Are we in Canada paranoid about 2026 or should we not be worried?

[ORRFForever]

99% of Canadians on the site

Watch a Canadian team give up a bad goal or lose a game at a tournament and the Canadian fans will turn on the team / players in a blink. WE're are (sincerely) the worst fans on HF.

NO fans are more critical of their teams than Canadians.

 

[ORRFForever]

I am unable to "Ignore Threads" - I assumed it's because of all the problems HF has been having. Is there any way around the recent issues?

 

[Peiskos]

Not to go down that rabbit hole, but a lot of those tournaments are subjective best v bests. Only the Olympics (with NHL participation) have universally been considered a perpetual best vs best competition.

They aren't subjective at all, every country had a chance to ice their best possible teams for all of those tournaments, they sent them...and Canada won. And even if I did want to humour that argument of only the olympics, Canada has won the majority of them too so that only reinforces my point.

 

[Hanji]

They aren't subjective at all, every country had a chance to ice their best possible teams for all of those tournaments, they sent them...and Canada won. And even if I did want to humour that argument of only the olympics, Canada has won the majority of them too so that only reinforces my point.

They are subjective. There was not a single Canada Cup that didn't feature either a weakened USSR or Czechoslovakia. Would Canadians consider those tournaments best v best if they didn't have all their best? Of course not.

Others
-1972 included only 2 countries
-2014 included non-national teams, which weakened the US roster.
-2024 included only 4 countries, and a weakened Finland

And if criteria is based on the opportunity to ice best possible rosters, why not include the 2005 World Championship? Or if tournaments with non-national teams are game, why not the 1979 challenge Cup? Lemme guess, because other countries won.


Canada is certainly the best hockey nation, but let's get our heads out of the clouds here.

 

[MeHateHe]

They are subjective. There was not a single Canada Cup that didn't feature either a weakened USSR or Czechoslovakia. Would Canadians consider those tournaments best v best if they didn't have all their best? Of course not.

Others
-1972 included only 2 countries
-2014 included non-national teams, which weakened the US roster.
-2024 included only 4 countries, and a weakened Finland

Not sure how we got into the best-on-best argument in this thread but the argument that the Canada Cups aren't a best-on-best because teams didn't send their best is a bit strained. You might make that case in '76 because I genuinely think that the Soviets weren't really clear on what was being proposed, but that's on them. The whole point of that tourament was to allow for countries to send all of their best before their leagues were fully active. You might as well argue that the 1998 and 2006 Olympics weren't best-on-best because Canada made some weird roster choices. Two words; Rob Zamuner.

As for '72, it was a series, not a tournament. It's not worth comparing. I assume you mean 2016 not 2014, and the Team Europe and Team Young'uns (it wasn't just the US roster weakened by that nonsense, or do you think Connor McDavid didn't belong on Canada's team) limited that tournament's prestige. As for 2024, it was an NHL tournament. It's only a best-on-best if everyone has access to all their best.

 

[ORRFForever]

Owen Power is looking good offensively - a goal and and 2 assists tonight.

Can anyone provide defensive stats on the kid?

 

[SOLR]

He'll surely be there at the next Olympics, don't think there is any shot at this one considering his position.
(Choose for experience)