I ripped on this tournament hard since they announced the format, but I have to admit it's grown on me because of the level of play. And even though I like the idea of the Olympics, their reality of corruption and graft and looting of the public is so gross I'm starting to like the idea of the NHL not kicking in to that. I've changed my mind on this issue.

I would like to see international hockey get to the point where you can have a full best-on-best tournament without hybrid teams, but clearly it's not there yet.

Also it helps when you're a Leafs fan for this tournament because you have a huge reason to watch North America.
- Zezel

Anything you say is gold Zezel. You guaranteed the Leafs lottery win and lo and behold look what happened. I love you man.

I ripped on this tournament hard since they announced the format, but I have to admit it's grown on me because of the level of play. And even though I like the idea of the Olympics, their reality of corruption and graft and looting of the public is so gross I'm starting to like the idea of the NHL not kicking in to that. I've changed my mind on this issue.

I would like to see international hockey get to the point where you can have a full best-on-best tournament without hybrid teams, but clearly it's not there yet.

Also it helps when you're a Leafs fan for this tournament because you have a huge reason to watch North America.
- Zezel

Next tournament.

The NA and Europe thing was a one time deal to get the best players in front of the fans. Will be a qualifying tournament for the last 2 spots.

I ripped on this tournament hard since they announced the format, but I have to admit it's grown on me because of the level of play. And even though I like the idea of the Olympics, their reality of corruption and graft and looting of the public is so gross I'm starting to like the idea of the NHL not kicking in to that. I've changed my mind on this issue.

I would like to see international hockey get to the point where you can have a full best-on-best tournament without hybrid teams, but clearly it's not there yet.

Also it helps when you're a Leafs fan for this tournament because you have a huge reason to watch North America.
- Zezel

I am always a fan of hearing aboutpeople changing their mjnd when given new information. Sweet post.

Next tournament.

The NA and Europe thing was a one time deal to get the best players in front of the fans. Will be a qualifying tournament for the last 2 spots.
- Wetbandit1

I agree. Theres no way teams are going to go without McDavid and Matthews at the next one.

The Jays are so painful to watch right now

Man, this BS gets so old. Whether you've played on a high level hockey team or you've worked at any job every single person in the entire world understands that even if young people are better at their job, old people with experience get favored.

That isn't unique to hockey. It's a world wide phenomenon. And psychologically,. a very interesting and rich topic to cover.

But its a stupid mentality born out of fear. The fact is, talent trumps every thing. If you have a star 18 year old, you should play him. Look at who's on team Finland and tell me its smart to go with convention.

These kind of comments are worse than the coaches and bosses who discriminate against youth though, cause you refuse to re-think anything and you just perpetuate outdated thinking.
- JTanner

Just because you are bitter and jaded about the world, and think that experience doesn't count, doesn't make it so. Obviously there are situations where someone young and talented can do the job just as good or better than someone who is older and experienced, but that isn't a rule, and in many cases is the exception.

Here are some fun facts for you. The brain is still developing until about the age of 25. We are also a product of our experiences and it is our experiences that make us who we are. We are born without instinct, and our minds are simply empty shells waiting for experiences to fill the container and shape who we become. Our intellectual capacity is limitless, and in no way at the age of 18 has that limit even become close to being reached. If you don't believe what I am saying then come to work with me one day to an Alzheimer's/Dementia unit, and you will see what happens to a person once they start to lose their unique experiences.

As far as the situation regarding Finland's game. We can't really say that they would or wouldn't have been better off playing Laine in that situation. Saying talent trumps everything, just shows that you either do not understand or refuse to accept that talent means jack poop if you haven't learned how to use it properly in a given situation.

As far as what I suggested about understanding culture, it helps to actually have objective experience when making statements of fact regarding culture. Why do you think Anthropologists spend time living with specific groups of people, in an attempt to understand them? As opposed to just clicking on a couple of internet pages and proclaiming themselves experts?

The Jays are so painful to watch right now
- HB77

Definitely. That was one of the worst games I've ever seen. Frustrating on so many levels. They strike out way too much, it's painful to watch.

Anything you say is gold Zezel. You guaranteed the Leafs lottery win and lo and behold look what happened. I love you man.
- shack67

I love you too man.

Next tournament.

The NA and Europe thing was a one time deal to get the best players in front of the fans. Will be a qualifying tournament for the last 2 spots.
- Wetbandit1

I'm all for that. The nice thing too about a World Cup of Hockey, if it was established as regular thing like in soccer, is unlike soccer it would be held in places like Canada and Sweden and so on, not 2nd world countries where they build stadiums next to slums and that kind of thing.

This blog is a mess.

Definitely. That was one of the worst games I've ever seen. Frustrating on so many levels. They strike out way too much, it's painful to watch.
- James_Tanner

I'm worried to say the least

parayko is effing gargantuan

took mc david awhile to get a point this tournament...

took mc david awhile to get a point this tournament...
- martox

Yeah a whole 5:03. Kids a bust.

Yeah a whole 5:03. Kids a bust.
- leonkennedy

well no points and a -2 in the pre games. those count too as the tournament even though they are not competition games. not saying he is a bust. he is not playing like a bust. just stating that he had a tiny tiny slump. also I personally don't give a poop about +-. just stating it

well no points and a -2 in the pre games. those count too as the tournament even though they are not competition games. not saying he is a bust. he is not playing like a bust. just stating that he had a tiny tiny slump. also I personally don't give a poop about +-. just stating it
- martox

pre tourney games do not count for any officially held stats

Team NA the most funner team to watch

pre tourney games do not count for any officially held stats
- HB77

Thank you.

Team NA the most funner team to watch
- mdw7413

The mostestest.

MINUS: everyone saying team usa left kessel off the roster. Kessel is and has been injured for a while. He might not even be ready for the start of the nhl season. Do some research.

MINUS: everyone saying team usa left kessel off the roster. Kessel is and has been injured for a while. He might not even be ready for the start of the nhl season. Do some research.
- danktrees

He was left off the team in May when they finalized the rosters, and really even earlier than that when they announced the first set of players in March. Was he injured in March when the initial roster was released? How about May? I seem to remember he played quite well in the playoffs when the final team was announced. So, before you troll, try and actually DO your research. Don't just half-ass it.

The fact that maybe he can't play now is totally irrelevant. He was left off the roster because he's "soft", no pun intended. Unless John Scott is in front of him then he'll go all lumberjack.

He was left off the team in May when they finalized the rosters, and really even earlier than that when they announced the first set of players in March. Was he injured in March when the initial roster was released? How about May? I seem to remember he played quite well in the playoffs when the final team was announced. So, before you troll, try and actually DO your research. Don't just half-ass it.

The fact that maybe he can't play now is totally irrelevant. He was left off the roster because he's "soft", no pun intended. Unless John Scott is in front of him then he'll go all lumberjack.
- Wetbandit1

actually he was injured by may. he was injured in the first round at the end of april. he apparently played through the injury and did it quite well. then he had surgery and might not be ready for the start of the season.

as for why he was initially left off the roster it could be because he wasn't playing well. up to march 3rd when the roster was announced he had 40 points through 62 games. considering he's not a center, if he isn't producing at an elite rate then he isn't as valuable. if he hadn't had the playoff run that he did people would be saying that he's in his decline. but by then he was already injured so he wasn't going to make this roster.

kane is as soft as kessel but it doesn't matter because he produces at an elite rate.

i think people are confusing his playoff success with what happened in the regular season. truth is kessel was not particularly good until they formed the hbk line to matchup against other weaker lines. i don't remember exactly when that line was formed but it was towards later in the season. he finished the last 20 games with 19 points. but when he was on the first two lines and facing better competition he wasn't scoring much. to put it into context, he produced the same amount of points as someone like brayden schenn. kessel's playoff run brought some of his shine back but he was injured by then and could not be added to the roster.

maybe they should have added him anyways but he gave them plenty of reasons not to. by the time he started playing well they couldn't add him any more because he was injured.

actually he was injured by may. he was injured in the first round at the end of april. he apparently played through the injury and did it quite well. then he had surgery and might not be ready for the start of the season.

as for why he was initially left off the roster it could be because he wasn't playing well. up to march 3rd when the roster was announced he had 42 points through 63 games. considering he's not a center, if he isn't producing at an elite rate then he isn't as valuable. if he hadn't had the playoff run that he did people would be saying that he's in his decline. but by then he was already injured so he wasn't going to make this roster.

kane is as soft as kessel but it doesn't matter because he produces at an elite rate.
- danktrees

Well he was still better than Abdelkader in March. Even in May, he was still playing, so it couldn't have been that bad, and they're thinking ahead to mid-September, so unless he snapped his leg after tearing his ACL; he should've been on the team. If he was too hurt to play when it came to it then there's always the injury replacement as we've seen many times already. It was just dumb to keep him off the roster. Shattenkirk too.

Well he was still better than Abdelkader in March. Even in May, he was still playing, so it couldn't have been that bad, and they're thinking ahead to mid-September, so unless he snapped his leg after tearing his ACL; he should've been on the team. If he was too hurt to play when it came to it then there's always the injury replacement as we've seen many times already. It was just dumb to keep him off the roster. Shattenkirk too.
- Wetbandit1

in terms of point production he was ahead of abdelkader by 7 points after 62 games. but i guess they valued justin more due to the physicality. maybe that's not the right way to look at it but at the same time detroit isn't exactly as good as pittsburgh was and abdelkader was still producing as expected. kessel should have made it over abdelkader but he was not playing well at the time which definitely didnt help.

i don't know if they ever talked to pittsburgh or phil directly but i think it had already been determined that he required surgery in the off seaso.

shattenkirk should definitely have made the roster.

pre tourney games do not count for any officially held stats
- HB77

Ofc not. See it whatever way you like. he goes 0 points -2 in pre games. noone says anything but if he had 5 points and a +2 people would go like "mc david is the best that has ever happend to hockey" even though they say they don't care about pre tournament games stats. also yes I am a little salty today