WC: Which tournament is more important and more interesting?

[SotasicA]

As it is :

Olympics
SC
WJC



WHC

WC

____

Potentially, with vision :

Olympics
WC
SC
WJC






WHC

I think you overrate the Spengler Cup.

 

[DaveG]

lol.


But yeah, right now the World Cup is a gimmick, no other way to put it. If they start consistently doing this every 4 years in the offseason it easily surpasses the World Championships to me. Especially once they get rid of the ridiculous teams and make it the best 6 or 8 national teams in the world.

Right now both are basically irrelevant to me though. The Olympics are a true best on best so they rank #1 to me, then the WJCs, and well after that the World Championships and World Cup. Hell the Frozen Four means a hell of a lot more to me then either of those two tournaments.

 

[kabidjan18]

This is a very important question!

Now you see why I said please don't start this...

 

[Bear12Good]

Now you see why I said please don't start this...

Yes

 

[BayStreetBully]

Now you see why I said please don't start this...

Agreed. The motivation of the OP is so obvious.

 

[Back in Black]

World Cup, and it's not even close. I'd rank WJC ahead of the World Champs, too.

Same here!

 

[Tomas W]

The world cup. Of course it would have been better with a proper qualifing round for team 7 and 8 instead of the strange euro and u24 teams. But its still a best on best tournament.

 

[kabidjan18]

The world championships is a really cute tournament, it's a fun tournament, I love it, it's a great chance to license players and gather data and film. It has a lot of inherent limitations however, that keep it from ever being the highlight of a hockey season. One limitation is obviously the fact that it's not best on best. Another limitation is that there are no qualifications for it, instead there's double promotion/relegation. This allows a team like Hungary, which is miles away from being even passable, to compete every other year and I just can't take a top flight tournament with Hungary seriously. Now the WC is great for growing the sport, and it's great for getting national players to play together so they have some more playing experience together, more chemistry, but when the NHL gets the world cup right, if they do, it will be just intrinsically more important. It's important to remember though that basketball, baseball, even beep baseball all have world cups but none of them pull in serious revenue, so just assuming "well they slapped the name world cup on it so it'll one day become famous like the soccer world cup" is not an accurate depiction of reality, it does have to be done right or it won't be a profitable venture.

 

[Urbanskog]

The world championships is a really cute tournament, it's a fun tournament, I love it, it's a great chance to license players and gather data and film. It has a lot of inherent limitations however, that keep it from ever being the highlight of a hockey season. One limitation is obviously the fact that it's not best on best. Another limitation is that there are no qualifications for it, instead there's double promotion/relegation. This allows a team like Hungary, which is miles away from being even passable, to compete every other year and I just can't take a top flight tournament with Hungary seriously. Now the WC is great for growing the sport, and it's great for getting national players to play together so they have some more playing experience together, more chemistry, but when the NHL gets the world cup right, if they do, it will be just intrinsically more important. It's important to remember though that basketball, baseball, even beep baseball all have world cups but none of them pull in serious revenue, so just assuming "well they slapped the name world cup on it so it'll one day become famous like the soccer world cup" is not an accurate depiction of reality, it does have to be done right or it won't be a profitable venture.

So... you cannot take the tournament seriously because Hungary has managed to get to compete in it for the second time since the World War 2?

 

[moon*]

For Russian NHL players win the world championship is more important than winning the Stanley Cup

That must be why they all leave their NHL teams to go play in the World Championships each year.

Of course it is the World Cup and it isn't close.

The World Championships are a 3rd rate tournament. It is better to win than to lose of course but if Canada loses this joke of a tournament who cares. I will be pissed if they don't win the World Cup.

 

[kabidjan18]

So... you cannot take the tournament seriously because Hungary has managed to get to compete in it for the second time since the World War 2?

Hmmm...taking it seriously perhaps isn't the best way to state it. I guess the connotations with that phrase are slightly harsher than I'm going.

Hungary is obviously not a top flight team. They are obviously more than just a little away from a top flight team. They just replaced Italy in the rotation which is also obviously not a top flight team. They will play Canada D team, Sweden C team and they won't get beaten, they might even score this tournament. It's hard to regard a tournament as a top flight tournament when it features non top flight teams every other year. That being said it's a great event, really is, whole lot of fun.

 

[tade]

Hmmm...taking it seriously perhaps isn't the best way to state it. I guess the connotations with that phrase are slightly harsher than I'm going.

Hungary is obviously not a top flight team. They are obviously more than just a little away from a top flight team. They just replaced Italy in the rotation which is also obviously not a top flight team. They will play Canada D team, Sweden C team and they won't get beaten, they might even score this tournament. It's hard to regard a tournament as a top flight tournament when it features non top flight teams every other year. That being said it's a great event, really is, whole lot of fun.

And that's also one of the reason why I love this tournament, because there will be teams like Hungary who we can watch (as unknown team) and cheer for, as heavy underdog, they worked their ass to play in this tournament, it's a huge honor for them...

It's great to have a top hockey countries together with countries who are not known for its hockey, that's about what World Championships should be. To show hockey through as many countries as possible.

And the level of play and competition was pretty high, for example last year, look at what kind of team Canada had, full of stars... It was far, far away from "Canada D team". So we will see what they can get this year before calling it Canada D team.

That must be why they all leave their NHL teams to go play in the World Championships each year.

Of course it is the World Cup and it isn't close.

The World Championships are a 3rd rate tournament. It is better to win than to lose of course but if Canada loses this joke of a tournament who cares. I will be pissed if they don't win the World Cup.

And that is like... just your opinion. For me and I am sure that I am not alone, it's WHC this year, not that hard choice.

It would be sad if hockey nation like Canada could not manage a win in "joke of a tournament". It is World Cup this year which is more of joke tournament with these fantasy teams involved. Exhibition with great hockey at best, that's not going to do it for me. But I will watch some games for sure because I love hockey. But I won't take it a lot seriously.

 

[QnebO]

I don't understand why in NA lower league hockey has no fans. I love watching Suomi-Sarja. Many would surprise how quality series it is when you actually get to watch it. And when you have your local team in with few friends in the roster its just more fun.

Same logic applies for WHC. Out side of couple of blow outs by Canada, the tournament is great fun.

 

[kabidjan18]

And that's also one of the reason why I love this tournament, because there will be teams like Hungary who we can watch (as unknown team) and cheer for, as heavy underdog, they worked their ass to play in this tournament, it's a huge honor for them...

It's great to have a top hockey countries together with countries who are not known for its hockey, that's about what World Championships should be. To show hockey through as many countries as possible.

And the level of play and competition was pretty high, for example last year, look at what kind of team Canada had, full of stars... It was far, far away from "Canada D team". So we will see what they can get this year before calling it Canada D team.

I agree, that is one of the appeals of the WC, seeing a team advance the popularity of hockey in their country. However it's also a limitation when we're talking about making it a top flight and top interest tournament, because a top flight tournament shouldn't have training wheels. Kazakhstan combines losing hopelessly all the time with having a lot of imports now, Hungary might get lucky enough to keep a game within 5 this year. It's a fun competition to watch, it's a great for the game, but the reality is that even as a 16 member tournament Hungary would never qualify through a qualifications, so the tournament is more for growing and promoting the sport. The level of hockey isn't an issue for me, the lack of parity at the bottom does make it not top flight however. Who cares if the top teams can beat the bottom teams by 10 goals, but when a bottom team like Germany can probably beat Hungary 6-0 then you've got too little parity for it to be too big of a tournament.

 

[Urbanskog]

I agree, that is one of the appeals of the WC, seeing a team advance the popularity of hockey in their country. However it's also a limitation when we're talking about making it a top flight and top interest tournament, because a top flight tournament shouldn't have training wheels. Kazakhstan combines losing hopelessly all the time with having a lot of imports now, Hungary might get lucky enough to keep a game within 5 this year. It's a fun competition to watch, it's a great for the game, but the reality is that even as a 16 member tournament Hungary would never qualify through a qualifications, so the tournament is more for growing and promoting the sport. The level of hockey isn't an issue for me, the lack of parity at the bottom does make it not top flight however. Who cares if the top teams can beat the bottom teams by 10 goals, but when a bottom team like Germany can probably beat Hungary 6-0 then you've got too little parity for it to be too big of a tournament.

That seems like an unfair statement. The last time that Kazakhstan played on this level, which was in 2014, they had several close games against teams better than them. A 1-2 shootout loss to Germany, a 4-5 loss against Latvia and even a 4-3 OT loss against the US and a 3-4 loss against Finland.

This tournament has been great for the development of smaller hockey countries. Hell, I would be in favor of adding even more teams to the tournament.

 

[kabidjan18]

That seems like an unfair statement. The last time that Kazakhstan played on this level, which was in 2014, they had several close games against teams better than them. A 1-2 shootout loss to Germany, a 4-5 loss against Latvia and even a 4-3 OT loss against the US and a 3-4 loss against Finland.

This tournament has been great for the development of smaller hockey countries. Hell, I would be in favor of adding even more teams to the tournament.

Yeah, true but that was the Olympic year and in Olympic years the WC teams look the shabbiest. They had Dallman now they're adding a bunch of imports we'll see how they do. They're at least competitive against the lower level teams if they try hard enough. Hungary...well let's just say they're working on it.

Exactly, you would favor that because that's the purpose of the tournament. The purpose has changed over time to not be so much a best on best tournament but rather for the top teams to build cohesiveness in their lineups and for the bottom teams to develop the sport in their countries.

 

[hirawl]

The Olympics.
The Stanley Cup.
The World Junior Championships.
The World Championships.
...
Any yearly played tournament like The Spengler Cup and The European Hockey Tour's events.
...
...
...
Any randomly played exhibition event with make-up teams carries no importance whatsoever. Zero.

 

[BayStreetBully]

That seems like an unfair statement. The last time that Kazakhstan played on this level, which was in 2014, they had several close games against teams better than them. A 1-2 shootout loss to Germany, a 4-5 loss against Latvia and even a 4-3 OT loss against the US and a 3-4 loss against Finland.

This tournament has been great for the development of smaller hockey countries. Hell, I would be in favor of adding even more teams to the tournament.

So would I. I wouldn't mind seeing 20 or 24 teams in the World Championships. They can change the format if they like so each team doesn't play as many games. They can insert a mercy rule if they like so the bottom teams don't lose by more than 10 or 12 goals, for example. It's fun to watch different countries play.

 

[Bure80]

I think Europeans and NA have a different view on this. The most Euro's will always support WHC. For NA WC will be the real deal after olympics. Dont know if im right, i think this has to do with mentality.
NA like the big show. Euro's are more interested in the basic things.
Let me explain one example. In NA all fans know which players are in the Hall of Fame of their team. There is a big show in the time they are invited. Another point is stats/all time stats are very important.
In Europe near nobody is interested how much goals a Messi,Ronaldo or Muller scored. Even more unimportant are Alltime stats.

 

[glue]

As it is :

Olympics
SC
WJC



WHC

WC

____

Potentially, with vision :

Olympics
WC
SC
WJC






WHC

So much this. World Cup has the potential to be right up there with the Olympics, but the gimmicky teams are definitely ruining it. I am really interested in seeing how much emotion and pride will be felt in a situation like this:

Canada vs Team NA Gold medal final - OT:

"Weber carries the puck into the team NA zone, winds up and takes a shot, blocked by Couturier..Mcdavid picks up the puck, flies down the wing, he shoots..he scoresss!!!!"

Really...but...he's Canadian..so what exactly is he excited about...he just won gold for a random team NA by defeating Team Canada...

I don't know..can't see it..but i'll reserve judgement until I see this tournament play out.

 

[Lepardi]

1. World Cup
2. WJC
3. Ivan Hlinka

No other tournament matters to me because they aren't best on best.

Newsflash: The WJC is not best-on-best. Unless you think that Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Aaron Ekblad don't belong among the best.

if Canada loses this joke of a tournament who cares. I will be pissed if they don't win the World Cup.

If Canada doesn't win the World Cup, it's a pity that the result won't have real legitimacy cause they weren't allowed to pick all of their best players. It would be nice to see the Canadian A national team in the tournament instead of a team for Canadians born before October 1992.

 

[xxxx]

Newsflash: The WJC is not best-on-best. Unless you think that Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Aaron Ekblad don't belong among the best.



If Canada doesn't win the World Cup, it's a pity that the result won't have real legitimacy cause they weren't allowed to pick all of their best players. It would be nice to see the Canadian A national team in the tournament instead of a team for Canadians born before October 1992.

Wow. Why we should care about the 72 Summit Series either. We were missing some good players after all. And it was an exhibition, no other countries, just the two. It has no legitimacy because talking heads say so.

I don't get it. Do you like watching intense, passionate, best hockey effort from players or not? Well, guess what, I do.

 

[Pyromaniac]

All Russia will be hoping that Ovi will lose in the first round of the playoffs and will go at the WC16

Why? This is about the legacy of one of the greatest Russian players of all time. This is his best chance at a Cup winning season. Why wouldn't you want him to win it? I get it that some Russians may not care about the Stanley Cup but it's still hockey's greatest achievement. How can you call yourself a fan of
Ovechkin and not want to see him win?

 

[Bear12Good]

Why? This is about the legacy of one of the greatest Russian players of all time. This is his best chance at a Cup winning season. Why wouldn't you want him to win it? I get it that some Russians may not care about the Stanley Cup but it's still hockey's greatest achievement. How can you call yourself a fan of
Ovechkin and not want to see him win?

Because the majority of the Russian population does not watch the NHL
At the World Championships the main sporting event of the year

 

[tinozz]

Why? This is about the legacy of one of the greatest Russian players of all time. This is his best chance at a Cup winning season. Why wouldn't you want him to win it? I get it that some Russians may not care about the Stanley Cup but it's still hockey's greatest achievement. How can you call yourself a fan of
Ovechkin and not want to see him win?

well this again is because alot of europeans don't watch nhl or care if somebody wins a a stanley cup