Can I watch the ice hockey world championships from Prague on any tv station in the US?

April 22, 2004 1:43 PM

Can I watch the ice hockey world championships from Prague on any tv station in the US? It starts April 24th. I've been searching high and low for information on it, and the only thing I can seem to find is mentions of a "world cup of hockey" in August on ESPN -- a tournament I've never heard of with a two year history and no obvious (to me) reason for existing. I'd love to see the world championships, but I only have standard cable and broadband internet... any tips?
posted by edlundart to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (4 answers total)

I don't know where you can watch the World Championship, but about the World Cup: it's the replacement for the Canada Cup. The obvious reason for its existence is that the NHL playoffs won't be on while it's happening, so everyone can play, not just the ones whose teams were kicked out of the playoffs early.

Take it from a canuck - the Olympics and the World Cup are the international hockey tournaments to watch. The World Championship is just a teaser, as many of the best players won't be available.
posted by alex_reno at 2:17 PM on April 22, 2004

Response by poster: well, i see your point, but... the world championship is the traditional tournament that's been around for ages. i watched it every year growing up, as did other european hockey fans. i even cheered for many fine Canadian national teams only because they were good teams and i liked their uniforms (hey, i was a kid...) maybe it's just that i'm eurotrash, but i think it would make more sense for the NHL to change their schedule to accommodate the world championships (or possibly the other way around) than for there to be two unrelated world championship tournaments. no? thanks for the info about it being the replacement for the Canada Cup though. i didn't know that.
posted by edlundart at 2:55 PM on April 22, 2004

Response by poster: and... well... I guess I'll be watching this "world cup of hockey" (it kind of doesn't sound like a real name) when that comes on... does anyone know what the attitudes are about that tournament in Europe? Is it seen as less important than what I sort of thought was "the real world championships" (I'm a Norwegian who's been living in the US for years, so i'm out of touch). Or is this world cup tournament set to replace the old championships as the #1 international hockey event? Furthermore -- the world championships has a whole substructure set up with divisions for the less-good teams, where the winners move up to compete in the A group. For instance, Belarus just won the B group (beating out Norway) and will compete in the A group next year. Is there a similar system for the world cup tournament or is it invitation only or something?
posted by edlundart at 3:03 PM on April 22, 2004

The Canada/World Cup goes back to 1976 and appears to have grown out of the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the USSR. It was supposed to be a fairer match than the Olympics or the World Championships because of timing and "amateur" restrictions that kept North American NHL players out (the 1980 American Olympic team is hailed not just for beating the Soviets, but for beating the cream of Soviet hockey with a bunch of college scrubs).

The last World Cup (I think) was in 1996, when a stellar performance from Mike Richter helped the Americans beat Canada. The whole thing seemed kind of moot when the NHL began suspending their season to allow players to attend the Olympics, but has now been revived--for reasons that might have to do with the impending NHL labor lockout, I'm not sure.

The World Cup is played on North American-sized rinks, so it's not quite the brand of hockey that some European teams prefer, but it's damned good hockey despite taking place when the players aren't in full game shape.

I would be surprised if the regular World Championships were broadcast anywhere in the States, though.
posted by mookieproof at 7:15 PM on April 22, 2004