[Samuelsson]

Yeah, it's foolish to suggest merging teams. If there was a combined US/Canadian team, would you follow that? Cheer for it and sing your anthem? (Ah, you can't). That's right, probably not.

I mean, every fibre of my body thinks that this won't work, but I still really want it to happen. Even if people's national team gets mullered every game, they'll still cheer for it. Much better than a merging of teams.

The real question though is the qualification for the lower-rank teams. Say for instance, in 5 years time, Germany are pretty decent and could probably snag the eighth spot in the tournament - how would you go about letting them in? It can't become like an old boy's club where only the select 8 every year get invited, otherwise there's no incentive. Imagine being from that country (Germany) on the brink and you get to represent your country in what should be the biggest tournament in the world, because you just managed to qualify after beating Slovakia or Switzerland in OT. You'd be buzzing.