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IIHF World Hockey Championships

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Mark2010, May 14, 2010.

  1. Huggy

    Huggy Well-Known Member

    The IIHF rips guys like Crosby who don't go to the Worlds. What a load of shit.

    http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/international/article/811614--hockey-federation-takes-shot-at-sidney-crosby-for-skipping-worlds
     
  2. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    It's a consolation tournament for the NHLers whose teams didn't make the playoffs and who still want to keep playing. It's also a good developmental tourney for guys like Eberle and Duchene.

    I don't know, I get more excited about the Spengler Cup than the WHC

    And I think players should just bow out by saying they have an "upper body injury". End of story.
     
  3. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    It's the IIHF. What do you expect from those clowns. NIce to see that Hockey Canada stood up for Sid.
     
  4. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    That is a piece of garbage. No other way to describe that. Typical IIHF, though, unfortunately.
     
  5. Boomer7

    Boomer7 Active Member

    There's no reason to have an annual world championship, especially not one that coincides with the world's top league's playoffs. Then again, there's no reason for the NHL season to extend into June, or for teams to play six months to eliminate fewer than half of the teams.
     
  6. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    As much as we in North America rag on it, the WHC is the European Stanley Cup. It's not that there's no reason to have the tourney, it's that probably Canada or the US shouldn't field teams.

    And the NHL plays six months, the same as the NBA or MLB. It's called the regular season.

    Half the teams (minus one) don't make the playoffs. What's wrong with that?
     
  7. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    There's no reason to have the tournament in the same year the Winter Olympics are held, whether or not Canada and the U.S. choose to participate, other than it's a cash grab for the IIHF.
     
  8. Elliotte Friedman

    Elliotte Friedman Moderator Staff Member

    JR,

    It is no longer the European Stanley Cup. It is, at best, the third-most important tournament (after the Stanley Cup and the Olympics) even among European players. The IIHF can't handle that.

    The only reason so many Russian players are there is to try and save some face from the Olympic wipeout.
     
  9. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    Just for shits and giggles, Hockey Canada should announce that the winner of this tournament, if not Canada, will be considered the second-tier world champion of 2010. :D
     
  10. friend of the friendless

    friend of the friendless Active Member

    Mr F,

    In Canada and the U.S. it's not the third most important tournament (in the grand scheme of things). It might be the fourth, after world juniors, which is getting more traction in the hard hockey culture there. I suspect over the long run the WC might end up fifth in the U.S., with the Memorial Cup gaining some interest if/when more U.S.-based teams are incorporated into the respective junior loops. Personally, I'd be more interested in the Quebec peewee tournament than the WC, no offence to the guys contesting it.

    o-<
     
  11. Elliotte Friedman

    Elliotte Friedman Moderator Staff Member

    Agreed, sir, to fans.

    However, doesn't really fit in this comparison because most NHLers are too old to play in it.
     
  12. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    If someone doesn't want to watch or doesn't put much stock in it, that's their loss. It's still the World Championships. Whether they should have one in an Olympic year is another issue for another post. At least now we see what the Olympics could look like in 2014.

    At least Russia sent its top guys: Ovechkin, Semin, Malkin, Gonchar, etc. They deserve to win.

    To Sea Bass, Messier was the one responsible for putting together the team, just like Yzerman was at the Olympics. Obviously, he didn't do a very good job of recruiting. So, yeah, I blame him just as much.
     
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