If we didn’t see this coming, we sure should have.
What happens when you combine the biggest stage of the IIHF season, the IIHF, Canadian quarantine requirements, and a totally disorganized tournament?
The answer is, no World Juniors.
For the first time since their inception in 1977, the World Juniors have been cancelled. Late today, the IIHF said they might take place after the World Championships (which are in May) or in summer (which would also be after May), but nobody is too hopeful.
The reality is, this was a disaster from the start.
Four days before, the Alberta government dropped a bombshell when they limited crowds to 50% of capacity and took the draconian step of closing all concessions.
Yes, they expected people to sit there for six hours (two games a day) without as much as a glass of water. No wonder most opted for refunds. The tournament went from being 90% sold out to drawing no crowd as high as 5,000 - in arenas that seat 18,000 and 7,000.
Not convinced? Listen to the words of Finnish coach Antti Pennanen, speaking to Finnish Newspaper Ilta Sanomat.
“I am angry because this was not a COVID problem, but the problem was that this was a poorly run tournament…..This says a lot about the state of the IIHF,” Pennanen told the Sanomat.
USA coach Nate Leaman responded with a simple tweet: “100 percent.”
How bad was it? Despite talk of bubbling the players away from the arena and requiring players to be in Canada by Dec. 15 in order to quarantine before the tournament, it seems once the tournament started, organizers went a different direction.
Via Twitter Wednesday, Chris Peters of Hockey Sense and Daily Faceoff said, “Team officials have stated that their players are being extremely cautious, staying in their rooms, obeying all protocols and yet this still keeps happening. I’m told there is a wedding reception planned for the hotel USA and Sweden are staying in tonight. What else can they try to do?”
Corey Pronman of The Athletic replied via Twitter, stating, “One staff member on a European team in same hotel as USA in Red Deer calls the current Covid protocols and lack of isolations from the community “ridiculous,” saying they’ve come into contact with said wedding guests.”
Seriously? A wedding reception? They’re trying to pull off a major international hockey tournament, one that profits in the tens of millions most years when Canada hosts it, and they’re too cheap to rent out the entire hotel?
Shame. Shame on the IIHF for letting this happen. Shame on Hockey Canada for letting this happen. Shame on tournament organizers for letting this happen.
And now, a once in a lifetime chance for many players is gone. It’s hard to explain how big the World Juniors are unless you’ve been there, you’ve lived it. Bigger than the Stanley Cup? By far, having been to both three times. And the TV ratings are higher in most countries too. In Canada, the World Junior gold medal game, if it features Canada, outdraws the Stanley Cup by a significant margin most years. In Sweden and Finland, it can draw near total viewership from the country when their teams play.
This is big.
Canceling this is a result of a poorly run tournament, and a situation many of us saw coming from months ago. Is it a surprise? The only surprise to me is any games got played at all.
Would it have gone better had it been moved to a country with less restrictions, such as the US, Sweden, or Russia? In my opinion, yes. But we’ll never know.
Just like we’ll never know who would have won the tournament.
In the meantime, enjoy it, USA. Still the defending champions!
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