Next week, the World Junior Hockey Championships commence in Ufa, Russia. TSN has already began inundating us with the typical pre-tournament fare, what with the selection camp coverage, nightly updates on the goings on at camp and, coming this week, the traditional preview shows, giving people who watch the tournament but don't give a crap about junior hockey the other 50 weeks of the year (and there are far too many that fall in this category) a sense of what to expect ("Canada should win gold"), who is on the team ("Here is everyone not named Ryan Nugent-Hopkins... plus Ryan Nugent-Hopkins."), a look back at tournaments past ("Let's show that John Slaney goal again because you might've forgotten the 4,692 times we aired it last year.") and some of the impact players on the squads of our rival nations ("Now that you've heard about 20 players you'll forget about as soon as this tournament ends, here are five guys you will forget about before this program ends."). Of course, one of the biggest topics leading into this year's games is the mere location of the event. In an era where the tournament is habitually contested on this side of the Atlantic, the fact that the host city resides halfway around the world is looked upon with much negativity. I for one see a number of positives.
First off, there's the time change. Games in Russia will be shown live in our region at 5AM. Sure, it's a pain... and to their credit, TSN has turned it into a decent marketing strategy... but for me, who will cheer the Canadian junior program and continue to follow the junior ranks afterwards to the nth degree, I'm hoping that this early time (even with the games in all likelihood being repeated throughout the span of the tournament) will thin out the number of "two week fans", who jump on the bandwagon this week and then suffer amnesia while falling off the first week of January, ignoring the existence of junior hockey until this time of year rolls around again. There are too many people who watch this tournament that still do not follow the CHL in general... and to me, those people are missing something special. There's nothing more frustrating than trying to have a conversation about something when somebody is obviously BSing their way through the topic... and too many times over the course of this tournament, that's what I end up having with casual fans who simply like this tournament because it's "trendy". I'm guessing these people won't find the hockey worth getting up that early for... but if they do, maybe a new apreciation for this level of play will be found,
When the tournament goes to Europe, the entire feel of the games is different. Instead of tens of thousands of rabid fans cheering on the home squad (or if the tournament is in Buffalo on New Year's Eve, the road team) you have maybe a couple thousand fans, their allegiances divided between any number of nations, making as much noise as possible but still creating the ambiance of rabid hockey parents on a typical Saturday morning at the community rink. The corporate feeling isn't nearly as rampant and the result - most importantly - is that the hockey being displayed is thrust into the spotlight by force. We don't care if the guy with the white helmet, "Bubbles" glasses and "Canada Is Hockey!!!" sign is there. We care about how Steve Spott will make adjustments on an upcoming powerplay, how Team Canada will adapt to the modified 1-2-2 and how the guys in red and white will curtail the opponent's quick transition and counteract the numbers the other guys are gaining down low. When this tournament is held anywhere but North America, you're forced to focus on the hockey... because there's no other distraction available.
Lastly - and most importantly - it's in Russia. If it was anywhere else in the world, it would mean a little less. There is nothing more daunting, nothing more exhilarating than having one of our national squads ply their trade in the former land of the Soviets. After all these decades, there's nothing quite like it in the game. Talk about Habs/Bruins or Pens/Flyers all you want... nothing - and I mean nothing - compares to Canada/Russia... and more specifically, Canada playing in Russia. For this nation, there's no greater challenge than walking into an arena over there and walking away with a win or gold medal. The compete level rises, the tension becomes more palpable and the overall task at hand become a more difficult challenge... but more rewarding when it ends in victory. When Canada plays in Russia it's us against the world in every conceivable way.
As a person who is most definitely not of the morning variety, I'm not looking to the sheer aspect of getting up early to follow this year's tournament... but all the intangibles that come with this year's host city will make it much easier to get out of bed. Hopefully many others feel the same... and maybe it brings more people along for the ride that is junior hockey all year round.
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