We’ve seen an increase in NHL players from non-traditional hockey countries such as Denmark, Norway, Austria, and Germany. I think the WJHC is beneficial in giving these players a chance to be seen on a bigger stage. I think it is a positive to have these lesser teams in the tournament.
This is simply not true. Do your homework. You made me do a double take and apon looking up the actual players based on born nation it is simply untrue. There has been lots of prospects you here about but the same number of kids that can actually make the jump to the ahl or Nhl as a full time gig has almost never changed. Google is a wonderful tool.
Last edited by combustiblefuel; 12-26-2018 at 10:24 PM.
I think alot of these smaller countries get decimated in this tournament and I don’t really see how that increases their development besides reinforce how big of a talent gap there is. It would be more beneficial for these countries to send more and more of their players to Canada and the states to develop imo. 14-0? Just stupid
I think alot of these smaller countries get decimated in this tournament and I don’t really see how that increases their development besides reinforce how big of a talent gap there is. It would be more beneficial for these countries to send more and more of their players to Canada and the states to develop imo. 14-0? Just stupid
See thats the whole thing. They just can't do that . Their is a limit per team on foriegn players that can play per league and by team . Rightfully so too. Example is yhe WHL per team you can have 2 non north American players.
The CHL even owns rights to players are born in specific states. General Information
1. Where do the players come from?
The Western Hockey League’s (WHL) 22 Member Clubs are located throughout Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S.. Players who reside in the Western Canadian provinces of Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, Yukon, and the Western U.S. states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming are within the protected territory designated by the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) to the WHL.
See thats the whole thing. They just can't do that . Their is a limit per team on foriegn players that can play per league and by team . Rightfully so too. Example is yhe WHL per team you can have 2 non north American players.
The CHL even owns rights to players are born in specific states. General Information
1. Where do the players come from?
The Western Hockey League’s (WHL) 22 Member Clubs are located throughout Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S.. Players who reside in the Western Canadian provinces of Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, Yukon, and the Western U.S. states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming are within the protected territory designated by the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) to the WHL.
Ah ya that is true, I know the NCAA and USHL option are being utilized more by Europeans so maybe that trend continues. I just don’t see this tournament as being very beneficial for these small countries. The standard hockey countries still dominate the tournament with their being a massive drop off from the tier 2 teams to the 3rd tier. I’d say the czech’s and Slovaks are in that tier 2 group. It’s just embarrassing for those players and probably pretty demoralizing to get beat that bad. I just think that saying this tournament is beneficial for smaller hockey nations is baseless besides the fact that it does give them exposure.
In my lifetime I've seen the Swiss go from a tier 3 team to a tier 2 team. They used to be one of those teams that would get beat 10-0 and now they're a tough out for even the best teams. In that process, they've gone from having their token NHL rep be Mark Streit to actually producing good to exceptional players on a regular basis:
Roman Josi
Nico Hischier
Timo Meier
Kevin Fiala
Nino Neiderreitter
Sven Baertschi
Denis Malgin
Yannick Weber
Luca Sbisa
etc.
That yearly talent gap between teams like Canada and Switzerland was obvious, so the Swiss program invested in development, and yes, sometimes that means sending players over to NA to develop a higher quality game.
If Denmark doesn't work on shortening that talent gap after a loss like this then that's on them. They will end up relegated to the lower division and a team like Norway might move up and develop their players more. Or maybe it will be Japan or China that develops hockey players.
It's unfortunate to see a drubbing like that, but if it's the wakeup call the Danish program needs, then so be it. Set the bar for competition. Force other teams to meet it or perish.
__________________
"You know, that's kinda why I came here, to show that I don't suck that much" ~ Devin Cooley, Professional Goaltender
The Following 11 Users Say Thank You to Cali Panthers Fan For This Useful Post:
I tune out of games that get that lopsided, but from all reports the players and supporters of these lower tier countries love to be there no matter what and are super proud of being there and having the entire experience, even 14-0 losses.
I guess that's something.
__________________ "It's a great day for hockey."
-'Badger' Bob Johnson (1931-1991)
"I see as much misery out of them moving to justify theirselves as them that set out to do harm." -Dr. Amos "Doc" Cochran
I tune out of games that get that lopsided, but from all reports the players and supporters of these lower tier countries love to be there no matter what and are super proud of being there and having the entire experience, even 14-0 losses.
I guess that's something.
It makes sense. I'm sure Canada would love to go to the World Cup even if it meant losing 5-0 to Germany.
From the highlights I don't think you can really blame Canada for scoring 14. A lot of the goals I saw were basic hockey plays executed at the level and pace expected of a team in this tournament. Take your foot off the gas and start downplaying your game to hand out some participation ribbons and you can jeopardize the entire team chemistry.
These thumpings happen every year and I do think that these kinds of game really tell developing countries exactly where they are in terms of the development of their programs. Relegation teams all have a long ways to go to stand with the big boys. Germany and the Swiss have all come a long way since I was a kid (80's-90's).
In my lifetime I've seen the Swiss go from a tier 3 team to a tier 2 team. They used to be one of those teams that would get beat 10-0 and now they're a tough out for even the best teams. In that process, they've gone from having their token NHL rep be Mark Streit to actually producing good to exceptional players on a regular basis:
Roman Josi
Nico Hischier
Timo Meier
Kevin Fiala
Nino Neiderreitter
Sven Baertschi
Denis Malgin
Yannick Weber
Luca Sbisa
etc.
That yearly talent gap between teams like Canada and Switzerland was obvious, so the Swiss program invested in development, and yes, sometimes that means sending players over to NA to develop a higher quality game.
If Denmark doesn't work on shortening that talent gap after a loss like this then that's on them. They will end up relegated to the lower division and a team like Norway might move up and develop their players more. Or maybe it will be Japan or China that develops hockey players.
It's unfortunate to see a drubbing like that, but if it's the wakeup call the Danish program needs, then so be it. Set the bar for competition. Force other teams to meet it or perish.
Exactly this. And the same can be said for Germany.
If it were a 4 team tournament, and assuming that the decision were made 10 or 20 years ago, it would likely be CAN, RUS, CZE and SWE. No Finland, no USA.
These tournaments push the 2nd and 3rd tier teams to be better.
How far has the US program come (for you younguns, they used to be also-rans as well). How far has the Finnish program come?
As Cali said, how far has the Swiss program come? The Germans?
Competition will help close the gap for other countries as well. But excluding them from this level puts a ceiling above their heads.
In my lifetime I've seen the Swiss go from a tier 3 team to a tier 2 team. They used to be one of those teams that would get beat 10-0 and now they're a tough out for even the best teams. In that process, they've gone from having their token NHL rep be Mark Streit to actually producing good to exceptional players on a regular basis:
Roman Josi
Nico Hischier
Timo Meier
Kevin Fiala
Nino Neiderreitter
Sven Baertschi
Denis Malgin
Yannick Weber
Luca Sbisa
etc.
That yearly talent gap between teams like Canada and Switzerland was obvious, so the Swiss program invested in development, and yes, sometimes that means sending players over to NA to develop a higher quality game.
If Denmark doesn't work on shortening that talent gap after a loss like this then that's on them. They will end up relegated to the lower division and a team like Norway might move up and develop their players more. Or maybe it will be Japan or China that develops hockey players.
It's unfortunate to see a drubbing like that, but if it's the wakeup call the Danish program needs, then so be it. Set the bar for competition. Force other teams to meet it or perish.
And then a different team gets beaten 14-0. Denmark earned the right to be in this tournament and may well be back next year. I could see them beating the Swiss, or if not they will handle Kazakhstan in the consolation finals.
There aren’t really 10 competitive teams in major junior hockey so if you insist on that many teams in the tournament, you will get drunbings like this. Switzerland, Denmark, Kazakhstan or whoever else is on the periphery.
No different than soccer, it’s just that more nations play that game so the cutoff is not at 10.
