16553 replies to this topic

[Adam]

yeah the "world cup of hockey" bears little to no weight in terms of international competition. Its merely he NHL putting their best players in international jerseys for an all star tournament.

The World Championships are still highly regarded on the international level since there was a time when NHL players couldnt play at the Olympics. Nobody is arguing the best players play for the Stanley Cup, but the majority of those players end up at this tournament every year which should also say something.

[- M]

It's important outside of North America. Not so much here because the playoffs are on. In terms of senior level international tournaments the WC would probably be the third most important behind both the Olympics (when the NHL actually allows their players to attend) and the WCOH (assuming it happens on a regular basis at some point). It's hard to call a tournament that doesn't feature true best on best important. The NHL and the players have made it clear that they value the Stanley Cup more than the WC. Even players not in the playoffs aren't there (McDavid, Doughty, etc). If it was truly that important Canada and the USA would have all the best players who aren't in the playoffs barring any lingering injuries. 

 

North Americans just don't value this tournament as much.  I appreciate seeing European (especially Russian) NHLers will make themselves available once their team is knocked out.  They take pride in representing their country at every possible chance. 

 

Anything can happen at this tournament.  Finland (with minimal NHLers) just took out a star studded Russian team with Ovie, Kucherov, Kuznetsov and Malkin.

[AARONSWORLD]

Malkin rocking Dadonov's Warrior mitts

 

[Dishmaster]

Bauer 4500 bucket, CCM FT2 stick lol Malkin has to try it all

[Dupes]

Biggest gear whore ever

[flip12]

I think Mogilny would still win that title over Malkin.

[kazin]

The WCOH is shit compared to the Olympics or World Championships imo.  At least have it on Hybrid size ice or Olympic sized ice.  I'm sick of the Canada is the end all be all for hockey.  Hockey is your main sport vs. other countries where hockey is 3 or 4 or even below that.  Canada is supposed to win.  Its great when they don't.  People said last Olympics Canada could win with a D squad.  Guess what they didn't.  They got outclassed by Germany last Olympics.  International play is very important to other countries.  

 

As a proud Canadian, I agree with your sentiments. I'm happy for the Finnish team - they were clearly the best team in the tournament.

 

If Canada thinks they're the best country, Hockey Canada should be instilling a desire for players to jump at the opportunity to represent their country (like Russia has). Canada should also be actually winning the vast majority of these tournaments. It just goes to show how much parity there is, which is a good thing.

[- M]

I think Mogilny would still win that title over Malkin.

 

He was pretty steady with 4000/4500/HT2 helmets and Ultra Lite shaft for most of his career.  The gear title should go to Aaron Rome.  I went to a Canucks equipment sale and they had every brand imaginable made for this guy.

[Mapleleafs-13]

As a proud Canadian, I agree with your sentiments. I'm happy for the Finnish team - they were clearly the best team in the tournament.

 

If Canada thinks they're the best country, Hockey Canada should be instilling a desire for players to jump at the opportunity to represent their country (like Russia has). Canada should also be actually winning the vast majority of these tournaments. It just goes to show how much parity there is, which is a good thing.

 

 

Problem is world championships isn't regarded as a must win tournament. It happens every year, players are finishing seasons in the NHL or stuck in play offs. If i was an nhler why would i care about a tournament when my priority is the NHL which also pays you. When you finish an 82 game season, the last thing you want to do is go play hockey at a sub par tournament. At least with olympics, it's every 4 years and earned it's prestige. Also they stopped the season to make sure best on best is there. World championships every year is not even close to best on best. 

[kazin]

problem is world championships isn't regarded as a must win tournament. It happens every year and top players are  finishing seasons in the NHL or stuck in play offs. If i was an nhler why would i care about a tournament when my priority is the NHL which is also what i get paid to do. You finish an 82 game season and the last thing you want to do is go play hockey at a sub par tournament. At least with olympics it's a big deal every 4 years and it's gained it's prestige. Also they stopped the season to make sure best on best is there. World championships every year is not even close to best on best. 

 

Totally get where you're coming from. Easy for me to say, but if my team didn't make the playoffs or got knocked out early, I'd be itching for an opportunity to win something. If it means representing my country and getting to go to some cool European country and I'm making good money in my early 20s? Sign me up!

 

Like you said though, players go through the grind of a super long and tiring season and probably just want to hit the beach/bars/cottage (or all) and eat some burgers and wings.

 

I'd just love if our boys jumped at the opportunity to represent Canada at any tournament, much like the Russians (and looks like the Swedes lately...see: Landeskog, Klingberg, Nylander, as examples).

[dimitrym91]

If the WC wasn't every year it would definitely have more prestige, like the Olympics. But if the tournament isn't going to be best on best do you really want to risk injury to play in it? If its best on best sure, but the WC isn't. Not even close. I could see a guy like McDavid who didn't even make the playoffs going but when even he doesn't that tells you how little the players (Canadians anyways) value the tourney. I'm not sure how the WC even changes that notion from the Canadian players. I think its next to impossible when growing up all the street/pond hockey games are being played for the Stanley Cup in the kids imaginations. None of those kids are imagining one day playing for the WC. Maybe in Europe the kids imagine that but certainly they don't in Canada or the USA.

[Jcantrell16]

two pages about a covered logo.. wow

[kazin]

If the WC wasn't every year it would definitely have more prestige, like the Olympics. But if the tournament isn't going to be best on best do you really want to risk injury to play in it? If its best on best sure, but the WC isn't. Not even close. I could see a guy like McDavid who didn't even make the playoffs going but when even he doesn't that tells you how little the players (Canadians anyways) value the tourney. I'm not sure how the WC even changes that notion from the Canadian players. I think its next to impossible when growing up all the street/pond hockey games are being played for the Stanley Cup in the kids imaginations. None of those kids are imagining one day playing for the WC. Maybe in Europe the kids imagine that but certainly they don't in Canada or the USA.

 

McDavid has gone to the WC 2/4 seasons he's been in the show - 1 season his team went to game 7 of the second round and this season he's recovering from an injury.

 

I think it's up to Hockey Canada to start incentivizing players (if they don't already)...give more preference to players who are committed to Team Canada? I don't know...I don't think money is going to do it for most of these guys.

[Mapleleafs-13]

McDavid has gone to the WC 2/4 seasons he's been in the show - 1 season his team went to game 7 of the second round and this season he's recovering from an injury.

 

I think it's up to Hockey Canada to start incentivizing players (if they don't already)...give more preference to players who are committed to Team Canada? I don't know...I don't think money is going to do it for most of these guys.

 

 

When you're a little kid growing up playing road hockey on the streets, you dream of scoring the goal that wins the stanley cup or the goal that wins your country a gold medal. No kid ever says I want to win the world championships. Kids in small towns that follow minor hockey probably think about wanting to win the Memorial cup or D1 tournaments way before WC. WC isn't even on radar, WC is like a practice for anyone that's looking for extra ice, no one i know goes out of their way to catch any of the games. I accidentally watched it the other day as i was eating breakfast. Big ice, top players not involved, awkward viewing times, lack of marketing are all contributing factors to the popularity of the tournament. 

[kazin]

when you're a little kid growing up playing road hockey on the streets, you dream of scoring the goal that wins the stanley cup or your country a gold medal, no kid ever says i want to win the world championships. Heck kids in small towns that follow minor hockey probably says they want to win the Memorial cup or D1 tournaments. WC isn't even on radar, WC is like a practice for anyone that's looking for extra ice no one i know goes out of their way to catch any of the games. I accidentally watched it the other day as i was eating breakfast. 

 

Yep I understand that. I'm wondering aloud about how Hockey Canada can potentially increase the tournament's reputation (or overall pride/duty of representing your country) so that they can field stronger teams.

[grapes55]

A little late to the new vapor stick talk but I was able to try it at a demo and I thought it felt really nice. Took a little while to get used to but the release was really easy and shots were coming off quick. Solid blade feel too, I guess it didn't feel insanely light but that wasn't an issue for me. Slightly unrelated, but I tried it in a 70 flex instead of my usual 75 (80-ish when cut) and it has honestly changed my life, the extra whip is fantastic

[flip12]

He was pretty steady with 4000/4500/HT2 helmets and Ultra Lite shaft for most of his career.  The gear title should go to Aaron Rome.  I went to a Canucks equipment sale and they had every brand imaginable made for this guy.

 

I wholeheartedly disagree.

 

First of all, the helmet is a bad example. There simply weren't many models to chose from in the 90's as they weren't refreshed nearly as often back then. Malkin, who often gets crowned Champion Gear Whore, also has his trusted model, and actually experiments even less than Mogilny did in that category. For the record, Mogilny did also sport several of the other models that were available, including the classic bubble Jofa, the cosmonaut Itech, Mission, Reebok, and the Bauer 5000.

 

Mogilny did like his UltraLites, but he wasn't exclusive to them, and had stints with many more shafts than I've seen any other player try: Easton Z-Bubble, T-Flex and Aluminum (can't remember the model number), Fontaine, Branches, Bauer Composite, Innovative, Mission, Louisville. He more often than not paired these with Christian blades, but he was again by no means exclusive to either Christians blades or wood as the material he used. Sometimes he had composite blades from Easton or Innovative or wood blades from just about every manufacturer imaginable. I can't think of a player who had as many stick manufacturers making sticks for him, overall, with the exception of Kovalev. But unlike Kovalev, Mogilny's pattern also changed drastically. Kovalev is known for having a couple dozen molds with just about every stick manufacturer, but from what I've found, most of the variations are subtle differences in the toe or the lie or curve depth. Mogilny's basic pattern profile would change in just about every conceivable way, except for going right handed instead of left.

 

He also switched up his stick manufacturers a lot in the wood and OPS days, and even had dalliances back with wood sticks long after using two pieces for a while and similarly went back to two piece setups after the OPS was established. And it's not like he was reluctant to switch to OPS, he was one of the pros using whatever retail Synergy he had at the moment. He went through at least the Shanahan, Drury, and Modano patterns during that year.

 

He also used a vast array of gloves: Easton, Koho, Jofa, Eagle, Louisville, DR (in the naughties, when they weren't even cool anymore), Mission, Hespeler, Cooper, as well as some that were other players' orders like Josh Holden spec CCMs, and Murray Craven spec Vaughns.

 

Skates were the same, he tried and scored in everything including Graf 703s and 704s, Bauer Supremes, Bauer Vapors, Missions, Eastons, CCMs, Micron Mega Air 90s, and even briefly Nikes. Not only did his skate maker change, Mogilny changed his skate setup with just about every style imaginable: tongues in, tongues out, tongues out and flopped, tendons taped as well as untaped, tendons tucked as well as untucked, tendons and tongues taped all in one à la Bure, as well as modified Vapors 10 and XX cut to the height of 703s, and eyelets skipped at various points in location and time.

 

Rome might have ordered a lot of this and that, but no one ever watched Rome and wondered at his style. And if he rotated a lot of that stuff in rather than just getting the Canucks to buy him a lot of stuff that no one ever wanted to buy at a team equipment sale, that doesn't even really make him a gear whore in my mind. It's got to be a player that plays with style as well as considers what they're styling their play with, equipment-wise, in my mind.

 

As far as I've seen, Mogilny is still the hands down winner in that respect. He just did it in the early internet era, so it didn't get as much notice as it does now when Malkin goes from one glove to another within a few weeks. Nobody else ever changed so much at that level. And he still performed at the top, regardless of what he stepped out onto the ice with.

[Dishmaster]

A little late to the new vapor stick talk but I was able to try it at a demo and I thought it felt really nice. Took a little while to get used to but the release was really easy and shots were coming off quick. Solid blade feel too, I guess it didn't feel insanely light but that wasn't an issue for me. Slightly unrelated, but I tried it in a 70 flex instead of my usual 75 (80-ish when cut) and it has honestly changed my life, the extra whip is fantastic

I dropped to a 75 flex and loved it too but the only problem is it becomes a wet noodle pretty quickly

[dimitrym91]

I dropped to a 75 flex and loved it too but the only problem is it becomes a wet noodle pretty quickly

 

I did the same on my Bauer's, found the Nexus and Supreme have held up well but the Vapors became whippy real quick. 

[90Style10Skill]

Semi-related it feels to me as if the R-Lite blade on the 2NPro goes soft really quickly.