Countdown To The Final, With Europe

The World Cup of Hockey is over.  Going into it, there was much talk about the two oddball teams, North America (Canadians and Americans under 23) and Europe (people from outside the countries that got their own teams, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic and Russia.) The concepts weren't very popular when they were introduced a year-and-a-half ago. I was actually pretty surprised that the  NHL (organizers of the tourney) went through with it.

But the big surprise was how the fans really came around on the new teams.  The North America team was predictably fast and exciting, and fans couldn't help cheering for their enthusiasm.  There was much disappointment when they narrowly missed the knockout round. It was also a good showcase for the talented young players in the league, which was presumably the driving force behind the idea.  And the Europeans outperformed expectations, finishing as runners-up, and they probably offered the champion Canadians their biggest challenge. They took their underdog status and turned it into motivation as great as the national pride the other teams had.  The only downside was that they were hard for us in Canada to hate.  Even beating Finland in 2004 was more satisfying.

So what's going to happen in the future? Let me be the first to suggest: seven-game series, Canada vs. The rest of the world.  Also, let's have a Soccer World Cup team featuring the best from outside Europe, South America, and Africa.

The other change is that now, hockey fans will admit that they were too quick to reject a new idea, and will have new respect for the leadership of the NHL.  Ha, I had you going there for a moment.  Of course not, they'll just go back to hating everything. It's too bad, because the fandom's hatred for Commissioner Gary Bettman has really gotten out of hand. I don't really like Bettman either, but booing him at absolutely every public appearance is pretty childish.

And let's face it: it's not because of anything he's done, but who he is. I've always been amused by how people involved with hockey have unending trust in "good hockey guys." And that seems to be their answer for everything, we need to get some good hockey guys to handle it.  Gary Bettman is not a hockey guy.  Not literally - he cut his teeth in the NBA.  And he definitely doesn't seem like a Hockey Guy: he's short, American, intellectual, and a lifelong big-city dweller. He seems like exactly the person who destroys the sport in Don Cherry's nightmares.