European International Ice Hockey Tournaments
Though Canada was the birthplace of hockey, the sport has since crossed over into the United States and Europe. Stanley cup playoffs take the concentration of the international men’s ice hockey world championships away from American enthusiasts, unlike their European counterparts. In countries such as the U.S., Canada, and others with a large concentration of NHL players, the countries are at a loss to round up their best players because those players have joined the NHL and will be competing for the Stanley cup.
For many years professionals were barred from playing at the international level, and now that many Europeans are playing for the NHL, the world championships no longer represent the world’s top players. Hockey was an event that’s been a part of the Olympic Games since 1924 with Canada winning 6 out of 7 gold medals. During the years that professional American, Swedish, Finnish, and Canadians were barred from Olympic competition, the United States took home the gold medal (in 1960) and Russia won all but two gold medals from 1956 to 1988. A bunch of non-pro college kids in Lake Placid, New York beat the Russians in 1980 for the gold medal.
It was then that a new surge in the popularity of the game that most Americans weren’t paying too much attention to. The Summit series in 1972 and 1974 had established Canada and Russia as hockey rivals. The best players benefited from this, as it gave rise to the Canadian Cup, which only deals with the world’s best players. The Canadian cup later became the World Cup of Hockey with the United States winning in 1996 and Canada winning in 2004. Since 1998 NHL professionals have played in the Olympics giving the top players more opportunity to compete and face off with other professional players from different countries. Since the year of 1998, the Olympics have been home to 9 women’s competitions; the women’s games started that year.
Women have been able to make a noticeable amount of noise in this sport, as they play their games with the same fierceness of women. On the other hand, there is still a lot that must be accomplished in order for women to truly be on par with men at the domestic or international level. Historically, men have been the players in the game, and women will have a tough fight ahead of them if they want to be considered serious contenders. The millions of people in Canada and the United States who love this sport break attendance records frequently. This sport is seen as the kind of family tradition, an past time that many Americans view the sports of baseball, football, or basketball.
Whether the players are pros or whether they are newbies, hockey is its own little world with its own set of rules. Soap opera fans have nothing on fans of this sport; people worship it like the air they breathe. For some, spending 2 to 3 hours late at night on the ice is perfectly normal.