Would you be fine with a World Cup Instead?

[um]

why did so many people care about the canada cup but not the world cup?

 

[Jack Tripper]

it will be impossible to replace the olympic prestige with a world cup after a decade and a half of involvement

the canada cups were memorable because they were from a different era...there is no longer a soviet red army team to compete against, and international hockey was in its infancy

the nhl will be making a massive long term error if they think they can get anywhere close to the media and fan attention with a world cup in august compared to an olympic tournament in february ...they may get more direct revenue but it will produce absolutely no growth in the sport, as the olympics reach the general public while a world cup will only appeal to the hard core fan

 

[Rekin]

why did so many people care about the canada cup but not the world cup?

No one cared about the Canada Cup, what everyone cared about was beating the Soviets.

Now we don't live in this bi-polar world of hockey anymore, and the World Cup of Hockey just failed to be better than the IIHF/IOC competitions. I would be happy to see it come back as a pure NHL event every 4 years, two years after each Olympic Winter Games (and yes, those should retain their current format).

 

[Mr Kanadensisk]

You do realize that a best on best tournament like that needs to give every nation in the world the possibility to qualify, or else there isn't a best on best?

It's a lot more best on best than the current Olympic format. There were 300 rostered mens players in this Olympics and when you have teams like Latvia, Austria, Slovenia, Norway, Switzerland and Slovakia you are not even close to getting the best 300 players in the world. Even teams like Russia and Finland had players who are not in the top 300 of the actual best players.

One thing that is very clear now is that they are allowing way too many teams to play in the Olympics, and it leads to very boring defensive hockey that hurts the entertainment value of the tournament and also its effectiveness in being a vehicle to grow the game. With the current state of hockey best on best tournaments should be limited to no more than six teams.

 

[Defeatist*]

No one cared about the Canada Cup, what everyone cared about was beating the Soviets.

Now we don't live in this bi-polar world of hockey anymore, and the World Cup of Hockey just failed to be better than the IIHF/IOC competitions. I would be happy to see it come back as a pure NHL event every 4 years, two years after each Olympic Winter Games (and yes, those should retain their current format).

Agreed. We live in a different era from back then. There is no mystique with playing russians or euros anymore. I think a world cup would be pretty hollow and meaningless for me today. I really hope the NHL never leaves the olympics.

 

[JETZZZ]

...why cant they do both Olympics and World cup and end up with best-on-best hockey every 2 years instead of 4? And if they could, what time of year would be best to play the world cup? what would make it interesting for more than just North Americans?

 

[Xokkeu]

I'll take both, but a World Cup instead of the Olympics is like ramen noodles in place of a five star chef's meal.

 

[Faltorvo]

The NHL doesn't need the IIHF.
The Olympics provide no jump in ticket sales for the NHL.
No jump in TV ratings either.

What did the NHL gain from Sochi?

Tavares injured.
Zetterberg injured.
Zuccarello-Aasen injured.
Kopecky injured.
Barkov injured.

It's a disaster.

Is the disaster any different if those players are hurt in a NHL run WC?

The only difference is that Gary would ban guys like Snow from making comments like he did.

For the record NHL revs have gone through the roof since the pro s have been going to the big O.

 

[Matte99]

But 1984 and 1987 were two of the best tournaments in the history of hockey.

I think the shine is off, but it would still be a lot of fun to watch.

Those tournaments were great but the world has changed. I agree with those who thinks hockey should stay with the greatest sport event on earth, the olympics.

 

[Stats01]

No, I want both the Olympics and WC. No reason why both can't exist. The WC every two years between Olympics should replace the annual World Championships, not replace the Olympics.


Hockey should just do what soccer does. For pete's sake I don't know why this seems so hard to implement. 2016 WC, 2018 olympics, 2020 WC, etc, simple and easy and it's all best on best.

 

[OiledUp]

The NHL absolutely needs the IIHF, Bettman may never admit it but as I said their sanctioning of the league is what allows the Europeans to come over. In years past this was never a huge issue as the NHL paid better and thus the almighty dollar attracted players. However, the KHL can pay that kind of money and in many cases allow the Europeans to not leave home. If for one second the IIHF dropped the sanctioning of the NHL, the league would resemble the 1960s NHL, except with 30 teams meaning it would almost be automatic for anyone who plays more than one season in the CHL to end up in the NHL.

What did Sochi do for the NHL? It exposed some new nations to NHL style hockey. Slovenia may not be a huge market, but the interest in their team was huge. As a result, the LA Kings and by proxy the NHL may have new fans. It also gives the NHL the right to break into the former Yugoslavian market for TV rights.

Also, I believe that NHL ratings have trended upwards in Europe since the NHL players started going to the Olympics. Contrary to popular belief ticketsales are not the driving force for the NHL as a league. What they want is exposure to new markets and sell their TV rights and merchandise. By participating in the Olympics it does this.

As well, the NHL stands to benefit from these regions in terms of future prospective players. Take Slovenia for instance, young children are watching the Olympics and would never have paid hockey a second glance, suddenly are enthralled by hockey and thus you see development of prospects in about 10 or 15 years.

Here's the biggest thing Sochi brought to the NHL, the likely need to go to South Korea. With South Korea having major companies headquartered there, coupled with an untapped TV market, could mean huge dividends for the league. Take Hyundai for instance, it isn't a major sponsor of the NHL as a whole. The NHL players play at the Olympics, Bettman and his advertising cronies can work Hyundai into advertising on their games. With the best players playing in South Korea for the games, he can.show Hyundai what great NHL hockey looks like. Thus, generating new money into the NHL.

As for the injuries, the players knew the risks going in. If they were worried about injuries they wouldn't have gone to Sochi. Besides, who's to say that the same injury wouldn't have occurred in a NHL game held that same day?

I don't see how the NHL at the Olympics has been anything but a major success for the league.

This is a very good post. Owners *****ing about the Olympics are very shortsighted. International exposure for the NHL holds a lot of potential. Especially since they play in unbroken territory next time in South Korea. If they're smart they run with it and send a couple of NHL stars promoting the tournament in Korea before hand, go with handsome, charming guys(think Lundqvist over Crosby) and players with korean roots(Parks I guess, Kariya and Setoguchi are of japanese descent if you wanna widen it to players from the region), you might build some media attention. If they can get revenues from the asian market thats potentially huge economically, asian fans are really good at buying merchandise. Spreading the game is never bad.

 

[mattihp]

World cup of hockey is an allstar format. It is very plain to see that it is an NHL exhibition tournament with NHL setting the roles. The only thing that is international competition about it is the jerseys.

For short: HECK NO. Not the same thing.

 

[Suiteness]

I despise FIFA like you wouldn't believe but they're on top of the world when it comes to international tournaments and I'd like to see hockey adopt their templates.

Olympics should be an U-23 tournament. Make it a bridge between the WJHC and the senior best on best tournament. No need to suspend NHL activities for a U-23 tournament. I figure the average age in the NHL is around 27ish?

WC could be held in July-August every four years. Make it a LEGIT WC, not a piece of crap tournament setup for Canadians to win. For instance, Switzerland hosts in 2016, Canada in 2020, Russia in 2024, etc.

 

[sting13]

I despise FIFA like you wouldn't believe but they're on top of the world when it comes to international tournaments and I'd like to see hockey adopt their templates.

Olympics should be an U-23 tournament. Make it a bridge between the WJHC and the senior best on best tournament. No need to suspend NHL activities for a U-23 tournament. I figure the average age in the NHL is around 27ish?

WC could be held in July-August every four years. Make it a LEGIT WC, not a piece of crap tournament setup for Canadians to win. For instance, Switzerland hosts in 2016, Canada in 2020, Russia in 2024, etc.

So what would you do if one team lost 6 players to the Olympics if the NHL
didn't suspend operations? Edmonton would have probably lost:
Hall, Nugent-Hopkins, Eberle, Yakupov, Marincin and J. Schultz. to a U-23
tournament.

 

[Stats01]

So what would you do if one team lost 6 players to the Olympics if the NHL
didn't suspend operations? Edmonton would have probably lost:
Hall, Nugent-Hopkins, Eberle, Yakupov, Marincin and J. Schultz. to a U-23
tournament.

That's a great point, you can't handicap a team like that, thats really not fair. You can't have a hybrid of Olympics because there are different mode's teams are in. There teams who are in win now mode with a more veteran team and teams that are re-building who have a bunch of younger players. You can't just have a team decimated because they're sending most of their team to the Olympics and then have a team like the Sharks stay in tact the whole time, how fair is that? The Olympics stay only if ALL players are eligible to play. If that happened the Oilers would get killed for two weeks. And that's really not fair.

 

[Sentinel]

I care very little about the World Cup. Gimme Olympics any day, all day.

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

Absolutely I would be fine with it. I don't think its sensible to stop the league mid-season every 4 years (or ever, for that matter). I care more about club team success than olympic success though.

 

[MessierII]

No I like the Olympics. It draws more casual fans. A World Cup will be awesome for hockey fans but my mom and sister aren't going to watch it where as Olympics they'll watch the gold medal game every time. Olympics just has a broader appeal.

 

[DrunkKaner88]

Shutting down the nhl for almost a month because of the Olympics is just disrupting the flow of the season. Don't get me wrong I love seeing all the blackhawk players out there having success and most of them winning a medal, but I'd much rather them concentrate on winning the cup and not potentially injuring each other or getting injured because of an event that is every 4 years. If they get injured id much rather it be during the nhl season while they are fighting for a playoff spot and not during the Olympics when they are playing with guys that they are just going to go back to hating once they go back to their respective teams.

 

[Defeatist*]

Any of you guys watch the wold cup of baseball during spring training? That's the level of hype and excitement you're going to get from a world cup of hockey in August/Sept. It's an artificial tournament with no meaning, history or prestige behind it like the olympics.

This is how much olympics mean to players. I doubt a player will cherish their world cup medal as much all these years later.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/flyers/20140224_Ex-Flyer_Gagne_would_rather_be_playing.html

"I have moved around a lot in the last few years, to Florida and to LA and Philly, but the gold medal is one of the things I keep taking with me," Gagne said. "Once in a while, I go look in the box and check to make sure it is still there."

 

[Sentinel]

I care very little about the World Cup. Gimme Olympics any day, all day.