- The fact that this tournament once had a more grassroots following: Once upon a time - not too long ago, in fact - the World Juniors was the sort of thing followed mostly by people who were either keen followers of junior hockey or aficionados of the game in general. Nowadays, everyone who has even the slightest interest in the game watches closely. As rewarding as that is for the players and the Canadian national program ($$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.... oops, keyboard got stuck there for a second), for me it takes away some of the more "close knit" feeling the tournament used to emulate. Nowadays, people who don't set foot in a junior rink all season - those same people who probably cry themselves to sleep without an NHL season this year - tune into the WJC to watch a bunch of kids they've never heard of, will forget about a week after the tournament, yet will become experts on said players for the next two weeks. I can just picture any number of conversations like this breaking out at my workplace:
Random person - Yeah, that was a pretty harsh suspension they gave that Jenner kid
Me - In a way yes, but it was a late hit. Plus, he was suspended for a game in the tournament last year as well.
Random person - Oh, he was on last year's team? They can do that?
Me - Yeah, he's a returnee this year. He was suspended for the bronze medal game last year.
Random person - Oh... Canada only won bronze last year?
Me - Get out of my office.
- The tournament going to Europe more often: This is actually being rectified to a degree with Russia, Sweden and Finland playing host in three of the next four years respectively. However, this is more than likely a blip on the radar as the tournament is already slated to return to North America for three of four years between 2017 and 2021. The reason is simple - the revenue generated by the tournament is exponentially more on this side of the Atlantic. However, the prospect of trying to win the championship on foreign soil (and neither North Dakota or Buffalo count as "foreign"... Buffalo barely counts as "soil") is always a more daunting challenge... and even to myself watching at home, a gold medal captured away from this continent comes with a greater feeling of satisfaction. That, and I've always wanted an excuse to go to Prague (hopefully "Czech Republic host, 2020" scratches that itch).
- When it is contested in North America, the tournament always goes to large scale markets in recent times: Since 1999, the WJC has been hosted in North America eight times... the smallest host rink during that span was the Halifax Metro Center, in 2003 with a capacity of around 10,000. The tournament - which would create huge economic spinoffs in every large or mid-market city in the country - always finds it's way to (or back to) the buildings with the most available seats for eager behinds. Anyone who remembers it would probably agree that one of the most compelling features of the 1995 tournament in Red Deer was having that unique home ice advantage that comes with 5,000 people right on top of you, as opposed to 15,000 people a greater distance away, many of whom are of the "corporate seat" variety - there simply because it's the place to be. This tournament gets it's greatest support from fans in the cities who host major junior hockey... those fans should have the priority when it comes time for city selection... and not just those cities that house NHL-calibre buildings. No matter who in Canada welcomes the world to this tournament, the spinoffs will always be there.
- Paul Romanuk: With all due respect to the great Gord Miller, Paul Romanuk is still the voice I associate with the World Juniors the most (not to mention the fact that he was a hell of a great play-by-play man for the NHL on TSN back in the '90s). As much as I enjoy Miller and his conversational style, Paul Romanuk immediately conjures up memories of guys like Manny Legace, Marty Murray and Boyd Devereaux and the fist run of five straight gold medals for Canada (the streak that ironically led to the inclusion of many of the aforementioned bandwagon fans... you take the good with the bad, I guess). Fortunately, there's a little thing called the Spengler Cup that will fill this crippling void of Romanuk in all our lives. By the way... if you're on Twitter, do yourself a favour and follow Paul Romanuk. He's been living in the UK since about 2005 and frequently tweets about everything he dislikes over there. Either he's unimpressed with the calibre of play in the BHL or he was turned down by Kate Middleton (and if he was turned down by Kate, did she inform him by saying that "IT... IS... OVER!!!!"?).
- When the media didn't hype the tournament to death: This ties into my first point, since the media and the public feed off one another like very few walks of life can. Still, the lead-in to the WJC is made to feel more intense, emotional and dramatic than almost anything else in sports. In a way, this is true: the tournament is very emotional for Canadians, just like it is for those who follow it in Europe and the seven people who watch in the USA. However, things tend to get very "over the top" and a way too pro Canada both leading into and during the games. Seriously, how many times have you seen that John Slaney goal, that Manny Legace save or the '82 team singing the anthem these past couple weeks? More times than you have fingers, I'll bet. Once again, I understand to a degree: hype = ratings... and with the tournament not being held in North America this season and particularly with the shift in time zones, there may be a bit more hype required to keep the casual fan entertained, despite the fact that there is very little hockey on the airwaves this year. However, I see a direct correlation between an abundance of hype and a distinct sense of entitlement: of fans gloating over victories against hockey "superpowers" like Germany, Norway and Equatorial Guinea. Fans who make a close win over a tough opponent almost feel like a loss because "We should crush them because Canada IS Hockey!!!!" and a feeling of devastation when a national team does in fact fall short. I've yet to see a Canadian junior team lose a game in the last decade that they deserved a better outcome in. However, being a strong hockey nation in a tournament that garners tons of media attention (and attention to Canadian superiority, I might add... look at TSN's recent top 40 WJC players of all time and find me one player who didn't win at least one gold medal) leaves alot of people with completely warped expectations.
- Pierre McGuire: Or, more specifically, the inability to play this anymore:
If this list was in any order of importance, this would rank #1 by a mile. Try playing a game like this with Ray Ferarro... you'll have your pick of designated drivers to choose from by night's end.
We'll see y'all at 5AM... Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
Great post.
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