It’s tremendous for hockey in this country, that Canada has been a gold medal contender since the inception of the World Junior Tournament. Even though there are some years when the color may change to silver or bronze, the point is that Canada always has the potential to be considered a gold medal favorite. This is a credit to the elite coaching and development in this country, that begins right at the grass roots of the sport, in communities across this great country.
Having said that, what is not a credit to hockey, or the World Junior Tournament, is having teams getting destroyed on the scoreboard, as we’ve already seen in this year’s version of the annual holiday event. I am aware of the argument that countries trying to develop the sport need a stage for their youngsters, and exposing them to the best might help them progress. If this tournament is ever going to grow to the point where it ever becomes popular outside of Canada, which is not the case now,then the organizers will have to re-think what they’re doing. I don’t know about anybody else, but I have no interest in watching Canada or any other country wipe out an opponent to the point of humiliation. Games that I perceive have that potential, I don’t even watch for 5 minutes. What for, when everyone knows what the final score will look like ? Would you bother watching a sports competition if you knew ahead of time what the outcome is going to be ? Maybe you would just because it’s Canada, and I understand the passion, but I have no interest in that type of situation, as a sports fan. Like every sports event, I want to see competition, where there is uncertainty as to what the outcome is going to be. That does happen in the medal rounds of the World Junior Tournament, and it does become a great event at that stage every year.
Hopefully those who make the decisions for the World Junior’s, will see the light, and make sure that countries competing can actually live up to the true meaning of the word compete. We all know that Canada is a great country for developing hockey, and it is a reason to be proud of our nation. I don’t feel any pride at all however, when I see a game where Canada ,or any other team for that matter, is overwhelming an opponent to the point of the game, and the tournament becoming farcical. Quite frankly, I find it embarrassing to watch.
It is a great gesture to invite other countries to play against our best, but let’s make sure there is a reasonable chance that the opponents are legitimate, so that the players on the other teams and their fans, or potential fans, are not humiliated, and therefore turned off the sport. The World Junior Tournament has been host to many great and compelling games, with tremendous athletes. Hopefully the organizers can alter it somewhat, so that it is always a respected marquee event, not just in Canada, but one that will hopefully grow in popularity outside of Canada. Ensuring that it remains a true competition throughout, will make it possible to achieve that goal. Laughable blowouts do nothing to grow the sport, and in fact, it probably is a turn off, for many hockey fans in any country. Count me as one of them.