Womens Hockey: How Much Time Left?

[Slava]

I watched a part of the game yesterday and really have to wonder how much longer the IOC lets this debacle go on. The defending silver medallist gets absolutely hammered by Canada which yet again illustrates that its a two horse race for the gold and silver.

I know that the argument is that countries will start putting more money towards this and eventually we'll see some parity...but how long does this take? I think that this is the 4th olympics for womens hockey. That basically equates to a whole generation of athletes, and the story remains the same. I feel bad for the ticket buyers for these games! Would anyone in Sochi next time around spend money to watch these games? Wherever the olympics are held after Sochi (and assuming its not Canada or the US) its got to be difficult to sell tickets to an obvious beatdown?

I'm sure that this will elicit some interesting discussion and arguments on both sides.

[troutman]

CAN and the US should start dogging it, and make the other teams look better!

[transplant99]

I know that the argument is that countries will start putting more money towards this and eventually we'll see some parity...but how long does this take? I think that this is the 4th olympics for womens hockey. That basically equates to a whole generation of athletes, and the story remains the same

In 1920 canada defeated the Czechs 15-0, and the Swedes, 12-1.

In 1924 Canada defeated the Czechs 30-0, the Swedes 22-0, and the Swiss 33-0.

in 1928 Canada defeated Sweden 11-0, Great Britain 14-0, and the Swiss 13-0.

in 1936..great Britain won Gold.

It takes a LONG time for these things to get somewhat evened up.

give the girls time...I mean its no skin off anyones ass to allow them to compete is it?

[Frequitude]

Like the world juniors, I wonder where people get off saying the sport isn't viable because people can't beat the best. Despite what some think, its not all about Canada. How the middle & lower tier countries stack up against one another is much more important for the health and development of the game than how they stack up against Canada.

[Imported_Aussie]

Its a conundrum...if you remove Womens hockey from the Olympics, it loses credibility and exposure, which may hurt enrollment in the sport outside of North America, but if you let this go on, it may also hurt enrollment in the sport as people see it as a stacked game, you cannot win.

Wickenhauser had a good point when she had been accused by some commentators of running up the score on weak opponents - no one says anything now about Mens Hockey when the Winter Olympics was in its infancy being a beatdown by Canada on everyone else...

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Imported_Aussie

Wickenhauser had a good point when she had been accused by some commentators of running up the score on weak opponents - no one says anything now about Mens Hockey when the Winter Olympics was in its infancy being a beatdown by Canada on everyone else...

How about taking it down a notch when you score the 12th or 13th goal? I think a simple high 5 is sufficient. It's not like they are playing for contracts or anything.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by transplant99

In 1920 canada defeated the Czechs 15-0, and the Swedes, 12-1.

In 1924 Canada defeated the Czechs 30-0, the Swedes 22-0, and the Swiss 33-0.

in 1928 Canada defeated Sweden 11-0, Great Britain 14-0, and the Swiss 13-0.

in 1936..great Britain won Gold.

It takes a LONG time for these things to get somewhat evened up.

give the girls time...I mean its no skin off anyones ass to allow them to compete is it?

Womens ski jumping says hi. I agree with you, but the IOC doesn't seem to.

It is painful to watch. Women's hockey has to have the biggest gap in entertainment value between the final game and everything else. The Canada/USA matchups are generally quite epic, but the lead-up is almost unwatchable imo.

[Flashpoint]

Women's hockey grows every year in exposure and competitiveness. That'll continue so long as they have something to play for.

16 years ago how many would have expected to see China ice any kind of a hockey team at the Olympics? The game grows. It sometimes takes generations, but it grows.

[transplant99]

Womens ski jumping says hi. I agree with you, but the IOC doesn't seem to.

Yup I agree...but they will get in at some point.

[MJM]

Woman's slow pitch suffered the same fate because of a predictable US/Canada thrashing didn't it?

[Dentoman]

I will never watch women's hockey ... has nothing to do with it being women, I watch lots of women sports ... it has to do with the entertainment value, which is zero.

[Pastiche]

Originally Posted by MJM

Woman's slow pitch suffered the same fate because of a predictable US/Canada thrashing didn't it?

Slow pitch was in the olympics?

Do you mean fast-pitch?

If that's the case then no it was cut over reputed European bias.

[Pastiche]

To each their own but I have been thoroughly entertained by the past couple Women's hockey gold medal games.

[Leeman4Gilmour]

Originally Posted by transplant99

in 1936..great Britain won Gold.

That team was half Canadian.....

I certainly understand it takes time to for the other countries to catch up, but, wow, is it terrible right now. After watching a bit of the first two games, I'm done. I'd much rather watch midget hockey at the local arena.

And with tv ratings, sponshorships, etc. playing a rather large role in the Olympics now as opposed to then, one has to wonder if the IOC will have a generations worth of patience. I hope they do, but it wouldn't shock me if they didn't.

[Table 5]

I guess we're just too used to watching high-end talent play, but watching women's hockey, Canada included, is downright painful. The slow moves and the mistakes are aggravating to the max.

Women's sports in almost anything else can be pretty exciting stuff (ie that women's alpine yesterday), but when it comes to hockey, it's just simply awful. I don't care if it stays or not, but last night was my last time watching.

[troutman]

Clearly the answer is for us to impregnate as many women as possible in Sweden, Finland, Russia, China etc - they need our superior Canadian ice hockey genes.

[Smell My Finger]

Maybe North Americans should point at how there are certain Olympic sports like ski jumping or luge that 1 or 2 countries win all 3 of the medals every single time. They are so out front of the countries but nobody ever says put a stop to these compititions right.

Our Hockey is their ski jumping, luge, x country or whatever.

[Flashpoint]

Originally Posted by Table 5

I guess we're just too used to watching high-end talent play, but watching women's hockey, Canada included, is downright painful. The slow moves and the mistakes are aggravating to the max.

Watching women's sports in almost anything else is pretty exciting stuff (ie that women's alpine yesterday), but when it comes to hockey, it's just simply awful.

It occurs to me...I wonder if Europeans used to watching world cup alpine events think the same thing?

As hard core hockey fans, I tend to think we are spoiled by the caliber of hockey we watch. Women's hockey appears slow and tedious to us, but probably seems fine to the fans who only tune in because it's the Olympics.

[Slava]

^ I get that argument (about the alpine events and the europeans dominating) but that is a different situation. There are other medalists (Canada has won gold a few times). Its not that I don't like womens hockey, its just that there is no parity at all.

When the 3rd best team is losing by double digits to the likely gold medal winner its beyond a lack of parity. Imagine if Canada goes on to win sliver this year though....a double digit gap between the silver and bronze medallists would be rididulous.

[Pastiche]

How do you build up parity though? If you are committed to a sport you need a generation at least to get athletes from other countries to join, play and excel. They wont do that if there's no exposure for the sport and nothing to play for.