2016 World Cup of Hockey

[FBI]

I'm definitely into NA but don't really care about Canada.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by polak

I'm surprised how little buzz this tournament is generating though. I was out at a pub yesterday and no one was paying attention to the game. No one cheered when Canada scored or anything. Not a peep.

Well it is a pre-tournament exhibition. Once teams start getting eliminated the hype will build.

The rough stuff in the CAN-US games were top trending topics on Facebook last weekend so obviously there is talk going on.

The NHL season will trump any of the tourney buzz though.

[TheoFleury]

Originally Posted by polak

I'm surprised how little buzz this tournament is generating though. I was out at a pub yesterday and no one was paying attention to the game. No one cheered when Canada scored or anything. Not a peep.

If the NHL wanted people to care about the world cup, they should've never gone to the Olympics in the first place. It's going to take a couple decades with tournaments at consistent intervals to build up some history and meaning.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Hes

I have wanted to get into it.. I just find myself busy with other things. Instead of watching the game yesterday I was outside enjoying the sunshine.

I will likely watch some games this weekend though.

It's a non-traditional tournament so a lot of casual hockey fans simply don't have it on their radar. It's a tough time of year considering the NFL just started up, MLB is hitting the regular season home stretch, CFL interest picks up in the fall. Lots of sports on TV right now.

[GirlySports]

people spoiled by the olympics. Different viewing habits.
It's very hard to reboot this tournament.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

People just are not used to there being hockey in September. It may not get traction until the elimination games. I suspect you'll see pubs full of red jerseys for those, especially the final - suddenly everyone will really care. But probably not until then.

Part of the issue might be that of the 4 games I've watched in bars so far, only one actually had the sound on. Even the bars don't seem to be promoting it as something that should cause you to want to come in and have a beer and watch. A hockey game where the home team is playing with the sound off in a sports bar basically signals, "this game isn't important and you shouldn't care".

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by TheoFleury

If the NHL wanted people to care about the world cup, they should've never gone to the Olympics in the first place. It's going to take a couple decades with tournaments at consistent intervals to build up some history and meaning.

Hot take.

[TheoFleury]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Hot take.

Is it wrong?

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by TheoFleury

Is it wrong?

Yes? Why does something need to have instant gravitas? The 96 World Cup has been constantly cited by the current generation of American star players as a major source of inspiration for them.

The 2004 World Cup wasn't especially well run, and had the cloud of the lockout hanging over it. If we'd played hockey that year, I bet it's remembered better.

The next two Olympics are in Asian countries with no hockey culture where the games would be played at stupid hours.

The quality of play in this tournament is clearly going to be first rate. Duha was on the Fan a few days ago saying there are plans to go with a North America vs Europe seven game series two years from now and a World Cup two years after that. Sign me up.

Should the NHL be committed to the Olympics forever? They seem to be pretty capable of arranging high calibre tournaments on their own. They've gone to Nagano, Salt Lake City, Turin, Vancouver and Sochi. The two best tournaments were in North America.

Given the money involved, why should the NHL bend over backwards to appease an organization as shady as the IOC?

We like the Olympics because we're used to it. Give it six years, with two World Cups and a 'Ryder Cup' series, and you will forget about the Olympics.

There's a reason nobody says they'd prefer an Olympic gold to a Stanley Cup.

It doesn't matter if the tournament is called the World Cup or the Olympics, or the Canada Cup. What matters is we get to watch insanely high level hockey and measure ourselves against the world's best.

The Europe/North America experiments are perfectly acceptable when rebooting an event like this.

Enjoy it. Don't worry about what it means. It means whatever you want it to mean. Ask the Americans.

[Weitz]

If the second Canada USA game showed anything its just going to be a penalty fest. Not interested in watching that. Must have gotten a call from some GM's.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Weitz

If the second Canada USA game showed anything its just going to be a penalty fest. Not interested in watching that. Must have gotten a call from some GM's.

Or they didn't want the two teams to kill each other in a pre tournament game after the events of the previous night.

The conspiracy angle is always so much more alluring.

[TheoFleury]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Yes? Why does something need to have instant gravitas? The 96 World Cup has been constantly cited by the current generation of American star players as a major source of inspiration for them.

The 2004 World Cup wasn't especially well run, and had the cloud of the lockout hanging over it. If we'd played hockey that year, I bet it's remembered better.

The next two Olympics are in Asian countries with no hockey culture where the games would be played at stupid hours.

The quality of play in this tournament is clearly going to be first rate. Duha was on the Fan a few days ago saying there are plans to go with a North America vs Europe seven game series two years from now and a World Cup two years after that. Sign me up.

Should the NHL be committed to the Olympics forever? They seem to be pretty capable of arranging high calibre tournaments on their own. They've gone to Nagano, Salt Lake City, Turin, Vancouver and Sochi. The two best tournaments were in North America.

Given the money involved, why should the NHL bend over backwards to appease an organization as shady as the IOC?

We like the Olympics because we're used to it. Give it six years, with two World Cups and a 'Ryder Cup' series, and you will forget about the Olympics.

There's a reason nobody says they'd prefer an Olympic gold to a Stanley Cup.

It doesn't matter if the tournament is called the World Cup or the Olympics, or the Canada Cup. What matters is we get to watch insanely high level hockey and measure ourselves against the world's best.

The Europe/North America experiments are perfectly acceptable when rebooting an event like this.

Enjoy it. Don't worry about what it means. It means whatever you want it to mean. Ask the Americans.

I see what you're saying but like it or not, that's not how it works for a lot people. It's obviously great hockey, but there's nothing on the line. I can't just force myself to care about something.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by TheoFleury

I see what you're saying but like it or not, that's not how it works for a lot people. It's obviously great hockey, but there's nothing on the line. I can't just force myself to care about something.

I understand that nobody grows up dreaming of winning that stupid plastic bowl, but I would counter by saying I also don't inherently care about the Olympic medals either.

What I care about is not losing to the other team. And how much I care tends to be directly related to how much the players care. It's the reason I watched every second of the San Jose Nashville marathon OT game.

And it's why I wasn't living and dying with every Jonas Hiller start down the stretch - he didn't care, so why should I?

The players care.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by TheoFleury

I see what you're saying but like it or not, that's not how it works for a lot people. It's obviously great hockey, but there's nothing on the line. I can't just force myself to care about something.

Did you stop watching when the Flames were out of it last year? Not much was on the line.

I watch for a few reasons: How will Gaudreau, Kevin, Frolik and Nakladal do? Do Canada's best play better in this setting than any other country? I think it's obvious that to all except maybe Europe (and after last night even them) it means a lot and when the players care, it's good hockey.

[TheoFleury]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Did you stop watching when the Flames were out of it last year? Not much was on the line.

I watch for a few reasons: How will Gaudreau, Kevin, Frolik and Nakladal do? Do Canada's best play better in this setting than any other country? I think it's obvious that to all except maybe Europe (and after last night even them) it means a lot and when the players care, it's good hockey.

I won't lie, I definitely watched less Flames hockey as the year went on last year. Or it would be on but it was more in the background.

[Jason14h]

I just don't get the pre-tournament games !

Like I literally don't know what's going on ! Are these exhibition or seeding round / etc?

(I've been out of the country for 2 weeks!)

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

I just don't get the pre-tournament games !

Like I literally don't know what's going on ! Are these exhibition or seeding round / etc?

(I've been out of the country for 2 weeks!)

Plain old exhibition games - like NHL preseason.

[Matata]

Olympic hockey is great, but i have no problems with the world cup replacing it, it just seems to make a lot more sense: no team has to worry about star players getting hurt later in the season; getting all the star players to play in a tournament is a great way to hype the upcoming season; the quality of play so far has been on par with the olympics round robin; It's great to see team Canada more than once every 4 years and team NA is a great way to see how the young stars stack up against each other.

[LIP MAN]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

People just are not used to there being hockey in September. It may not get traction until the elimination games. I suspect you'll see pubs full of red jerseys for those, especially the final - suddenly everyone will really care. But probably not until then.

Part of the issue might be that of the 4 games I've watched in bars so far, only one actually had the sound on. Even the bars don't seem to be promoting it as something that should cause you to want to come in and have a beer and watch. A hockey game where the home team is playing with the sound off in a sports bar basically signals, "this game isn't important and you shouldn't care".

Makes me so mad. What else is there, bar owners put on the sound!

[GioforPM]

I wonder what the viewership was for early Olympic rounds last time - you know - Canada versus Norway, Austria or Switzerland.