World Cup: Canada vs Sweden - who got the best D at world cup?
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Bear12Good
Registered User
Bear12Good
Registered User
E.Karlsson better Burns
Hedman better Pietangelo
Lindholm better Bowemister
OEL better Muzzin
Hjalmarsson =Vlasic
Ekholm
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Daughty better Hjalmarsson
Weber better Strolman
Hedman better Pietangelo
Lindholm better Bowemister
OEL better Muzzin
Hjalmarsson =Vlasic
Ekholm
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Daughty better Hjalmarsson
Weber better Strolman
jj cale
Registered User
Still very tight but I think Karlsson just might be the tiebreaker here, that extra added dimension offensively that no other team has.
I think Doughty is the better all around defenseman and is the best d-man in the game but when comparing what each team has from 1 to 7 and how even it is I think the special offensive dimension Karlsson gives that team may put them over the top.
I think Doughty is the better all around defenseman and is the best d-man in the game but when comparing what each team has from 1 to 7 and how even it is I think the special offensive dimension Karlsson gives that team may put them over the top.
jj cale
Registered User
Bear12Good
Registered User
Sweden. Canada going for top end skill would be better but the current roster is a step below. Sweden's top 3 is very impressive.
jj cale
Registered User
jj cale
Registered User
The saving grace for Canada maybe that our forwards are quite superior to Swedens and can possibly put far more heat and pressure on Swedens defense then vice versa should both teams play each other. Canada does have a lot more weapons for the swedish defense to deal with then Canada's defense has to deal with from Sweden.
Sweden may now have the better defense on paper without it ending up being any edge for them.
At least in theory, hopefully.
Canada has better players, and is big and physical on top of that. Players like Weber, Burns, Muzzin, Doughty, or Pietrangelo will be playing physically a lot. Bouwmeester, while usually not playing physically, is 6'4''. And the only smaller defenseman is the best defensive d-man in the world in Vlasic.
Canada has 4 elite d-men. Doughty, Weber, Burns, Pietrangelo.
Sweden has 3 - OEL, Karlsson, Hedman.
That's obviously another thing going in favour of Canada.
And the rest, Muzzin/Vlasic/Bouwmeester is better than Stralman/Hjalmarsson/Ekholm-Lindholm imo.
I'm not saying it's not close, but it's still Canada.
Canada has 4 elite d-men. Doughty, Weber, Burns, Pietrangelo.
Sweden has 3 - OEL, Karlsson, Hedman.
That's obviously another thing going in favour of Canada.
And the rest, Muzzin/Vlasic/Bouwmeester is better than Stralman/Hjalmarsson/Ekholm-Lindholm imo.
I'm not saying it's not close, but it's still Canada.
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Conspiracy Theorist
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bert
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Easily Sweden, how Kris Letang is not on this team is beyond me that would close the gap a little. He plays left for christ sakes.
Eye of Ra
Grandmaster General of the International boards
Not sure what games you have been watching but Pietrangelo is far from a physical player.
About the rest......Stralman/Ekholm and Muzzin is the same thing......Vlasic and Hjalmarsson is also the same....Bouw better than Lindholm? Maybe some years ago but not now.
Willy Stylez
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Vlasic is significantly better than Hjalmarsson.
The only D who I would put ahead of him on Sweden are Karlsson and Hedman maybe because of their offensive abilities. Vlasic is better than both defensively and every Dman on Sweden, he's that good. Legit the best defensive Dman in the NHL.
Of course Canada is better.
Hedman can't move the puck and is slow handling it (maybe we can put him in front of the net should we get any penalties on the opposing team). Strålman won't make much noise at all. Let's Hedman have the puck, which is good. Ekman-Larsson needs five games to get game. Karlsson will disappear when he suddenly face a defense with three (Crosby helps out) good (or bigger) players and become a defensive liability. Hjalmarsson will do what he does on some marginal level (maybe he can make athing of an occasional tackle) and Ekholm won't get any minutes to shine... Lindholm will be very accomodative to the 2-3 losses. Tried to take an initiative but got the evil eye from Landeskog. Last In - First Out. Bicycly Football Club United Kingdoomed.
Sedins will yell at their team mates and declare the end of their national team career. Knucks GM will cheer. Lumquest will look brave. Hugs at the honorable loss.
Hedman can't move the puck and is slow handling it (maybe we can put him in front of the net should we get any penalties on the opposing team). Strålman won't make much noise at all. Let's Hedman have the puck, which is good. Ekman-Larsson needs five games to get game. Karlsson will disappear when he suddenly face a defense with three (Crosby helps out) good (or bigger) players and become a defensive liability. Hjalmarsson will do what he does on some marginal level (maybe he can make athing of an occasional tackle) and Ekholm won't get any minutes to shine... Lindholm will be very accomodative to the 2-3 losses. Tried to take an initiative but got the evil eye from Landeskog. Last In - First Out. Bicycly Football Club United Kingdoomed.
Sedins will yell at their team mates and declare the end of their national team career. Knucks GM will cheer. Lumquest will look brave. Hugs at the honorable loss.
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Here is comparing the defensemen from each team, from best one to last one.
1. Karlsson
2. Hedman
3. OEL
4. Stralman
5. Hjalmarsson
6. Lindholm
7. Ekholm
1. Doughty
2. Weber
3. Burns
4. Pietrangelo
5. Vlasic
6. Muzzin
7. Bouweester
Karlsson VS Doughty
Some will argue for Karlsson, some for Doughty. I call that equal.
Hedman VS Weber
Again, a matter of opinion, almost equal. Again, some will argue for Hedman, some for Weber.
Ekman-Larsson VS Burns
I will repeat myself. You can argue for both, but this time right here, I think Brent Burns has an edge. He scored 27 goals and 75 points in the regular season, and 24 points in 24 games in the playoffs. He's playing his best hockey of his career, and I think he's better than OEL right now, with all due and respect to be unbiased here. You can argue OEL might be better defensively, but I don't think anyone can really argue for OEL being better overall than Burns at this point.
Stralman VS Pietrangelo
Any of the rest of the Swedish defensemen vs Pietrangelo means Pietrangelo is better.
Stralman is a good player, but Pietrangelo is simply and clearly better, at every aspects of the game.
Vlasic VS Hjalmarsson
Hjlamarsson might be the second best defensive d-man in the world. But, the one that is better, is Vlasic. He's put astonishing 39 points in 67 games in RS, and then 0.5ppg in the playoffs, which is an incredible number for a player who's labeled as a stay-at-home, save defenseman. He, as well as Burns, is also perhaps at his peak of his career.
Lindholm VS Muzzin
Lindholm is a good all-around defenseman, but you could say the same about Jake Muzzin, who's coming from two straight 40+point seasons. You can say they're equal if you want, but I think a lot of analytic experts would argue for Muzzin, not being it particularly close.
Ekholm VS Bouwmeester
I'm not sure who's the better player overall here. Ekholm is better offensively no doubt, but Bouwmeester is still very solid defensively. He has the chemistry with playing with Pietrangelo from St.Louis and from the last olympics. Even if you thought Ekholm is better, it doesn't really have a huge impact, since both are probably going to see limited time.
1. Karlsson
2. Hedman
3. OEL
4. Stralman
5. Hjalmarsson
6. Lindholm
7. Ekholm
1. Doughty
2. Weber
3. Burns
4. Pietrangelo
5. Vlasic
6. Muzzin
7. Bouweester
Karlsson VS Doughty
Some will argue for Karlsson, some for Doughty. I call that equal.
Hedman VS Weber
Again, a matter of opinion, almost equal. Again, some will argue for Hedman, some for Weber.
Ekman-Larsson VS Burns
I will repeat myself. You can argue for both, but this time right here, I think Brent Burns has an edge. He scored 27 goals and 75 points in the regular season, and 24 points in 24 games in the playoffs. He's playing his best hockey of his career, and I think he's better than OEL right now, with all due and respect to be unbiased here. You can argue OEL might be better defensively, but I don't think anyone can really argue for OEL being better overall than Burns at this point.
Stralman VS Pietrangelo
Any of the rest of the Swedish defensemen vs Pietrangelo means Pietrangelo is better.
Stralman is a good player, but Pietrangelo is simply and clearly better, at every aspects of the game.
Vlasic VS Hjalmarsson
Hjlamarsson might be the second best defensive d-man in the world. But, the one that is better, is Vlasic. He's put astonishing 39 points in 67 games in RS, and then 0.5ppg in the playoffs, which is an incredible number for a player who's labeled as a stay-at-home, save defenseman. He, as well as Burns, is also perhaps at his peak of his career.
Lindholm VS Muzzin
Lindholm is a good all-around defenseman, but you could say the same about Jake Muzzin, who's coming from two straight 40+point seasons. You can say they're equal if you want, but I think a lot of analytic experts would argue for Muzzin, not being it particularly close.
Ekholm VS Bouwmeester
I'm not sure who's the better player overall here. Ekholm is better offensively no doubt, but Bouwmeester is still very solid defensively. He has the chemistry with playing with Pietrangelo from St.Louis and from the last olympics. Even if you thought Ekholm is better, it doesn't really have a huge impact, since both are probably going to see limited time.
I think you really need to look at how each team built their D. Sweden took their best 7 while Canada built a unit that fits into the team. No other country can built a team around an idea of how they want to play as they are not deep enough. But Canada can and they have. We left guys like Subban and Letang that are big flashy names to bring guys like Muzzin and Vlasic or even Bouweester.
They guys we brought fit into our team and complement each other and they team. Note the lack of offensive D.(other then Burns) That is because we don't need multiple offensive D due to who we have at forward. We can have a solid safe defensive group and still have the most dangerous offense in the tournament. Almost every forward we have is a dangerous offensive threat with the only exceptions being guys like Toews and Bergeron who are elite defensive players.(and still good offensively)
A Defense of
Doughty
Weber
Burns
Subban
Letang
Pietrangelo
Giodano
Would easily be voted the best in the tournament on paper but would open potential holes in the game. We don't need a bunch of offensive D so we did not bring them. If we did we would look better on paper but worst on the ice. What we did bring is going to fit our team best and give us the best chance to win.
They guys we brought fit into our team and complement each other and they team. Note the lack of offensive D.(other then Burns) That is because we don't need multiple offensive D due to who we have at forward. We can have a solid safe defensive group and still have the most dangerous offense in the tournament. Almost every forward we have is a dangerous offensive threat with the only exceptions being guys like Toews and Bergeron who are elite defensive players.(and still good offensively)
A Defense of
Doughty
Weber
Burns
Subban
Letang
Pietrangelo
Giodano
Would easily be voted the best in the tournament on paper but would open potential holes in the game. We don't need a bunch of offensive D so we did not bring them. If we did we would look better on paper but worst on the ice. What we did bring is going to fit our team best and give us the best chance to win.
JackSlater
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- Apr 27, 2010
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Probably a slight edge to Sweden, as I prefer Karlsson to any of Canada's defencemen. Give Canada two of Keith/Subban/Letang/Giordano/Brodie in place of Muzzin and Bouwmeester and I would prefer Canada's defence.
