Would you prefer this format for the WC:

[Sanderson]

Of course it does, what are you talking about. Both the World Cup itself and the qualifiers have random draws based on various pools (like the top 6 hockey nations would be the top pool), and the draw is a big televised event every time. The groups composition is too static and stagnant now in hockey World Championships.

No it doesn't. Having about 10 different exceptions make it quite clearly NOT a random draw. A random draw, by definition, cannot have a whole multitude of different requirements that have to be met.

For the 2014 World Cup, you had one pot of nations that were considered the top seeds. Beyond that, you had three pots that were divided by their regionality, meaning all the European teams were bunched together, followed by a pot including Asia and North America and one with the African and South American teams. This is already quite clearly not a random draw anymore.

On top of that, with a pot only holding 8 teams, but nine European teams remaining beyond the top seed pot, this led to another special exception being created where one European team had to be drawn to be put into one of the other pots. With the top seeds being divided into four European and four South American nation, this one team could only be put in a group that was led by a South American nation, because another rule demanded that no more than two European teams could be in one group.

It doesn't stop here either. Every group could hold only one nation from each federation, apart from Europe that is. This meant that the South American teams from the South American-African pot could only end up in groups led by European teams.

As you can see, there is little random draw left at that point.


And no, the groups in hockey are still not static. There are only two groups, so obviously you will likely meet nations you have met before, it's pretty much impossible to go any other way. The groups are decided by the world rankings, which obviously change every year, as they depend on the World Championships. On top of that, minor exceptions can be made regarding the host(s). A "random draw" that ignores the six top teams doesn't end up with anything different than you can already get the current way. The difference being that the current format gives a bit of an advantage to those teams who performed well, while your random draw turns everything into nothing but luck.

 

[Faterson]

No it doesn't. [...] quite clearly NOT a random draw.

Yes, Mr. Humpty Dumpty. You can go ahead and redefine the meaning of basic words in the dictionary, but I'm certainly too busy for that, and it's off-topic for this thread.