2018 World Championship Preview
For another year international hockey will begin focusing on the top championship in the world, at least to some.
The World Championships will head to Denmark this year for the latest title chase and this year it is in an interesting spot.
Every four years a championship is held that tends to overshadow anything else in the hockey world.
The Olympic tournament is often considered one of the biggest tournaments in hockey as it only comes once every four years.
This past year that tournament looked a little different as the best players in the world were no longer going to play in the Olympics.
That was always one of the biggest differences between the Olympics and the World Championships as the best players in the world never really attend the World Championship.
It is a strange tournament in that it is the international championship every year and yet it is in the heart of the NHL playoffs.
That leaves a lot of the best players unable to attend as a part of their national teams instead playing in the playoffs.
Beyond that, there are many players just ending a tough season and they choose not to keep playing in order to focus on recovering their injuries.
It leaves the national teams with a roster that doesn’t truly reflect the amount of talent that they have in their country.
The Olympics was the opposite of that as the NHL took time off to allow the best players in the world to travel to the games and play.
This past Olympics was the first in a long time that the NHL didn’t take time off to allow players to participate.
Instead, the NHL played on and the Olympic teams were made without any of the top players who spend their time in the NHL.
That has made this year’s tournament something a little different than in the past as this will be the best national teams put together.
In an Olympic year that never happens but this year, the World Championships will give more NHL talent a chance to play then they have had in this year.
These will be the best teams available and with the new stance on the Olympics, this could become one of the only tournaments that actually showcases NHL talent.
Although the NHL has brought back the World Cup to do that this is still the international tournament that more of the hockey world cares about.
This involves every player from around the world and gives any and all hockey teams a chance to play for the title.
The decision made by the NHL has affected the World Championship as this is now the one true international tournament that has the best talent.
That is what the 2018 version of the tournament walks into as NHL players that haven’t been able to play internationally yet are getting their shot.
It could give them some extra motivation as they weren’t able to get to the Olympics but now have a chance to grab a world championship.
With that, it seems clear as always that the best teams every year will remain the favourites for this year’s tournament.
Canada and Russia will look to continue their international dominance while Finland, Sweden and USA all try to continue their rise through the rankings.
This year there will see a more surprising participant though as the Olympic hosts will bring their team to the top division for the first time.
Like the Belarussians and the French, the Koreans will be trying to just stay in the top division for another year.
Korea has never been here before and they didn’t look all that great in the Olympics against less talented teams.
That doesn’t mean they won’t find their way as they did earn their spot in the top level and now they have to try to stay there.
The World Championships have always taken a back seat to some of the bigger tournaments out there but this year could be a change.
Although the World Cup has more NHL talent it doesn’t represent the entire hockey world and the Olympics no longer have the best of the best.
That leaves the World Championship where NHL talent is welcome, although not always there, and where the entire world is represented and the closest to the best will be crowned.
The Sport Addiction 