You gotta be kidding me, you should have taken closer look to that olympics squad. That defence depth is incomparable, it also had the best goalie in the world, also more than half of them were guys who were stable players in NHL, some of them even becoming legends later, it’s true it got even better depth wise in upcoming years, doesn’t change the fact this squad is not better in any case.
True miracle on ice is USA squad this year, best team they ever had here.
You're conflating the use of the word "powerful" with "great" or "effective." Nobody knows how well a team will play together until they're on the ice in the round robin.
I'm a huge mark for the '98 CZE squad, and have written on many occasions that Hasek played the greatest tournament of any GK ever in any competition. They had epic leaders on the top lines and a rock-solid blue line indeed. It was one of the bravest Olympic golds ever & they'll never get enough credit for it.
But from a pure firepower and numbers standpoint I do not see how you can make this argument.
(Your argument isn't "I disagree slightly" but "HOO BOY is that ignorant of the facts!" so that's what I'm rebutting. Not saying "Team Russia could beat the Nagano champs by 5 goals" or something, obviously nobody in the world was able beat them by 1 goal.)
Suppose the only 4 added players from here-out are Ovie, Gusev, Datsyuk and Mozyakin. You'll probably say "Datsyuk and Mozyakin both broke their arms on Thursday" and that's fine because I have a hard time getting timely news out of Russia. And sure, Vegas and Washington could run to the Stanley Cup Finals again. But I'm sure there are people I'm overlooking too (Svechnikov out of Carolina is a fantastic alternative if the Capitals beat the Hurricanes) so let's just add these 4 additional players and call it a final roster for the sake of argument.
Now you've got 3 lines of forwards who will likely retire with Hall of Fame accolades based on their NHL accomplishments alone, plus 2 of the best large-ice passers in history. Point-per-game NHL and KHL stars will be competing for 3rd and 4th line spots. The '98 Czechs only had 6 NHL forwards period and there was no comparable league to draw from back then.
It's like saying Phi Slama Jama was more "powerful" than NC State. It's a true statement even if they lost. Jimmy V's Wolfpack still WON, teams win not individual talents, but this isn't a prediction thread, it's a roster thread.
The upcoming Russia team could have more offense than some of the medal teams from so-called "best on best" Olympics. That's all I'm trying to say because they could still absolutely suck as a unit in Slovakia, who knows.