Simply put: Game 1 of Canada-Europe World Cup of Hockey final was brutal

TORONTO - Let's be serious - the game was a bit of a joke.

As for the tournament ... well, we'll let you decide.

Yes, it was a bit silly that Canada plays in the World Cup of Hockey final against Europe, a team made up of players-who represented eight different countries. And of course, the trophy was on the line sort of like a vase of flowers.

Team captain Europe called "our best game so far in the tournament." But it could have been the ugliest of Canada.

At one point in the first period, with Canada Hockey Jersey leading 2-0, Ryan Getzlaf had a fall from happening without regard to the opposing blue line. He was the kind of game you are in a sense exhibition game - not in a championship final. Again, the lines are somewhat blurred at this stage of the World Cup.



The worst part? The teams play again Thursday.

"Obviously, we got the two points," said head coach Mike Babcock, who was not impressed by the effort or the performance of the team. "You want things to be perfect every night. But that's just not true."

Babcock spoke Game 1, but it could have been the whole tournament SEO. The problem with the World Cup is that it is not real. To be successful, you need a compelling championship final between two teams who really cared about beating the other.

As much fun as it was to see Team Europe upset the Americans or the North American team to skate circles around Finland, nobody really wanted to see both teams do all the way up final. Finally, you need real country and real drama.

This was why the NHL practically rigged both divisions, placing Canada and the United States with the Czech Republic and Team Europe in the hope that it would result in an easy path to the semifinals and final. Of course, it did not work that way. Instead of a rematch of the World Cup 1996 between Canada and the US or even a hand 2014 game between Canada and Sweden, we got it.

Two teams. Zero History. And for one, zero future.

As said Babcock, "the World Cup is great - it's not the Olympics must not be confused.".

Babcock was right. The Olympic Games have passion. The World Cup is manufactured passion. Team Europe as many tried to play for pride or adopt a mindset us against the world, something is lost when playing in an international event within a real country ... or hymn.

You wanted passion last night? You had better walk down the street and watch the Toronto Blue Jays play the Baltimore Orioles. Or flipping the channel to one of the many games of the NHL pre-season on television.

"Obviously, we are happy that we still have with a win tonight, even though we did not play our best hockey," said defenseman Drew Doughty Canada. "We can not think that way. We have to play our best hockey."

Even then, the best in Canada can not change the aftertaste of this tournament. Five years from now, it is unlikely that we will remember this final championship. We will probably remember how Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews played together with the North American team. And we remember how Sidney Crosby, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand were unstoppable as a line.

As Team Europe before Thomas Vanek said of Canada, "We know this is the best team in the world. To beat them will be difficult. To beat them twice is going to be - it is impossible. "

Vanek's just hope. Two wins in Europe mean that this series best-of-three going the distance. And from what we saw in Game 1, we can not imagine having to watch two games more than that.