Best on Best

[guaranteeed]

Athletic did rosters for these 4 countries, wrote that it sounds like they are doing a 4 team mini tourney next year which nhl and pa have agreed to, before hopefully opening it up to a bigger one in 2026 with more teams

 

[guaranteeed]

 

[guaranteeed]

 

[guaranteeed]

 

[guaranteeed]

 

[guaranteeed]

Finland clear 4th

Canadas goaltending situation is rough... those top 6 guys though, scary for the rest

US is kinda stacked, and have 5 goalies who would all start for canada

Sweden is top heavy at forward but top 6 and d are excellent

 

[guaranteeed]

Will never not be crazy to me that one family in the hughes are all legitimately on the team

Jack is a top 3 forward for the US, quinn is best d man in world right now, Luke hughes would be likely ROY if Bedard didnt exist

Real chance quinn and mayhe Jack are finalists for the hart

 

[twinkie13]

This is a great idea. Be stupid not to, put it on the right day( hello MLB/NBA).
You’d get decent ratings I think

 

[B.A.R.]

This is awesome

 

[peelpub94]

Been wanting this forever. World cup but with 4 teams. Love it.

 

[guaranteeed]

This is a great idea. Be stupid not to, put it on the right day( hello MLB/NBA).
You’d get decent ratings I think

Sounds like it will be instead of all star next year

So Feb right after NFL is over and NBA is in no man's land period before things head up in March/April for playoff push

 

[KJ]

Sounds like it will be instead of all star next week

So Feb right after NFL is over and NBA is in no man's land period before things hear up in March/April for playoff push

Could easily play the week around Daytona and just not schedule for Sunday. Not sure what the crossover would be anyway, between SB and March would make a bunch of sense

 

[dylanphan]

Thought this was what the Olympics was for? :confused3:
It's cool to look at rosters and all, but how hard are these guys making tens of millions of dollars going to play for an exhibition? They have much, much more to lose than they have to gain by an impressive showing. Maybe they can sim the tourney and show how cool it would be.

 

[peelpub94]

Thought this was what the Olympics was for? :confused3:
It's cool to look at rosters and all, but how hard are these guys making tens of millions of dollars going to play for an exhibition? They have much, much more to lose than they have to gain by an impressive showing. Maybe they can sim the tourney and show how cool it would be.

Fair point, though NHL players haven't been in the Olympics since 2014, so I've been itching for something like this. They are going back in 2026 though. If they weren't going back, I'd say this tournament would mean a lot to the players.

 

[dylanphan]

Honestly, I'm a purist and don't like the fact they allow professionals into the olympics. I'm old enough to have remembered watching the Miracle on Ice in 1980. That meant way way way more to me than the Dream Team winning the gold by winning each game by 40+ points.
These days professional athletes make ungodly amounts of money. Do you really think Austin Matthews is going to risk his next 9 figure contract by playing all out in an exhibition tournament? Guy hardly can be counted on to drive to the net in a meaningless Leaf's game in December.
To 18, 19, 20 year old kids, olympic gold may be their only chance for glory ever. Not many from the dream team went on to have great NHL careers. Morrow was probably the best, Neal Broten was okay and as a Ranger fan, Pavelich and McClanahan I'll always have soft spots for in my heart for their NHL, but they were mediocre at best. But, my God that Olympic run was unreal. These guys gave it their absolute all every shift, every game.
And don't think I'm harping on the current guys, because I get it. If I were mid-late twenties making $5-$10M/year but had a chance to get one more big contract to set my family up for life, am I really going to give a crap if I win an exhibition tournament? Fuck no. It would be a nice feather in the cap for sure, but a Stanley Cup and a massive contract would be much more important. I'm sure that guys that have won the World Junior championship love that win, but these are teenagers. Grown ass men have responsibilities and I can't really see them risking major injury for this tournament. Again, would be super cool in theory, but lets keep this to the olympics where it means something.

eta
And I mean another thing to consider would be teammates. You think if Mika is coming cross ice and Trouba has him lined up, he's going to lay him out with a big hit there? Or Hedman on Point? Theodore on Eichel? Just don't see the point of it as you're not truly getting the best of the best.

 

[peelpub94]

I still hear players to this day, Ovechkin comes to mind who favor Olympic gold over Stanley Cup, but maybe that's just a facade for nationalism/country pride while on camera.

 

[peelpub94]

The other counterpoint is, I still want to see the world's best vs each other, not the world's pretty good, vs ok players. From what I remember In 2014, the players seemed to play just as hard as NHL games, maybe even more.

I wouldn't mind U20 exclusively for Olympic hockey: "To 18, 19, 20 year old kids, olympic gold may be their only chance for glory ever."

But we already have that with the WJC.

 

[guaranteeed]

The other counterpoint is, I still want to see the world's best vs each other, not the world's pretty good, vs ok players. From what I remember In 2014, the players seemed to play just as hard as NHL games, maybe even more.

I wouldn't mind U20 exclusively for Olympic hockey: "To 18, 19, 20 year old kids, olympic gold may be their only chance for glory ever."

But we already have that with the WJC.

McDavid has been begging for best on best for years, was legitimately pissed they backed out of last Olympics

Other players have said the same

There's no way a best would seem like an exhibition

People said that about the last world Cup when there was the u23 team and team Europe, and while I don't really agree with that in a tournament like this, every game was playoff intensity

 

[guaranteeed]

Thought this was what the Olympics was for? :confused3:
It's cool to look at rosters and all, but how hard are these guys making tens of millions of dollars going to play for an exhibition? They have much, much more to lose than they have to gain by an impressive showing. Maybe they can sim the tourney and show how cool it would be.

They get insurance you know right?

And teammates hit each other at the world championships all the time

 

[peelpub94]

Yeah, and NHL contracts are guaranteed. It doesn't matter if they get hurt playing elsewhere. They'll still get paid.

 

[twinkie13]

Look at WBC. Guys play hard for country.

It’s inevitable. I bet hockey maybe more so

 

[guaranteeed]

Look at WBC. Guys play hard for country.

It’s inevitable. I bet hockey maybe more so

First hit you take it becomes real and they go all out

 

[guaranteeed]

What I would do to make it a bigger tournament is bring back the Canada cup name

Canada has 4 teams, Canada west of (bc and alberta), greater toronto, Quebec and maritimes, rest of ontario and prairies. Invite the US, Sweden, Finland, Russia

Save two spots for a tournament to qualify between czechia, slovakia, Slovenia, germany, Switzerland, austria, may be missing some

Two groups of 5, bottom of each group relegated to the qualifying tournament

Then start qf as 1a v 4b, 2a v 3b, 3a v 2b, 4a v 1b

 

[guaranteeed]

Those canada games against each other would be wars

 

[guaranteeed]

Canada west vs the GTA on a saturday night would be watched by 80% of the country at least

 

[peelpub94]

I do believe Canada, IIHF, IOC, NHL and everyone else involved in these kinds of decisions are missing the boat. I know it's easy for us fans to sit back and say why not, but in a time where the world is shifting rapidly, and more and more people find other outlets for entertainment and distraction from the everyday doldrums, you need to evolve and adapt. What makes the NHL so special is not just the athletes playing a game on ice for fucks sake, but the heavy global representation. Bring the WORLD together for these tournaments. I personally love the WBC, any format like that or what @guaranteeed laid out I think would garner a ton of attention and $$.