IIHF World ChampionshipDiscuss International Tournaments like the WJC, Olympics, and World Cup, as they take place, or discuss past tournaments. performances.
I do believe more ppl in Russia care about the WJC than in Canada just because there are more ppl in Russia.
LOL. There are more people in China, but it doesn't mean that more people in China care abouth the WJHC than Russia or Canada.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Atas2000
This point of view about having the tournament in Canada every year is strange at the very least.
It's not strange. The general interest to the WJHC in Canada is huge and it's not even comparable to Russia. The last year's attendance was 455,342 (average 14,688 per match). Can you guess the average attendance in Ufa?
Why is there such a poor showing at the prelim games? This is embarrassing. Compare this to Canada's pre-camp intersquad games which were 100% sold out and rockin' the house.
This is a junior tournament and a prelim match for it The average person in Russia will have some interest in Russia matches but the general tournament gains little interest especially when it is always hosted in North America.
Dose of reality for Canadians I guess, Hockey is not popular worldwide and the nations they compete with are good at quite a few team sports which are quite popular worldwide E.g Football, Basketball, Indoor Volleyball etc, it dilutes Hockey. Although Hockey is experiencing a boom in Russia at the moment as Russia is in a good place economically after the joke it was in the 90's. The only sport where Hockey is super popular in is Canada.
Look at the number of people playing hockey in the world.
Canada: 574,125
United States: 485,018
Czech Republic: 83,589
Russia: 77,702
Sweden: 67,585
Finland: 62,886
Germany: 30,344
LOL. T
The last year's attendance was 455,342 (average 14,688 per match). Can you guess the average attendance in Ufa?
Ufa will probably average around 3-4k for the tournament. Even if the WJC was as popular in Russia () as it would be in Canada the attendance average will still be lower because the sizes of the arenas are 8k and 4k respectively.
That was exactly my point. The population size is irrelevant. Albeit the general interest in hockey is. More people playing hockey, more hockey rinks, more hockey schools, bigger arenas, more money invested in hockey - everything translates in more frequent WJHCs held in the North America. I was born and raised in Russia, and I’ve been cheering for the Russian (USSR) national teams since I was 5. After spending the last 12 years in the North America (I still visit Russia quite often), I can’t argue with the fact that hockey is more popular in Canada. Period.
That was exactly my point. The population size is irrelevant. Albeit the general interest in hockey is. More people playing hockey, more hockey rinks, more hockey schools, bigger arenas, more money invested in hockey - everything translates in more frequent WJHCs held in the North America. I was born and raised in Russia, and I’ve been cheering for the Russian (USSR) national teams since I was 5. After spending the last 12 years in the North America (I still visit Russia quite often), I can’t argue with the fact that hockey is more popular in Canada. Period.
Sports in general are more popular in North America than Europe, watching sports that is. Canada has a stronger love affair with one sport than any other nation I can really think of off the top of my head.
None of that matters though. The tournament is in Ufa, it's great that it is and it should continue to be moved around reasonably to different countries and locations.
This is a junior tournament and a prelim match for it The average person in Russia will have some interest in Russia matches but the general tournament gains little interest especially when it is always hosted in North America.
Dose of reality for Canadians I guess, Hockey is not popular worldwide and the nations they compete with are good at quite a few team sports which are quite popular worldwide E.g Football, Basketball, Indoor Volleyball etc, it dilutes Hockey. Although Hockey is experiencing a boom in Russia at the moment as Russia is in a good place economically after the joke it was in the 90's. The only sport where Hockey is super popular in is Canada.
Look at the number of people playing hockey in the world.
Canada: 574,125
United States: 485,018
Czech Republic: 83,589
Russia: 77,702
Sweden: 67,585
Finland: 62,886
Germany: 30,344
These numbers have little correlation to the number of international-class hockey players each nation produces. The vast majority of the hockey-playing population in Canada and the United States consists of U17 level players and beer league players who
just play for fun, but who aren't even close to the level necessary to represent those countries in an international tournament. What counts is the number of players who are engaged in intensive, competitive hockey training and development. I think you will find that those numbers are much closer, with the Russians competing quite nicely with the Canadians and Americans at the international class, especially at U20 and professional levels.
Ufa will probably average around 3-4k for the tournament. Even if the WJC was as popular in Russia () as it would be in Canada the attendance average will still be lower because the sizes of the arenas are 8k and 4k respectively.
In Canada, there is very little interest in games that match, for example, Slovakia vs. Finland. You are not going to get sold out arenas or heavy attendance figures for games that don't involve Canada or their top competitors. I will be interested in the attendance for games involving Russia in Ufa.
Sports in general are more popular in North America than Europe, watching sports that is. Canada has a stronger love affair with one sport than any other nation I can really think of off the top of my head.
These numbers have little correlation to the number of international-class hockey players each nation produces. The vast majority of the hockey-playing population in Canada and the United States consists of U17 level players and beer league players who
just play for fun, but who aren't even close to the level necessary to represent those countries in an international tournament. What counts is the number of players who are engaged in intensive, competitive hockey training and development. I think you will find that those numbers are much closer, with the Russians competing quite nicely with the Canadians and Americans at the international class, especially at U20 and professional levels.
Canada has far more junior hockey players than Russia, Russia may be competitive but this is not like in the USSR where they had great depth in every position. Russia may be competitive and produce elite players but in terms of depth Russia is far behind Canada, participation numbers play a role in this. Just have to look at the large amount of sports Russia is strong at and realise that not everyone chooses to play hockey in Russia. Things will change over the next 10 years if Hockey continues booming here and we may see Russia having similar depth to Canada. I don't see Hockey becoming the number one sport in Russia but kids playing hockey is surging which is very good.
In Canada, there is very little interest in games that match, for example, Slovakia vs. Finland. You are not going to get sold out arenas or heavy attendance figures for games that don't involve Canada or their top competitors. I will be interested in the attendance for games involving Russia in Ufa.
They get a lot of interest in Canada and much more than they would get here.
In terms of attendance for games involving Russia, well Russia V Canada was already sold out last week and the other Russian round robin games are selling well.
This isn't the final roster, there are 2 more cuts and one of them will have to be D-man. Vasilevskiy can still be cut, although I wasn't expecting Koledov to make it either.
For forwards, I would say the last spot is between Mozer and Kapustin.
Not really paying that much attention to the Russian camp, really wish I could - so Zharkov's playing well?!
EDIT: Ever press last page and it gives you the wrong page? *sigh*
If you are saying they like it better than the US and Canada like sports, I'll have to disagree. The NFL dwarfs anything that Europeans watch. There are the few hardcore fans who follow a clubs every move, but for most Europeans soccer is a weekend only event. There is not near the saturation of coverage throughout the week on every available media outlet and in every conversation that the NFL generates in the US or the NHL in Canada.
If you are saying they like it better than the US and Canada like sports, I'll have to disagree. The NFL dwarfs anything that Europeans watch. There are the few hardcore fans who follow a clubs every move, but for most Europeans soccer is a weekend only event. There is not near the saturation of coverage throughout the week on every available media outlet and in every conversation that the NFL generates in the US or the NHL in Canada.
I usually agree and like your posts but you are completely wrong here. Having worked in both North America and Europe Football is not some "Weekend Only Event" football in Europe's' leading leagues in the words of Bryzgalov is humongous big compared to the popularity of NFL in the U.S or NHL in Canada. In a lot of countries in Europe and South America it is a religion. A lot of fans have their team in the domestic league who also compete in European competition (Champions League, Europa League) and follow the national team through the World Cup qualifiers/ European Championship Qualifiers.
I am very interested in how many people will follow their franchises in the NFL and NHL if they were to have promotion/relegation.
I usually agree and like your posts but you are completely wrong here. Having worked in both North America and Europe Football is not some "Weekend Only Event" football in Europe's' leading leagues in the words of Bryzgalov is humongous big compared to the popularity of NFL in the U.S or NHL in Canada. In a lot of countries in Europe and South America it is a religion. A lot of fans have their team in the domestic league who also compete in European competition (Champions League, Europa League) and follow the national team through the World Cup qualifiers/ European Championship Qualifiers.
I am very interested in how many people will follow their franchises in the NFL and NHL if they were to have promotion/relegation.
This is a junior tournament and a prelim match for it The average person in Russia will have some interest in Russia matches but the general tournament gains little interest especially when it is always hosted in North America.
Dose of reality for Canadians I guess, Hockey is not popular worldwide and the nations they compete with are good at quite a few team sports which are quite popular worldwide E.g Football, Basketball, Indoor Volleyball etc, it dilutes Hockey. Although Hockey is experiencing a boom in Russia at the moment as Russia is in a good place economically after the joke it was in the 90's. The only sport where Hockey is super popular in is Canada.
Look at the number of people playing hockey in the world.
Canada: 574,125
United States: 485,018
Czech Republic: 83,589
Russia: 77,702
Sweden: 67,585
Finland: 62,886
Germany: 30,344
Goalies:
I. Ustinsky (Stal'nye Lisy)
A. Makarov (Saskatun Blejdz)
A. Vasilevsky (Tolpar)
Defense:
Y. Dyblenko (Atlant)
N. Nesterov (Traktor)
A. Sergeyev (Val'-d'Or Foreurs)
A. Yarullin (Ak Bars)
A. Mironov (Dinamo Moskva)
K. Dyakov (Mamonty Yugry)
P. Koledov (Loko)
Forwards:
M. Grigorenko (Kvebek Remparts)
N. Yakupov (Neftehimik)
A. Khokhlachev (Spartak)
V. Tkachev (Ak Bars)
Y. Kosov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk)
A. Slepyshev (Metallurg Nov.)
M. Shalunov (Traktor)
V. Nichushkin (Traktor)
E. Mozer (Omskie Jastreby)
A. Sigarev (SKA)
N. Kucherov (Ruan-Noranda Haski)
K. Kapustin (Loko)
D. Zharkov (Bel'vil' Bulls)
Last edited by russianhockeyDOTde: 12-24-2012 at 07:18 AM.
Why is there such a poor showing at the prelim games? This is embarrassing. Compare this to Canada's pre-camp intersquad games which were 100% sold out and rockin' the house.
