World Cup of Hockey 2016 - All Purpose Thread

Cap'n Clutch wrote:This World Cup of Hockey format is lame.  I haven't watched a single minute of it.  Team North America?  Plays both anthems?  Team Europe?  Doesn't even have an anthem?  What the hell?  Seriously?  Why have this tournament?  I guess because it's making them money.  We have the Olympics to see which country is the dominant power in the sport.  This thing is a joke and as was stated, it'll ruin a team's season potentially due to injuries.

The format is fine: round robin plus a playoff at the end. That's pretty normal and it makes sense. People have been pooping on Team North America and Team Europe, but I like the idea for both. Both are very competitive and very entertaining to watch. The Olympics is every four years and NHLers may not even go to the next one. This takes place prior to the season which makes a lot of sense. The hockey has been great...people just aren't in the "mood" for it because it's happening before the NHL season is in full swing so nobody's gone back to "hockey mode" yet.

The one issue is going to be injuries, but as long as it's not Karlsson, it's all good.

tim1_2 wrote:

Hoff-Machine wrote:I gotta say this.  Media folks are tweeting out pics of empty seats at the ACC for some of the non-Canada/NA round robin games.

What kind of 'world cup' is held locally in one single city and arena?  What did they expect was going to happen?  The host should be a country, not a single city.  It's Dung like this compounded with gimmicky crap of the NA team that doesn't allow hockey world cup to even register on any type of global sports radar.

The tickets were likely sold, just not used in the end.  The game could be anywhere in Canada and there would probably be empty seats.

yeah probably sold but optics don't look good.  And I don't buy that for a second, it definitely would have sold out anywhere else in Canada with butts in the seats if handled right (i.e. not on a monday afternoon at Cussing 3 pm).  We're not talking belarus or latvia type of countries, there is certainly some appeal.  you think if sweden/finland was played at CTC it wouldn't be sold out?  Yes they have to be smart about locations, but doing everything entirely in Toronto is asinine and foolish.  Again, find me another 'World cup' that does every game within one city.

BTW, there were empty seats on Saturday for Europe vs USA.  Doing it in toronto was quite simple a money making decision.  You think if that game was in buffalo/hamilton it wouldn't be sold out in a second?

Cap'n Clutch wrote:This World Cup of Hockey format is lame.  I haven't watched a single minute of it.  Team North America?  Plays both anthems?  Team Europe?  Doesn't even have an anthem?  What the hell?  Seriously?  Why have this tournament?  I guess because it's making them money.  We have the Olympics to see which country is the dominant power in the sport.  This thing is a joke and as was stated, it'll ruin a team's season potentially due to injuries.

I'm not a fan of the world cup final being decided by best 2 out of 3. Alot of good teams will get knocked out because of the format. Personally think they should have kept with top 3 teams advancing in each division and top team getting a bye to the semis.

I may have lost a little interest. I had to go out just around 8 and didn't get back until nearly 9. Did I rush right to the TV? No. Did I record it? Nah, had trouble logging into MyRogers and didn't feel like going over to the PVR and doing it from there. Canad was up 3-1 by that point. I saw a little bit of the third when it was 4-1. Just anti-climactic, I guess. So much for that big rivalry. And then to hear how team USA's would have done so much better if their best players were not playing on team NAT? Come on, It's not like they'd be adding Matthews to the Mighty Ducks; he'd be replacing a very good player, as would Ekblad and Eichel and so on. And it's not like the NATs didn't have some pretty high-end Canadian players, either.

Hopefully Russia and/or Sweden will make it to the Finals. I think Team NA is going to have a lot of trouble with Ekblad gone and Ryan Murray reportedly banged up a bit. Down to 6D with one nursing an injury and they cannot replace him unless they lose two more players (read that somewhere). You better believe it the next team that plays them will do a lot of dumping and chasing and making sure their back end continues to get more banged up. *IF* they manage to get to the Finals will they have anything left?

Meanwhile, Phil:

Just sitting around the house tonight w my dog. Felt like I should be doing something important, but couldn't put my finger on it.

— Phil Kessel (@PKessel81) September 21, 2016

Always nice to see the Americans implode.

Is this all-star tournament over yet?

PTFlea wrote:Is this all-star tournament over yet?

Not soon enough! Come on training camp! Come on pre-season!

wprager wrote:Meanwhile, Phil:

Just sitting around the house tonight w my dog. Felt like I should be doing something important, but couldn't put my finger on it.

— Phil Kessel (@PKessel81) September 21, 2016

Our very own Bobby Rye has joined in on the action

@b_ryan9 you gotta come with some fire too. No way you should've been left off that roster. #Torts #PoorShowing https://t.co/LECbYEemQL

— Jordan James (@dipduncs) September 21, 2016

@dipduncs nah..kill USA hockey with kindness and maybe they'll let me play over 35 adult worlds if I'm not a defensive liability by then.

— Bobby Ryan (@b_ryan9) September 21, 2016

tim1_2 wrote:Always nice to see the Americans implode.

Pretty great NA vs Sweden game yesterday.

Hoff-Machine wrote:

wprager wrote:Meanwhile, Phil:

Just sitting around the house tonight w my dog. Felt like I should be doing something important, but couldn't put my finger on it.

— Phil Kessel (@PKessel81) September 21, 2016

Our very own Bobby Rye has joined in on the action

@b_ryan9 you gotta come with some fire too. No way you should've been left off that roster. #Torts #PoorShowing https://t.co/LECbYEemQL

— Jordan James (@dipduncs) September 21, 2016

@dipduncs nah..kill USA hockey with kindness and maybe they'll let me play over 35 adult worlds if I'm not a defensive liability by then.

— Bobby Ryan (@b_ryan9) September 21, 2016

Haha, Ryan as well...as long as it lights a fire under his arse.

PTFlea wrote:

Hoff-Machine wrote:

wprager wrote:Meanwhile, Phil:

Just sitting around the house tonight w my dog. Felt like I should be doing something important, but couldn't put my finger on it.

— Phil Kessel (@PKessel81) September 21, 2016

Our very own Bobby Rye has joined in on the action

@b_ryan9 you gotta come with some fire too. No way you should've been left off that roster. #Torts #PoorShowing https://t.co/LECbYEemQL

— Jordan James (@dipduncs) September 21, 2016

@dipduncs nah..kill USA hockey with kindness and maybe they'll let me play over 35 adult worlds if I'm not a defensive liability by then.

— Bobby Ryan (@b_ryan9) September 21, 2016

Haha, Ryan as well...as long as it lights a fire under his arse.

Nothing can light a fire under his arse. When Brian Burke said that Bobby couldn't spell intensity, he was right.

Well too bad the game on the ice wasn't a spelling bee and Team USA is headed home to some "intense" scrutiny.

OK, so Russia is up 2-0 on the Fins after 2 periods. The Fins have scored 1 goal so far in the tournament, they need 3 in the next 20 minutes. Chances are it's not gonna happen, which would mean both Russia and Team NA finish with a 2-1 record. Russia beat Team NA in head-to-head, so that's that.

That sets up Canada-Russia in the first semi-final, 7PM on Saturday. Then Sweden-Euro goes at 1PM on Sunday.

The Finals will be a best of 3, Tuesday and Thursday at 8PM and (if necessary) Saturday at 7PM.

One way or another, I'll be cheering for someone in the Finals.

wprager wrote:Well too bad the game on the ice wasn't a spelling bee and Team USA is headed home to some "intense" scrutiny.

OK, so Russia is up 2-0 on the Fins after 2 periods.  The Fins have scored 1 goal so far in the tournament, they need 3 in the next 20 minutes.  Chances are it's not gonna happen, which would mean both Russia and Team NA finish with a 2-1 record.  Russia beat Team NA in head-to-head, so that's that.

That sets up Canada-Russia in the first semi-final, 7PM on Saturday.  Then Sweden-Euro goes at 1PM on Sunday.  

The Finals will be a best of 3, Tuesday and Thursday at 8PM and (if necessary) Saturday at 7PM.

One way or another, I'll be cheering for someone in the Finals.

Is Montreal playing? I thought you were an Mtl fan.

With Russia's win, NA is out. Another reason to change the format (should have been top 3 advance with top team in each group getting a bye to the semis).

On another note, if USA was a gigantic disappointment, Finland has to be an absolute disaster. They're the country on the rise and scored 1 goal the entire tourney. Maybe USA can match them.

Finland is a young team. A lot of their stars are still 18. Next time (in 4 years) things could be very different. Karlsson will wear the 'C', Stone will be on the team, Ovechkin may not make it.

And, no, I don't cheer for Montreal. I cheered for them when I lived there (and a little bit after I first move here in '92 -- the Cup run in '93 was unbelievable, like the Sens run 2 years ago but with a better ending).

I *may* cheer a bit for Russia especially when they aren't playing Canada. If Canada somehow loses I can only hope it's because Price gets injured and misses half the season.

wprager wrote:Finland is a young team.  A lot of their stars are still 18.  Next time (in 4 years) things could be very different.  Karlsson will wear the 'C', Stone will be on the team, Ovechkin may not make it.

And, no, I don't cheer for Montreal.  I cheered for them when I lived there (and a little bit after I first move here in '92 -- the Cup run in '93 was unbelievable, like the Sens run 2 years ago but with a better ending).

I *may* cheer a bit for Russia especially when they aren't playing Canada.  If Canada somehow loses I can only hope it's because Price gets injured and misses half the season.

That's funny, I'm sure I read somewhere that you were a Habs fan. Maybe even here on these boards.