For much of the month of September, we consistently heard the World Cup bashers continuously highlight the alleged warts of the tournament, none moreso than allegations that it was an event that was completely contrived.
There can be no denying the 2016 World Cup was a polarizing display of best-on-best hockey. For most fans, either you liked it or you didn’t.
Maybe you had issues that it contained two squads — Team Europe and Team North America — that were cobbled together just for this tournament rather than representing an actual country. Fair enough.
But even if it didn’t mean anything to you, it certainly did for the players.