[GDT] 2016 WJC: Finals. Bronze: SWE vs USA 7AM. Gold: RUS vs FIN 11:30AM. TSN

[sureLoss]

Oh yeah don't kid yourself into thinking nobody cares about this tournament except Canadians:

TV ratings in Finland:
Belarus vs Finland - 1 389 000 unique viewers, 701 000 average
Finland vs Canada - 1 132 000 viewers average
Finland vs Sweden - 1.26M viewers on average, topped at 1.75M.
USA-RUS: on average 897k, topped at 1.2M.

In comparison:
Canada vs. U.S.A., Saturday, TSN: 2,594,000 viewers average

Good ratings for a country with only 1/7th the population of Canada.

[Itse]

This year the U20 tournament has gotten more attention in Finland than any year I can remember.

Obviously good reasons for it. Combination of a highly entertaining team, home ice and having the most talked about line in the tournament.

[Weitz]

What about ratings in countries the tourney isn't being held in?

What were the ratings in Finland last year?

[calgarygeologist]

I don't know if anyone else is having any issues trying to watch the USA/Sweden game but the signal keeps cutting out for me. It is very frustrating. I'm watching at home via a Shaw Gateway system and it keeps going to a black screen saying that the channel is not being broadcast.

Hopefully it is much more stable for the gold medal game.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Another year Sweden falls flat on their face much to my delight.

[Poe969]

I can't see Puljujarvi's name without thinking how great he'd be on the Flames. I honestly think he's exactly what the Flames need moving forward. I know Matthewes is supposed to be "the guy" to go first overall but if the Flames somehow got the first overall pick, I'd be torn and would lean more to Puljujarvi

[Textcritic]

Sweden getting embarrassed by Team USA. It looks really good on them.

[Locke]

How do you say 'Go Finland' in Finnish?

This is a classic case of Sweden having given up.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Poe969

I can't see Puljujarvi's name without thinking how great he'd be on the Flames. I honestly think he's exactly what the Flames need moving forward. I know Matthewes is supposed to be "the guy" to go first overall but if the Flames somehow got the first overall pick, I'd be torn and would lean more to Puljujarvi

I would be happy with either Puljujarvi or Laine.

[GranteedEV]

Sweden missws Adam Ollas Mattsson... Because he is their Hjalmarsson.

[Henry Fool]

Originally Posted by Itse

This year the U20 tournament has gotten more attention in Finland than any year I can remember.

Obviously good reasons for it. Combination of a highly entertaining team, home ice and having the most talked about line in the tournament.

An important factor is that it's broadcast by YLE, the public network, instead of being buried somewhere deep in the channel list or worse yet behind a paywall. A casual viewer doesn't have to actively look for it.

Some years ago I recall having to buy a ####ing webpass to watch the tournament on stream.

[TheAlpineOracle]

All the Swedes over on HFboards saying how their players only care about Gold so they didn't even show up today.

I really can't think of an international hockey fan base that I have less respect for than the Swedes. The fans and the arrogance of their players over the past 5 ten years makes them pretty easy to route against. I think I dislike them more than the Russians now (and that is hard for me to say).

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Weitz

What about ratings in countries the tourney isn't being held in?

What were the ratings in Finland last year?

Don't have the numbers. But this tournament is really popular in Sweden also.

I watched a stream of their selection camp roster and after it was announced the stream discussed the selections for a good 15- 20 minutes. Selection camp!

Swedish newspapers also had bio of every player to make the final roster. They also did features on players similar to what TSN does. One that I recall is how Adam Ollas Mattsson shared a bond with a fellow World Junior teammate because both their mothers passed away when they were young.

I have been told/read from numerous sources the TV ratings in Sweden are high.

Yes the Finnish numbers might be boosted by being the host country, but does that really matter? I bet a lot of them who are watching this tournament for the first time will keep tabs on it in the future.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by TheAlpineOracle

All the Swedes over on HFboards saying how their players only care about Gold so they didn't even show up today.

I really can't think of an international hockey fan base that I have less respect for than the Swedes. The fans and the arrogance of their players over the past 5 ten years makes them pretty easy to route against. I think I dislike them more than the Russians now (and that is hard for me to say).

To be fair I have heard Canadian fans use that excuse in 2013 when Canada finished 4th.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

To be fair I have heard Canadian fans use that excuse in 2013 when Canada finished 4th.

You might hear a homer here and there say that, but if Canada put up a performance like this in a bronze medal game, the majority of people in this country would be absolutely thrashing them, not making up excuses for it.

When Sweden is winning, this tournament is a big deal to the Swedes. When they aren't, it's "what do we care about junior players".

[Hackey]

Damn Swedes got smoked. How many points did Matthews have?

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Hackey

Damn Swedes got smoked. How many points did Matthews have?

zero

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Hackey

Damn Swedes got smoked. How many points did Matthews have?

0 goals, which is good news, as he remains tied with Gaudreau for second all time among Team USA goal scorers at this tournament with 7 G. Jeremy Roenick is the leader with 8.

[Henry Fool]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I would be happy with either Puljujarvi or Laine.

I still like Laine more and think that he's getting drafted before Puljujärvi. More room to grow but wonderful offensive upside. Great passer as well, not just a pure shooter. He's been the most closely marked forward by opponents and he's shown that he can draw defenders to him and make space for others.

I'd even say that Laine has been trying not to look too selfish and he'd have more points if he just shot the puck from everywhere. The shot is ridiculous, both the wrister and the Cammalleri one-timer.

The things I watched about Puljujärvi were tunnel-visioning and shot. Shot I'm not sure about (probably 3/5) but it's pretty safe to say that he sees his teammates just fine. He's a horse, great conditioning, fast on open ice, strong in battles, will probably be a back-checking fiend. All around a very positive outlook and he does a lot but not necessarily elite offensive talent despite his points in the tournament.

[Benched]

cheered for Russia yesterday....but today it's all the Finns.

GO FINLAND!