- Nov 12, 2021
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Look at the defenders that will mature In the next 5 years.Sweden is number 2 or 3 based on roster. Ahead of Russia and Finland There is no argument for Czech at all.
You don’t watch u18 hockey, do you ?
Look at the defenders that will mature In the next 5 years.Sweden is number 2 or 3 based on roster. Ahead of Russia and Finland There is no argument for Czech at all.
We are talking about today, not tomorrow. For your 18 y.o and younger guys to mature they need 5-7 years. And considering that Sweden is the best euro country in producing defensemen honestly what kind of argument is that? Sweden produces World Class defensemen every year.Look at the defenders that will mature In the next 5 years.
You don’t watch u18 hockey, do you ?
Well I´ve seen him in two tournaments and I don't think he's a goaltender I would rely on. Also, if we wanna take a closer look at stats? They were not good in NA nor last years WC.Vejmelka actually had a very good tournament according to the statistics. Maybe it's a perception influenced by those two goals with the Americans, but I'm not sure if those were his mistakes. He probably didn't see the shots. It was rather grotesque what was happening around the use of goalkeepers in the tournament. The majority wanted Vejmelka in goal, and if it weren't for the literally tragic performances of Hrubec, he might not have scored at all.
Defensemen, exactly. Mostly thatWe are talking about today, not tomorrow. For your 18 y.o and younger guys to mature they need 5-7 years. And considering that Sweden is the best euro country in producing defensemen honestly what kind of argument is that? Sweden produces World Class defensemen every year.
US won WJC gold in 2004Let's also not act like Russia was the biggest contender to begin with, a couple of world junior golds in 2003 and 2004, then a long drought broken in 2011 followed by another period in the wilderness since. The decline of Russian hockey has been obvious, even before they were banned from competing.
Malkin is almost 37, he is aging its a fact. Kuznetsov has some serious off ice issues. This group of centers is just very weak compared to the TOP 4 period.Malkin had 83 points this year. Kuznetsov's decline is overstated, dude didn't have a good season but also shot at a career low 7% and had a career low on ice sh% as well. He's still very capable of producing 60-70 points.
Center is definitely their weakest position but they also have the best wingers on the planet which helps to offset that. USA is probably the only nation without a positional weakness relative to the others (Finland - defense & wing, Canada - goaltending, Sweden - wing & a bit at center).
Positionally, Russia probably ranks:
wingers - 1st
centers - 5th
defenseman - 4th
goaltenders - 1st
Sergachev led the Lightning in ice time this year, ahead of Hedman. He's very easily a #1 defenseman. He averaged 27 mins per game in the playoffs
79gp 10g 64p +13 23:49 TOI
Those are the numbers of a #1 defenseman. And he's the #1 defenseman on a top tier team. Provorov also led his team in TOI and was his team's #1 defenseman.
Orlov scored 30gp 4g 25p +7 22 minutes per game as a Bruin.
Zub and Gavrikov are legit top pairing shutdown defenseman.
Russian d is better than finnish based on namesNobody is arguing their D is better than the two best nations in the world, but they can field a better group of D than Finland pretty easily. Heiskanen is the only Finnish D in the top 50 league defenseman in terms of TOI, Russia has 4 defenseman in the top 50. Jokiharju is the only other Finnish defenseman who averaged >20 mins last year, and he was 73rd in the league in TOI.
I said since 2012, so 2012 doesn't count.This is all sorts of ignorant.
During their last 12 WC/Olympic appearances, no nation has as many medals (8)
Russia (8)
2012 gold
2014 gold
2015 silver
2016 bronze
2017 bronze
2019 bronze
2018 gold (olympics)
2022 silver (olympics)
Canada (7)
2015 gold
2016 gold
2017 silver
2019 silver
2021 gold
2018 bronze (olympics)
2014 gold (olympics)
Finland (6)
2014 silver
2016 silver
2019 gold
2021 silver
2014 bronze (olympics)
2022 gold (olympics)
Sweden (5)
2013 gold
2014 bronze
2017 gold
2018 gold
2014 silver (olympics)
They had very bad roster at 2021. But why are you dishonest? Take a look at other years, they had all the best avaliable players.This is the last roster they sent to the WC (2021).
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Are you telling me this is their best? 8 of their top 9 scorers aren't even playing in the NHL right now, and that 1 guy (Barabanov) probably doesn't even make Russia's best on best roster.
And they had none of their top 3 goalies. Samonov was their starter....
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Huge advantage they had that year, let me tell ya.
I have just demonstrated that they hadd all the best players avaliable almost every year except 2021. It is their problems that they have no depth. Vasilevsky was present every time he had a chance. When he was not present they had Bobrovsky.Which is 5 tournaments, where they have pretty much never gotten their full complement of players, as you so mistakenly claim. For example, Vasilevsky, arguably the best goalie in the world over the last 5-7 years, was only present on 3 WC rosters since 2014. They medaled all 3 years (1 gold and 2 bronzes)
What kind of argument is this?But in those last 5 tournaments, they were knocked out by Finland 2 times (outshot them in both games) and Canada 3 times (twice in OT, and the other was a very late 3rd period comeback by Canada). They won bronze in 3 of those years, and were undefeated in bronze medal games:
2016 played at home and were heavy favorites to win it all in front of the biggest fan, lost to underdog despite having their A team against finnish B squad2016 - lost 3-1 in semifinal to Finland despite outshooting them 29-16.
Beat USA for bronze.
MacKinnon was not a big thing back in 2017, Marner was 19, Point was not a big thing aswell.2017 - lost 4-2 (ENG) in semifinal to strong Canadian team led by Mackinnon, Marner, Point, ROR etc
Beat Finland for bronze.
I remember the game, good game by mediocre russian team2018 - lost 5-4 in OT in QFs to another strong Canadian team, led by McDavid, Barzal, Horvat, RNH etc.
Olympic squad lost to a team with almost zero NHLers, and then Vasilevsky won them bronze2019 - lost 1-0 in semifinal to Finland.
Beat Czechs for bronze.
Lost in 1/4 as expected from such team2021 - lost 2-1 in OT in QFs to Canada, they had none of their top players and weren't allowed to compete under their flag.
They have not won best on best since USSR. They didn't even play in finals. Maximum-1/2 loss. There is a reason for that. They had some WC success but it is only because, russians took WC way more seriously than everyone else, and always brought their best players. After 2012 nothing impressive there aswell. 2014 was a special case, olympics(best on best) yearYou are completely out to lunch here. Russia would very much be a threat to win gold in a best on best tournament
Buchnevich looked not too awful at C this season, so with Russia's center deficit I'd say it would make sense to consider him as one.Their D is fine. with some really solid shut down defenseman in guys like Zub and Gavrikov. Yeah, they are weaker down the middle, butMalkin - Kuznetsov - Barbashev - Namestnikov is still a plenty fine group of centers. And for as weak as they are down the middle, they probably have the best wingers in the world:
Kaprizov - Malkin - Kucherov
Panarin - Kuznetsov - Svechnikov
Buchnevich - Barbashev - Tarasenko
Ovechkin - Namestnikov - Nichushkin
Kuzmenko
Sergachev - Provorov
Orlov - Zub
Gavrikov - Romanov
Zadorov
Shesterkin
Vasilevsky
Sorokin
That team could beat anyone in the world in a single game. Would they beat USA or Canada in a best of 7? Probably not, but they could absolutely win a gold medal in single elimination tournament, especially with that goaltending.
I added some extra bolding that seems important.2016 - lost 3-1 in semifinal to Finland despite outshooting them 29-16.
Beat USA for bronze.
2017 - lost 4-2 (ENG) in semifinal to strong Canadian team led by Mackinnon, Marner, Point, ROR etc
Beat Finland for bronze.
2018 - lost 5-4 in OT in QFs to another strong Canadian team, led by McDavid, Barzal, Horvat, RNH etc.
2019 - lost 1-0 in semifinal to Finland.
Beat Czechs for bronze.
2021 - lost 2-1 in OT in QFs to Canada, they had none of their top players and weren't allowed to compete under their flag.
Overall, we have had really big problems in the national team lately with the goalkeeper really supporting us with his performance. In the past, apart from Hašek, we also had Vokoun, who was behind many Czech successes. Something like this hasn't happened in years and the goalkeeper is really our weak point most of the time. Vejmelka had a great first half of the competition in the NHL, and there was even speculation about his transfer to a better team. He did not transfer and since then his performance has gone down a lot. But if you look at his stats, he ended up having really good stats in this championship. This year's problem was mainly elsewhere. An old team, led by a coach who believes in extremely defensive tactics. This is not characteristic of Czech hockey, the nature of their players, and the team simply played extremely poorly. I would also add the injuries of key players Sedlák and Chytil, and the failure was the logical outcome of the given situation.Well I´ve seen him in two tournaments and I don't think he's a goaltender I would rely on. Also, if we wanna take a closer look at stats? They were not good in NA nor last years WC.
One mistake here or there can be fine in the group stages and so on, that happens. I'm talking about his overall goaltending, it's just like with Larmi not convincing. Don't worry, I've felt like this with Korpisalo when he got the opportunity with Leijonat as well, and you could consider him a more known and perhaps even better goalie than Vejmelka.
Besides HOF Hasek and the intriguing prospect in Dostal I always felt Cechmanek at his best were underrated and a game winning goalie.
My point is, you have a history of good goaltenders but lately I've been a bit surprised of the semi-low level in these last Skodas. But then again, goaltenders are a bit more tricky to analyze because you always need to consider what they have in front of them.
Defensemen, exactly. Mostly that![]()
No number 1 D,
This lineup is worse than Sweden or Finland. Goalie factor is vastly overrated, you can only ice one goalie, and any top nation can match whoever Russia puts in goal with the goalie who is as good, Russia has no Hasek or Roy.
Centers are just bad, after Datsyuk retired they have Malkin who is turning 37 in July, Kuznetsov who has rapidly declined due to well known factors and thats it.
Wingers are good, but aging, Ovechkin is almost 40 now, Tarasenko is banged up and 32, Panarin 33
They have no true 1d and lets be honest Zub and Zadorov are nowhere close to the quality of US or Swedish defense.
There is a reason why Russia won nothings on serious level since 2012 despite the fact, that unlike other top countries as I have said, Russia always brought their best, they almost never had any declines. And even with this huge advantage they last played in finals in 2015
I added some extra bolding that seems important.
No one is denying (I hope) that Russia can send good teams to the world championships. And as a hockey fan, I would like to have them there losing to Canada on a regular basis. (As someone whose family came to Canada from Mariupol, I am less enthusiastic.)
But all you've posted here is evidence that Russia has had a way of underperforming. When the going gets tough, the big red machine gets going - in the opposite direction.
On the contrary, the last 2 tournaments (2018, 2022 olympics) in which our coaches didn't have this 'luxury' we performed very well.... winning Gold and Silver respectively.
its not hatred, its fact. russia rarely win golds, they should win more golds with the rosters they have. even sweden have more golds than russia last 15 years. and people call sweden chokers (thats not hate?).Geesh, the hatred of Russian hockey players on this board is something else..
They are "fine", they don't win a lot, which only Canada really seems to do, but could plausibly win and are on the podium a lot when they are there. They hit a bad rut with defenseman for a while but have come out of it. Before getting banned, they were "in the mix" so to speak with the U20s and U18s indicating that they continue to churn enough players to plausibly stay competitive for the foreseeable future. Every year you can watch the Stanley Cup Finals and watch at least one high performing Russian contributor. The national team is a bit of a mess with nepotism and being banned due to geopolitical events, but as a hockey producing nation they seem to keep on keeping on.
Only Canada wins consistent Golds. That's just a fact.its not hatred, its fact. russia rarely win golds, they should win more golds with the rosters they have. even sweden have more golds than russia last 15 years. and people call sweden chokers (thats not hate?).
Respectfully, these are excuses.Worse is when coaches leave several roster spots open for guys who are eliminated from the playoffs, We'll then fly them in and expect them to work miracles fresh off the plane ride.
This rarely turns out well regardless of how talented a player is.
And he forgot WC Gold 2022.The guy referenced "since 2012" so that's when I started the counts.
They've won gold in 25% of the men's WC/OIympics they've played in since 2012, with 3 golds, 2 silvers, and 3 bronzes in their last 12 tournaments.its not hatred, its fact. russia rarely win golds, they should win more golds with the rosters they have. even sweden have more golds than russia last 15 years. and people call sweden chokers (thats not hate?).
You mean the tournament that Russia didn't play in?And he forgot WC Gold 2022.![]()
What does it matter? Russia is suspended and Finland has knocked out Russia more times in their gold medal wins.They've won gold in 25% of the men's WC/OIympics they've played in since 2012, with 3 golds, 2 silvers, and 3 bronzes in their last 12 tournaments.
They fit in just fine with the other top nations in terms of gold medal count over those last 12 tournaments:
Canada 4x golds
Russia 3x golds
Sweden 3x golds
Finland 2x golds
You mean the tournament that Russia didn't play in?
It matters because we are talking about how Russia compares when they compete with the other nations. In the last 12 tournaments they've played, Russia has more medals than any other nation.What does it matter? Russia is suspended and Finland has knocked out Russia more times in their gold medal wins.
Why does anything matter in that case?What does it matter? Russia is suspended and Finland has knocked out Russia more times in their gold medal wins.
You know that teams that win medals are typically thought of as candidates to win the gold, right?It's really amazing how off topic the thread is. My topic was primarily about GOLD MEDALS and not about other medals. This relates to the recent past. The circle of candidates became smaller, partly e.g. because Russia is no longer there. But since Russia is also blocked indefinitely, I'm surprised that it's still an issue. Then the USA is mentioned again and again. Why, they proved they can't. Realistic!
US won WJC gold in 2004