After their sleepy start in the 2015-16 campaign, many were surprised that the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup. What was the secret of their second half success? Most experts will say that the answer is team speed and their ferocious forecheck. If this is a “copycat” league, we are likely to see many teams looking to increase team speed in reply. Are we entering a new phase in hockey? Is team speed the new thing?
The World Cup of Hockey offers many reasons to be excited about the state of the game we love. However, some have questioned whether the two novelty teams are phony fabrications. Team North America (under-23 players from USA and Canada) and the pan-European team represent something other than national pride. Is this experiment worth the departure from national pride as the organizing principle of an International tournament?
These two oddball groupings may be gimmicks, but they offer something both powerful and unexpected.
Professor on Ice 