Canada Wins World Cup in Canada; Canadians Ecstatic

Published on 30-Sep-2016 by J Square Humboldt

NHL    NHL Daily Update

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Canada Wins World Cup in Canada; Canadians Ecstatic

Look, we get it.

The Great White North is ferociously proud of its pucksters, and for good reason.

So when the NHL poobahs decide to offer alternate sports programing in September -- at least in the USA; it was also past bedtimes in Europe -- where else to create an atmosphere than north of the 49th?

And who else would have a one-game lead in the best-of-three championship final?

The suprise was who they were playing, and who held sway until the final few minutes:

OK. Fine. Canada gets to say they're the made-for-TV champs until called upon to defend their title in 2020, most likely in a venue that will give its funky format a pass.

It's tempting to say they beat a made-for-TV opponent to do it, but both Team Europe and Team North America were entertaining revelations in this event.

Still, the World Cup of Hockey needs to be seen as more of an opportunity to promote the game than a Canadian self-congratulatory celebration in the pre-pre-season. It was fun to see high-level competition for a couple of weeks, but it just seemed to be happening for all the wrong reasons.