Hockey's Ugly Stepsister

Canada plays Finland Sunday in the Gold Medal Game at the 2007 World Hockey Championship in Moscow. In North America, the World Championship is generally dismissed as hockey's ugly stepsister. But Canadians love tournaments they can win. So for one day at least, a game in Russia will take precedence over the Stanley Cup Conference Finals.

The World Championship falls at this time every year, reducing it to a consolation prize for players who can't get past the first round of the NHL Playoffs. Not that they aren't trying hard. But ask any NHL player a few weeks ago if he wanted to be in Moscow in May, and the answer would have been no. That doesn't say much for what is supposed to be your annual showdown for world supremacy.

Adding to the confusion, the NHL still doesn't know if it will commit to the Olympics beyond 2010, and there is no word on when the vastly entertaining but sporadically scheduled World Cup of Hockey might return. Is there a team sport with a more dysfunctional international calendar?

Update, May 13: Canada won the title, defeating Finland 4-2.