Key storylines going into the S74 World Cup

[Victor 10,938]

Well, well, well, if it wasn't the 35th instalment of the VHL World Cup upon us. I am a sucker for international tournaments in all sports and I feel the World Cup here is very underappreciated, especially in recent seasons. So in an attempt to add some energy to this season's tournament I thought I'd do a little World Cup preview.

 

It wouldn't be one of my Media Spots without a reference to some of my infamous spreadsheets. There's not many lying around for the World Cup and the spreadsheet connoisseurs among you are probably already familiar with them. But let's look at some headline figures.

 

The bragging rights

The medal standings going into this tournament remains as tight as ever. The World Cup has been dominated by three teams historically – the US, Canada, and the amalgamation known as Northern Europe, Sweden, Scandinavia, and most recently Team Nordic. The latter team holds a tournament record 4 straight gold medals from the 20s (I touched on that legendary team in an older World Cup piece) but fell on hard times recently, going a miserable 5 tournaments without a medal – a record for the “Big Three”. However, after pulling back with two hard-fought silvers in S70 and S72, a new question now arises....

 

Can Canada break their duck?

Despite a lot of natural advantages, the Canadians barely have the all-time lead in gold medals, and are in danger of letting that slip away too. They are now without a medal in three World Cup editions and another tournament without a top 3 finish would set a team-worst mark of 4 tournaments without finishing on the podium. Team Canada is bringing another star-studded lineup to this season's event, with the likes of Lincoln Tate, Hulk Hogan, Rayz Funk, and Brock Louth set to play their last official matches, but after 3 seasons of disappointment, the pressure is building.

 

What about the other guys?

So the reason there's only 3 main nations (or groups of nations) despite the World Cup always have 6 teams is because no one else really got a long enough run going. Switzerland was back in the olden days, then UK became the hip destination of choice, while Germany sometimes existed on its own, while for most of recent history all 3 countries have fluctuated between Western and just Europe. Russia had a brief productive spell (although their second gold medal was heavily aided by Ukrainians – classic), before giving way to Team World which has probably been the recent fourth force (or third even given Scandinavia's struggles).

 

But let us not forget about the Mercenaries, usually the easy win in the tournament but defending champions from S72, after the rag-tag group won their first ever gold medal. “Defending” is a loose term of course – the nature of the team means there are no returning members, having retired or been “promoted” to their proper national team. But it will be fascinating to see this installment try to match the achievements of their predecessors.

 

The Triple Gold Club

Finally, let's get to the big individual reward from the World Cup. No one cares how many points you put up and even the medal winners are forgotten, but with a bit of luck you can land a place in the coveted Triple Gold Club, reserved for winners of each of the Founder's Cup, Continental Cup, and a World Cup gold medal. It's a notoriously difficult list to crack, I only got in with my seventh player, and here's who's currently in a good position to:

 

Andrew Su, fresh off a Continental Cup win with Vancouver, has also made the Team Canada roster in a hugely important tournament for them. Shawn Glade III and Emi Rune also have both the VHLM and VHL components but have yet to get the call to the World Cup. @Da_Berr

 

Su's Canadian teammate Timothy Brown may be a rival with Seattle in the VHL, where he won the cup as a rookie, but here they are now fighting for a common goal – as a team and as individuals. @a_Ferk

 

Brown's Seattle teammate Uhtred has two Continental Cup rings to his name, but the British winger may struggle to add a gold to his collection for now, given Western Europe's goaltending struggles. However, with some significant skating talent and an extremely hard-hitting duo of Chad Magnum and Phil Marleau up front, who knows what the Europeans can achieve. @leafsman

 

Veteran Nate Telker, VHL champion as a sophomore with Moscow in S70, finally makes his World Cup debut with the Mercenaries and a chance to make a bit more history for what would be quite a Cinderella story of a career. @Telkster

 

And finally Raymond Bernard, one of the finest goaltenders of his generation, was the star of that Moscow playoff run and took over as USA's main man from Alexander Pepper shortly after but the Americans have struggled to piece together a good run since then. Bernard may be inspired to carry them to the top in his final tournament, but on paper they will pose a threat regardless. @Mr_Hatter

[a_Ferk 766]

I really liked your article Victor. I didn't realize the Triple Gold Club was so hard to crack, and I could collect all 3 trophies in consecutive seasons. You gave a nice little introduction and a good rundown on the stakes heading into this tournament. Hopefully we can bring home the gold for Canada this season. 10/10 article.

 

 

Edited November 10, 2020 by a_Ferk

[Beketov 9,023]

46 minutes ago, a_Ferk said:

I didn't realize the Triple Gold Club was so hard to crack

It’s a lot tougher than people think. I didn’t get it until Thompson who was my 10th player. I think @Victor took awhile as well.

[Mr_Hatter 1,608]

@Victor, curious, what is the single tourney goalie record sv%?

[Mr_Hatter 1,608]

I feel like a .956 is competitive at least

[Victor 10,938]

5 hours ago, Mr_Hatter said:

@Victor, curious, what is the single tourney goalie record sv%?

No idea lol. There are some stats floating around but not sure if even half the tournaments are documented.

[Quik 4,113]

The lack of dating apps in the World Cup are disturbing, Christian Mingle was snubbed!

[Garsh 1,189]

59 minutes ago, Quik said:

The lack of dating apps in the World Cup are disturbing, Christian Mingle was FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY!

I think we are more of a Farmers Only crowd.

[Quik 4,113]

3 minutes ago, Garsh said:

I think we are more of a Farmers Only crowd.

brb, paging @JeffD

[Victor 10,938]

No Triple Gold additions then, but Canada did break their duck and woo Nordic!