What is this Beast Called the World Hockey Championship?
#spacer{clear:left}#abc #sidebar{margin-top:1.5em}zSB(3,3) If you don’t follow hockey outside the NHL, you might be surprised to learn that a tournament called the World Hockey Championship is held every spring. This year’s event begins April 30 in Vienna. The world championship is very popular in Europe, where it originated in 1930 and where domestic leagues finish by mid-April, freeing players to join their national teams. It has never really made peace with North America, where the Stanley Cup is prized above all. In the early years of the tournament, Canada sent an amateur club team. For much of the 1970s, Canada didn’t participate at all. A lengthy debate over player eligibility was not resolved until 1976, when the tournament was opened to professionals. Because it usually conflicts with the Stanley Cup playoffs, the world championship has little profile among NHL fans, and remains a low priority for
