from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,
The World Cup isn’t and can’t be the Olympics. No one in the hockey industry ever was confused about that. But the recently concluded Toronto-based tournament provided little clarity in defining what exactly this supposedly scheduled quadrennial event actually is or can become.
This was a small-scale event in which intensity and emotion seemed lacking from the get-go. If Team North America wasn’t playing, the hockey was not compelling.
What should it tell the leaders of the industry that essentially everyone was taken by the magnetism and charisma of the one team that played the game the way literally everyone agrees it cannot be played in the NHL?
It should tell these leaders the product being presented during the regular season (and let’s not kid ourselves, through much of the playoffs, too) is defective. It is up to the leaders on both sides of the management/labor aisle to give the masses what they want. And that’s entertaining, creative hockey that rewards talent. That’s the critical takeaway from the tournament that was filled with uninteresting games.
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