A FAN VIEW OF THE WORLD CUP OF HOCKEY

A FAN VIEW OF THE WORLD CUP OF HOCKEY

By: Matthew Blittner

On Saturday September 17, 2016, the NHL and NHLPA officially reinstated the World Cup of Hockey Tournament that had been discarded 12 years ago.


The first game of the tournament featured Team USA vs Team Europe at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
Yours truly gives a recap of the game, as well as a personal fan experience from the event:
The hype for this event has been incredible. To have national teams face off in the ultimate tournament and bring fans from across the globe together under one roof is a rare opportunity.


Thousands of passionate fans packed themselves into the Toronto area for an undeniably unique experience.


About 20 minutes away from the Air Canada Centre was the Fan Village, which is very similar to that of the Olympics. Throughout the tournament there are fan attractions at the makeshift village, including concerts the night before a game is played.
The night before the Team USA vs Team Europe game, the band, The Killers, took center stage with their hit song, Mr. Brightside. Fans squeezed themselves around the stage area as the band tore the house down and gave the fans an appropriate adrenaline boost right before the start of the games.


During the game, Team Europe got out shot by a 2:1 margin by Team USA, but some puck luck gave them a 3-0 lead that would eventually stand as the final score.


A lot of the intrigue throughout the game was the friends turned enemies match-ups that could only be created by the nature of a tournament with national teams.


The Rangers Ryan McDonagh and Derek Stepan were facing off against their friend and teammate Mats Zuccarello, while playing for their former Head Coach John Tortorella.


Mats Zuccarello, was also playing alongside former Ranger teammate Marian Gaborik, who himself was competing against his current LA Kings goalie Jonathan Quick.


To see these and other match-ups is the kind of experience that brings fans together although they root for opposite teams, and can only be experienced at an event similar to the World Cup.


Throughout the game, the fans seemed to struggle to get out of their malaise as the pace of play was far from what you would normally expect from a hockey game, but the nature of the goals scored by Team Europe certainly helped to bring their fans some emotion and energy.
While I was rooting for Team USA, the consensus most exciting play happened in the second period as Patrick Kane of Team USA was stripped of the puck at the offensive zone blue line, and Team Europe went the other way with a 2 on 0 rush up the ice cumulating with a goal by Leon Draisaitl to put them up 2-0.

Overall, the experience for the fans was a unique one, and the NHL and NHLPA can certainly pat themselves on the back as the rest of the tournament unfolds.

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