. There are of course hard core fans, but not so many. Other North American sports series are even less followed, although you could see basketball, baseball, american football, nascar and others live from different sports channels.
Ice hockey not even near the most popular sports in Europe. Football wins the race 100-0 and I bet the Britons or Spaniards don´t even know that there was a WHC in Slovakia. Eastern Europe, Scandinavia and Central Europe are hockey countries, but I guess Finland is the one of the few countries (if not the only one?) in Europe where hockey is the most popular sports.
So what is my point? It is that sports culture in each country is different and people value different things. If you ask a basic Finn that would he rather see Finland win gold or his favorite team to win SC, the answer is most likely the first option, although most agree that there are not all the best players playing any spring. However, Finnish NHL players themselves value SC much more and for them WHC is option B. After being eliminated in playoffs they often refuse to join the national team, which is IMO acceptable, because their main goal of the season has been lifting up Stanley Cup - not the trophy from WHC.