Overall Scheduling
Relating to my last point is the overall scheduling of the tournament. The NHL is using their yearly All-Star break to put on this tournament, which isn't a problem. The problem I have is how they're using it.
NHL games stop on February 10th and the tournament starts on the 12th. On Saturday, the 15th, the NHL smartly decided to have a doubleheader of rivalry games, with Finland taking on Sweden and Canada playing USA.
However, the finals are set to take place on the 20th, a Thursday.
Why wouldn't they have the finals also on a Saturday?
NHL games are set to resume on the 22nd, which is the Saturday the finals SHOULD be taking place.
The tournament could've easily started a day or two later, featured the rivalry games on the 15th, wrapped up the round-robin early the next week, had the finals on the Saturday, and resume the NHL on the Monday (and maybe thrown in a semi-final game in there as well).
While I do have my problems with the tournament, it still should be a decent time. After the teams were revealed last week, the hype is picking up.
This tournament is far from perfect, but still should be fun to watch, and the good news is, a Toronto Maple Leafs player will end up with a gold medal. Let's hope it's Mitch Marner.