2016 World Cup of Hockey

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Itse

Team Finland has 5 medals from the last 6 Olympics, more than any other country, including Canada. 6 medals in the last 8. Plus they made the final in the previous World Cup.



Finland never wins, but they've been very consistently competitive. Every country has their bad years and bad stretches.

I think this Finland team was pretty young this year, was it not? And it was the first int'l tournament minus Selanne and Koivu the Elder. I expect they will be better the next time around.

I think the U-23 team has to stay, but the national teams need to get right of first refusal.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Let's just do a single Canada Vs The World game and call it a day.

Like the old AHL All Star format. Canada vs Planet USA.

[Rick M.]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I think this Finland team was pretty young this year, was it not? And it was the first int'l tournament minus Selanne and Koivu the Elder. I expect they will be better the next time around.

I think the U-23 team has to stay, but the national teams need to get right of first refusal.

It was a 23 and under team.

[MissTeeks]

LeBrun says he thinks the U23 team concept was a one and done:

http://www.todaysslapshot.com/nichol...team-one-done/

“Now, there are two possibilities moving forward. Just so you know, the original decision on this was that this Team Europe and Team North America young stars would be a one-off. There were no plans to bring this back in four years. The original plan was to come back with the traditional field. And, in fact, a European qualification tournament one year out to complete the field. Now, given the popularity of the kids, is it something that the NHL and NHLPA revisit?

“But I can tell you this – USA Hockey is not a big fan of this kids team. (Laughs) They felt robbed of Jack Eichel and Brandon Saad and potentially Auston Matthews, among others. Not to mention Johnny Gaudreau. So USA Hockey and Hockey Canada, technically speaking, have to sign off on it, right? They’re lending their players to the tournament. So unless USA Hockey is on board… Or, if you bring back the kids and say that Hockey Canada and USA Hockey first get to have their pick of the crop, and then leftovers for the kids team.

“So I don’t know. My gut feeling is that I think this kids team is one-and-done.”

[Red Menace]

I'd be surprised if this same format didn't return next time around.
Perhaps with a rule that any players who played for NA this time around don't have to next time...so McDavid, Matthews, Eichel can be picked by Canada or USA if they want them.

I don' think a 6 team tournament is a bad idea either...have each team play each other for 5 "round robin" games, then seed them into a final 4....that way every team gets at least 5 games to sort things out...and everyone has an identical schedule...no problems with one group being tougher than the other..
Of course I don't think the NHL will go this way, I think we will see 8 teams in some fashion or another.

[GirlySports]

7 game round robin like the Worlds!

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by MissTeeks

LeBrun says he thinks the U23 team concept was a one and done

I'd rather they keep it. Don't get rid of the gimmick; make it even more of a gimmick. Commit to it. Have Canada West, Canada East, Canada U-24, USA, Team Europe (which would include the Czechs), Russia, Sweden, Finland.

Let the NHLers play in the Olympics, and have this be a totally different sort of tournament. A spectacle. It would make the whole thing a wide open crapshoot, with no obvious underdog in any game.

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

I'd rather they keep it. Don't get rid of the gimmick; make it even more of a gimmick. Commit to it. Have Canada West, Canada East, Canada U-24, USA, Team Europe (which would include the Czechs), Russia, Sweden, Finland.

Let the NHLers play in the Olympics, and have this be a totally different sort of tournament. A spectacle. It would make the whole thing a wide open crapshoot, with no obvious underdog in any game.

I think I agree. Of the Canada West/East teams. I'd want the differentiation at where they were born/grew up, vs which side their NHL team is on.

[Locke]

Well if you're going to go that route just have a Canada Cup and each Province fields a team and then maybe have USA and Sweden and Finland and Kazakhstan.

Make it an invitational tournament.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

^If it was each province with a team, Ontario would obliterate everyone. There'd be even less suspense than there is now. Although it would probably still be fun.

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

I think I agree. Of the Canada West/East teams. I'd want the differentiation at where they were born/grew up, vs which side their NHL team is on.

Oh absolutely. It'd be Manitoba, Sask, AB, BC vs Ontario, Quebec and the maritimes, basically. Eastern would obviously be stronger just thanks to Ontario, but the West team would still be one of the better teams in the tourney. Goaltending is solid - Price and Holtby. Forwards would include Benn, Getzlaf, Marleau, Lucic, Nuge, Johansen, Ladd, Toews, Hall, Eberle, Jaden Schwartz, Steen, Sharp, Mark Stone, maybe Turris or Sam Reinhart by then; defence would have Weber, Keith, Morgan Reilly, Seabrook, Hamonic, Tyson Barrie, Bouwmeester. Wouldn't be a bad team.

[bubbsy]

i think it is a one and done also.

The quality in that age bracket seems a bit cyclical, 10 years ago the team would have been unreal, but how much quality would be there in the last world cup (2012)?

This year had some young phenoms like McDavid, Mathews, Eichel, Gaudreau, Ekblad, and Mackinnon, where especially the first 4 in that list have so much PR hype potential.

There is no guarantee that there will be the same level of talent/hype for the next crop of under 23 year old NHLers next time round.

[polak]

Originally Posted by MissTeeks

LeBrun says he thinks the U23 team concept was a one and done:

http://www.todaysslapshot.com/nichol...team-one-done/

Much better. Proper tournament. Proper World Cup.

Yes Canada will blow out Latvia (maybe, it was close in the Olympics) but it's not just about Canada FFS. These countries have fans and they'll enjoy the games between other minnows and their chance to play boring trap hockey and maybe beat one of the big dogs.

I'm happy this is the direction the NHL is taking.


Also Team USA missed Eichel? lol the guy was AWFUL.

[sureLoss]

So McKenzie is reporting that the NHLPA will make 25 to 30 million dollars off this tournament. The only debate internally right now is how they will split that money between the players who played in the tournament and the ones who didn't.

[bubbsy]

Damn. Doesn't that work out to peanuts regardless of how the split it.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

Damn. Doesn't that work out to peanuts regardless of how the split it.

About a million per team. About 50K per player if you break it down by 20. Not bad for a handful of exhibition games.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

i think it is a one and done also.

The quality in that age bracket seems a bit cyclical, 10 years ago the team would have been unreal, but how much quality would be there in the last world cup (2012)?

Using the same standard of using players whose 24th birthdays are after October 1 in the year of the World Cup, a Team North America in 2012 would have included: Kane (both Patrick and a still-good Evander), Stamkos, Tavares, Doughty, Hall, Seguin, and Hamilton to name a few.

Like this year, their weak point would have been goaltending, but Holtby would have likely been their guy. Much like Murray this season, Holtby had limited NHL experience at the time, but had taken the reigns for the Caps during the playoffs the previous season.

[Flamenspiel]

NA were certainly an exciting team, but not a winning team, the goalies and defense were not up to the level of the other teams. Kind of like doing well in the group phase of a FIFA world cup and getting knocked out.

I don't think you can find a better match-up then Canada-Russia. The media and the NHL always seems hung up on Canada-USA but the Russians have always been the true rivals. This should be a very exciting game tonight, one bad game for Canada and they are out.

Canada did not beat the Russians in Sochi so they do have something to prove tonight.

[MissTeeks]

That sucks:

Dave Molinari ‏@MolinariPG34s34 seconds ago

Penguins announce that G Matt Murray will be sidelined 3-to-6 weeks because of a broken hand sustained at the World Cup.

[Moneyhands23]

Originally Posted by MissTeeks

That sucks:

Dave Molinari ‏@MolinariPG34s34 seconds ago

Penguins announce that G Matt Murray will be sidelined 3-to-6 weeks because of a broken hand sustained at the World Cup.

Good thing they have a decent backup

[Locke]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

So McKenzie is reporting that the NHLPA will make 25 to 30 million dollars off this tournament. The only debate internally right now is how they will split that money between the players who played in the tournament and the ones who didn't.

This should be a fun test of Union Brotherhood.