Which means more to a young player?

[AustonsNostrils]

WJC gold or Memorial Cup/NCAA Championship?

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[Club]

WJC gold imho man

 

[Quiksilver*]

Easily the season long Championship.

 

[Philadelphia Ducks]

Memorial cup AINEC

 

[CanuckGame39]

Memorial cup.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

That's like the Stanley cup and the other ones like Olympic

So memorial

 

[10coach*]

NCAA players would say NCAA Championship for sure.

 

[TaLoN]

NCAA players = National Title
CHL players = Memorial Cup

WJC is nice and all, but it's just a short tourney... a full season's effort coming to fruition is so much sweeter!

 

[saskriders]

Depends on the nationality. If Slovakia or Czech Republic won a gold it might be a bigger deal to the players since it is much rarer for their country to win gold.

 

[Atas2000]

Why should a russian player for example care about those NA tournaments?

Yes, it's fine to win with the guys you play with maybe, but I find it amazing how isolated the NA hockey world is. People really think "young players"=CHL/NCAA players.

 

[93LEAFS]

WJC gold or Memorial Cup/NCAA Championship?

Very tough. I think more Canadian kids grow up wanting to win the WJC gold, whereas outside of kids who grew up in major junior hockey communities (London, Windsor, smaller WHL locals) etc, junior hockey is just a necessity to get them to their real dream of playing in the NHL. I'm sure once they start playing it and the daily grind means a lot, but WJC gold seems more like a bucket list item.

 

[Dogewow]

I really don't know. It honestly comes down to each player individually. Some care more about specific tournaments than others, and obviously a player from overseas wouldn't care about the NCAA or Memorial cup if they aren't playing in it.

 

[TaLoN]

Why should a russian player for example care about those NA tournaments?

Yes, it's fine to win with the guys you play with maybe, but I find it amazing how isolated the NA hockey world is. People really think "young players"=CHL/NCAA players.

WJC gold or Memorial Cup/NCAA Championship?

I'm pretty sure the question implies those who are playing in the CHL or NCAA... if said Russian is in one of those leagues, then yes he will care.

 

[Thai jet*]

When you consider the schedule and travel, say a WHL kid, has to deal with I would think the Memorial Cup has the most meaning.

 

[BorntoLose]

Why should a russian player for example care about those NA tournaments?

Yes, it's fine to win with the guys you play with maybe, but I find it amazing how isolated the NA hockey world is. People really think "young players"=CHL/NCAA players.

why not contribute another option then if you feel this is excluding Euro players

 

[Tripod]

I don't think many kids grow up imagining winning the Memorial Cup. They do however dream about scoring the game winning goal for Canada.....and the Cup of course.

WJC gold gets my vote.

 

[bob27]

I'm pretty sure the question implies those who are playing in the CHL or NCAA... if said Russian is in one of those leagues, then yes he will care.

Perhaps he won't care as much as his Canadian teammates. I doubt that there are any Russians who dream of one day winning some Canadian junior league titles.

 

[Inkling]

WJC is certainly the highest profile, I agree that a lot of young hockey players in this country dream of winning Gold.

 

[Section32]

It depends where you are from.

As a BC grad, a National Championship is a huge deal...especially considering BC had only ONE before the 2001 season...and this is a school with the most Frozen Four appearances ever.

Now with 5 Stars, the pride is strong.

So, this is all about what you are exposed to.

Living in Conneticut, I never get anything about the Memorial Cup...and have only had TV access to the World Juniors over the past 3-4 years or so.

NCAA Championships are Gold for me...

Want to be the Alabama of Div I hockey...

 

[MXD]

It depends on the player.
I mean, to a Canadian 18 YO Top-4 guy on a good QJMHL team, the Mem Cup... because he has absolutely no chance to ever make TC.

 

[Trilliann]

Easily the season long Championship.

Yea This. Whatever league they play

 

[Mike Hasselhoffman]

I would say that the Memorial Cup has more significance while WJC Gold has more meaning, if that makes sense.

Memorial Cup has more significance because it's a result of a whole season's effort, travel, practices, and all of the hard work paying off.

WJC Gold has more meaning because so many young kids all over the world dream of winning gold for their country, whether it's the WJC or the Olympics.

 

[ovikovy817]

NCAA players = National Title
CHL players = Memorial Cup

WJC is nice and all, but it's just a short tourney... a full season's effort coming to fruition is so much sweeter!

So with your logic President's Trophy > Stanley Cup?

Stanley Cup is nice and all, but it's just a short tourney...

 

[Coach Travis]

I have to think that being named one of the best players that your country has made and winning in a (sorta*) best-on-best tournament against the rest of the world the greater honour.


*-Best players who aren't in the NHL (e.g. McDavid, Matthews, etc.)

 

[Hisch13r]

WJC Gold