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After Canada who is the top hockey nation?

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RobertR said:
:D

Yeah, I'am pretty sure top4 Canada`s centers are all better than Zetterberg. :facepalm:

Ok, keep living in your fantasy world.

And don't forget to post results of HF top10 centers poll to prove your point.
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I meant Backstrom, since at this point he's better than Zetterberg, but really if you are going to argue that Zetterberg is better than Crosby/Tavares/Getzlaf/Toews then there is no point continuing, since you apparently live in 2008.
 
I wonder how do you guys so easily know who is better than who.

Crosby is the best.

Tavaress is better than Getzlaf, then is Towes..

Backstrom is worse than those four.

Zettergerg is somewhere, I hope close, but what do I know, behind all of them.

One of you has Stamkos as top2 center, other one doesn't even have him in top4.
 
RobertR said:
I wonder how do you guys so easily know who is better than who.

Crosby is the best.

Tavaress is better than Getzlaf, then is Towes..

Backstrom is worse than those four.

Zettergerg is somewhere, I hope close, but what do I know, behind all of them.

One of you has Stamkos as top2 center, other one doesn't even have him in top4.
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The one that doesn't have him as a top 4 centret probably has him on Sid wing and that's fine too

Point is Canada has about z8 centres that are better than Zetterberg and probably about 6 better than Backstrom
 
The tally so far.

Sweden: 18 votes
United States: 12 votes
Russia: 3 votes
Finland: 2 votes
 
I've always thought of Sweden as number 2. The one thing Sweden,Russia,Finland,the U.S etc all have in common is the fact that they simply cannot put out the depth that Canada can. Those teams can go 2 or 3 lines deep but not 4. They can put out 3 or 4 elite D but not 6. I think you get my point. Eventually the depth you're up against will burn you.
 
Man Bear Pig said:
I've always thought of Sweden as number 2. The one thing Sweden,Russia,Finland,the U.S etc all have in common is the fact that they simply cannot put out the depth that Canada can. Those teams can go 2 or 3 lines deep but not 4. They can put out 3 or 4 elite D but not 6. I think you get my point. Eventually the depth you're up against will burn you.
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Yeah unfortunately all other nations are limited by popularity or population to really challenge Canada. Best bet is probably Russia but they don't have enough people with money throughout the population to be honest.
 
WarriorofTime said:
I studied Russian culture in a course as an Undergraduate and came to that through my research. I suppose the article I found that in may have been mistaken. I think ice hockey is more popular in particular regions than others.
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Sweet Jesus.:facepalm::laugh:
 
WarriorofTime said:
It was an academic article
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An academic article that said basketball and volleyball was bigger than hockey? Who was the fool that wrote that?

EDIT: But you are correct in that hockey is very regional.
 
Last edited:
Zine said:
An academic article that said basketball and volleyball was bigger than hockey? Who was the fool that wrote that?

EDIT: But you are correct in that hockey is very regional.
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Idk. It is possible my memory is hazy and they were referring to participation as opposed to fan interest. It was a while ago :laugh:
 
WarriorofTime said:
Yeah unfortunately all other nations are limited by popularity or population to really challenge Canada. Best bet is probably Russia but they don't have enough people with money throughout the population to be honest.
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The issue really isn't about money, but rather popularity (or lack thereof).

Outside of interest for the national teams (and soccer), Russia doesn't have the 'sports culture' of a USA or Canada.....at least as it pertains to the common person on the street. Sports entertainment is nowhere near as big. I'm talking in generalities of course. I dunno, it's kind of difficult to explain.
 
1- Canada
...

2- I'll say Sweden, even tho on paper, I think that USA SHOULD BE better, Sweden achieve better results.

3- USA

4- Russia

5- Finland
 
As far as Zetterberg goes...Canada has at least 8 centers right now that are better imo.

in no order..Getzlaf, Toews, Seguin, Tavares, Giroux, Crosby, Thornton, Stamkos.

then I can imagine McDavid, MacKinnon, and Johansen being undoubdetly better in a few months too.
 
HC Jets said:
Record of top 10 from every best-on-best tournament (W-L-OTL/T):
'96, '04 World Cup + '98,'02,'06,'10,'14 OG

1. Canada 33-10-2
2. Finland (wow) 26-12-2
3. Sweden 24-8-2
4. United States 23-13-4
5. Russia 23-13-3
6. Czech Republic 17-18-2
7. Slovakia 11-18-3
8. Switzerland 8-7-4
9. Germany 7-19-2 (ouch)
10. Belarus 6-11-3

I know some of these results are old, but after Canada, it is pretty much a pack of 4. Currently, my vote goes to USA though.
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That's a good idea but I wouldnt count The World Cup personally. The world cup tournaments are such a joke for me and it will still be the case in 2016 unfortunately.
Now the record for only the Olympics (From '98).

1. Canada 22-7-1
2. Finland 20-10-0
3. Sweden 19-7-0
4. Russia 18-10-1
5. U.S.A 15-11-2
6. Czech Republic 15-12-1
7. Switzerland 8-8-3
8. Slovakia 11-12-2
9. Germany 6-12-2
10. Belarus 6-13-1

So for me it's Finland but it's close with Sweden!
 
Zine said:
The issue really isn't about money, but rather popularity (or lack thereof).

Outside of interest for the national teams (and soccer), Russia doesn't have the 'sports culture' of a USA or Canada.....at least as it pertains to the common person on the street. Sports entertainment is nowhere near as big. I'm talking in generalities of course. I dunno, it's kind of difficult to explain.
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The one correlating factor involving hockey performance is wealth. You have to be rich to have an effective hockey program, and the rankings given in this thread suggest that all of the top hockey countries have the characteristic of being rich in common - the USA, Canada, Sweden and Finland are all rich countries. The poorer (per capita income) countries round out the bottom - Russia, Czech and Slovakia. There's a reason for it - it takes money to organize and develop hockey programs.
 
BobDobolina said:
Sweden or USA.

Not a lot of competition. Sad how hockey is such a small sport internationally.
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What's bigger?

American Football? Self explanatory. Basketball? Ha. MLB is a little more diverse but 75% of the players are from the US. In any of those sports the US wins in a landslide.

Only sport I can think of is Soccer, obviously... Unless I'm missing a sport.
 
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