Average Age of QF teams compared

[Namejs]

You may also be missing the fact that teams like Denmark, and Latvia etc don't have the choice of players we (or Russia) do. They take the veteran players with good hockey experience, as these are their countries best regardless of age. Its not always a matter of choice!

There's always a choice. We could've picked 35 year-olds over 21 year-olds. They're established household names, but they're not the best. That's the point.

 

[kabidjan18]

There's always a choice. We could've picked 35 year-olds over 21 year-olds. They're established household names, but they're not the best. That's the point.

In Austria, players don't develop until they're like 24, 25, due to the points rule. There was one really stupid pick, I thought, leaving out Mario Huber (21) for us, but otherwise I don't know that we could've gone younger.

 

[dangomon]

There's always a choice. We could've picked 35 year-olds over 21 year-olds. They're established household names, but they're not the best. That's the point.

Yes, we had a choice and chose young! My point was that the other countries don't have the same luxury. Unless they want to play some 16 year olds, they are stuck with whatever players are there, regardless of age.

 

[Namejs]

Yes, we had a choice and chose young! My point was that the other countries don't have the same luxury. Unless they want to play some 16 year olds, they are stuck with whatever players are there, regardless of age.

My point is that they do have the luxury. The pool of available players is obviously a lot smaller, but there's always the dilemma of going with the older guys or calling up junior or at least U23 players. It's not like Slovenia could go for a 23 year old lineup, the smaller the nation, the fewer options, but the principle always remains the same.

I'm Latvian, I'm perfectly aware of how limited the resources are for smaller hockey nations.

It's not like the smaller hockey nations are a bunch of idiots, who aren't aware of the Grand Secret of Youth, that's not my f***ing point.

 

[dangomon]

My point is that they do have the luxury. The pool of available players is obviously a lot smaller, but there's always the dilemma of going with the older guys or calling up junior or at least U23 players. It's not like Slovenia could go for a 23 year old lineup, the smaller the nation, the fewer options, but the principle always remains the same.

I'm Latvian, I'm perfectly aware of how limited the resources are for smaller hockey nations.

It's not like the smaller hockey nations are a bunch of idiots, who aren't aware of the Grand Secret of Youth, that's not my ****ing point.

Ok, good conversation friend. Glad this got hostile for no apparent reason. Enjoy your afternoon.

 

[Mestaruus]

Take away Datsyuk and Russia's team are toddlers

As the teams are fairly close in age this stat is not really telling much. For example Russia has some select and few vets who have an impact on that average age. Russia should have brought a much older team though.

Well same can be said of Finland. 3rd goalie raises the average and Pesonen is like 36 or something.

 

[Mestaruus]

The five oldest and five youngest players in the quarterfinals...

[TABLE="class: brtb_item_table"][TBODY][TR][TD]Player[/TD][TD]National team[/TD][TD]Birthdate[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]Pavel Datsyuk[/TD][TD]Russia[/TD][TD]July 20, 1978[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]Janne Pesonen[/TD][TD]Finland[/TD][TD]May 11, 1982[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]Tomas Plekanec[/TD][TD]Czech Republic[/TD][TD]October 31, 1982[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]Vasily Koshechkin[/TD][TD]Russia[/TD][TD]March 27, 1983[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]Curtis McElhinney[/TD][TD]Canada[/TD][TD]May 23, 1983[/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE]
[TABLE="class: brtb_item_table"][TBODY][TR][TD]Player[/TD][TD]National team[/TD][TD]Birthdate[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]Quinn Hughes[/TD][TD]United States[/TD][TD]October 14, 1999[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]Filip Chytil[/TD][TD]Czech Republic[/TD][TD]September 5, 1999[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]Miro Heiskanen[/TD][TD]Finland[/TD][TD]July 18, 1999[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]Eeli Tolvanen[/TD][TD]Finland[/TD][TD]April 22, 1999[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]Martin Necas[/TD][TD]Czech Republic[/TD][TD]January 15, 1999[/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE]

Shoutout in honor of Pavel the great.

 

[DDRhockey]

Youth and speed is the name of the game in modern hockey. So not that surprising.

Agreed. Peak is 23 years old today. You are past your prime at 26.

 

[Tv9924]

Agreed. Peak is 23 years old today. You are past your prime at 26.

That's depressing

 

[tony d]

Interesting. Very surprised to see we're the youngest team left.

 

[PTmbp13]

It seemed like a boring statistic, but then it hit me. The 8 youngest teams ALL made the play-offs. The 8 oldest teams ALL didn't advance to the play-off stage.

That's ridiculous.

I've always said there's a strong negative bias towards young players. The physical peak of every skater is in early 20s, that's when the point production peaks as well.

30+, 35+ yo guys are being awarded roles purely out of name recognition and past achievements.

No. The King won gold for Swedes last year. Not in goal just for past heroics