At meetings of club leaders and KHL representatives, the issues of promoting and increasing competition are often brought up. The hockey audience is aging rapidly and it is not so easy to attract the new generation to the games. The same favorites that make conference finalists each year don’t attract unbiased fans. And despite the fact that CSKA’s victory this season was unexpected and to some extent sensational, many remembered that the army team played in the final four times in a row. But is this only a problem for KHL?
Of course, the level of competition in the NHL is much higher. And the seventh game number in the first round (5) confirms this once again. That’s right, in six of the eight pairs, the teams that ranked higher in the table based on the results of the regular season won. Going further, the two “bottom” teams beat their close neighbors from above. We should not forget that Tampa will play in the Eastern Conference Finals 3 years in a row and who knows, maybe they will take the third trophy. It’s hard to call this a bad trend, because both the KHL and the NHL have high level of hockey in the playoffs, the combat is fierce, and there are many local events.
The same can be attributed to the World Cup. There, for the third time in a row, the Finns will play the Canadians in the final. Interestingly, this never happened in the new World Cup schedule. It was such that for two years in a row the opponents in the final did not change, but not three times. Any unbiased fan will tell you this is boring and uninteresting. In part, of course, he will be right. However, at world championships there has long been a tendency for one or another team to dominate for several years and then go into the shadows. Before that, the Swedes took gold twice in a row. Moreover, when Tre Krunur always had so many NHL players, it was hard to criticize the team for outstanding hockey. Before that, Canada had the dominance, and a little earlier, Russia (both teams won twice in a row). In 2008 and 2009, the finals were the same Russia – Canada. And then no one was particularly angry.
The dominance of Finns and Canadians over the past four years (a World Cup canceled due to the pandemic) is understandable. Maple Leafs are taken by quantity – there are so many Canadians in the NHL that it’s easy to make a non-playoff team out of the Stanley Cup. At the same time, the coaching staff is constantly changing, now the team is led by Claude Julien, who was fired from Montreal last year. In addition to the high skill level of Canadian players, they are distinguished by their character and fighting abilities. Mental traits so lacking for the same Swedes at different levels who often fail the playoffs (we don’t get teams with NHL players). Even in the semi-finals, the first-placed Canadians did not disperse, but quickly punished their opponent (Czechs) for sending them and quickly created a solid handicap. Or take Andrew Mangipane, the hero of the last World Cup, whom no one really knew before the tournament. This season, he showed his best stats by scoring 55 points in the regular season. He advanced to the second round with Calgary in the playoffs.
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The Finnish national team is a completely different story. Jukka Jalonen has two World Championships, MFM, OI – just she and the great Mike Babcock seem to have such a kit. Jalonen doesn’t need NHL stars to win, he may not invite players from North America at all as in past years, or he may invite a few as he does now. Both Anttila and Heiskanen can come to a conclusion with this manager. The system, the strictness of the defense, the tried combinations – playing with this team is uncomfortable for everyone. It is absolutely impossible to get two or three goals back from the Finns. Maybe only Canadians can try.
The same sign of World Cup finals three times in a row is not good for all the sport. But can Canadians and Finns, who are certainly at the top, be blamed for this? Number. But it’s good to ask questions of others. How could Sweden allow the appointment of Yukhan Garpenlev and not dismiss him after the first failure? Many NHL players refused to go to the World Cup because of the head coach figure, with the team eventually flying into the quarterfinals. All these years, it was the Czechs who recently found themselves seventh most often, and the team has not had a medal for 10 years. When will Americans start to take the World Cup a little more seriously and build stronger teams? The USA has not won a World Cup since 1960. The Russian team can also be asked questions, but first it has to turn to the elite. Unfortunately, this has not yet been discussed. And it’s not about sports anymore.
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