Did USA overtake Canada as 'The Best Hockey Nation'?

[User9992]

Did USA overtake Canada as 'The Best Hockey Nation', or 'The Best National Ice Hockey Team'?

I am not saying just because USA just beat Canada 3-1 infront of their own fans, but did USA just caugh Canada in terms of pruducing hockey talents?

Yes, USA has the population of 300+millions (almost 10 times more than Canada), but popularity of hockey in both countries are not comparable:
- In Canada random folks know something about hockey, hockey stars in general
- But in USA most of the folks don't care & know anything about hockey... if you catch random dude in NY, LA, Miami, Atlanta etc. and ask them about the legendary hockey players & current hockey stars they will say 'they have no idea about who they are' & won't even recognise even the most famous hockey players.

But at this time in 2025... Team USA looks better than Team Canada. What a time we live in!


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Sorry, if it's hard to understand... English isn't my first language.

 

[User9992]

US franchises have been better than Canadian ones... but now their NT are also better?

 

[DearDiary]

I can't believe it's Friday and the championship game happened already

No nation takes over another outside of the Olympics. Considering the last medal game was a long time ago in 2010, every team is on even footing next year.

 

[Shark Finn]

Knee, meet hammer.

 

[John Mandalorian]

The US has improved but no. Canada still produces the most great and very good players.

 

[Bunch of AHOs]

In last 6 WJCs from 2020 to today, both have 3 golds. Finland won 2019. It's close.

 

[Leo2Cutter]

Yep,
It’s the American hockey era now

Going to take a 1980 miracle level effort for Canada to defeat America in international play going forward.

 

[Ice9]

North American hockey wins! I like North American hockey and I live in the US. I dont pull support from Canada if the US goes out of a tournament. I'll continue to cheer our North American players! Game is larger than borders for me and always has been...

 

[John Pedro]

Canada have so much to pick from that they almost always pick the wrong guys outside of the clear cut ones. Overthink things, pick grinders instead of going all on talent, etc. But USA does have a comparable NT in terms of talent now

 

[LPHabsFan]

Did USA overtake Canada as 'The Best Hockey Nation', or 'The Best National Ice Hockey Team'?

I am not saying just because USA just beat Canada 3-1 infront of their own fans, but did USA just caugh Canada in terms of pruducing hockey talents?

Yes, USA has the population of 300+millions (almost 10 times more than Canada), but popularity of hockey in both countries are not comparable:
- In Canada random folks know something about hockey, hockey stars in general
- But in USA most of the folks don't care & know anything about hockey... if you catch random dude in NY, LA, Miami, Atlanta etc. and ask them about the legendary hockey players & current hockey stars they will say 'they have no idea about who they are' & won't even recognise even the most famous hockey players.

But at this time in 2025... Team USA looks better than Team Canada. What a time we live in!


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Sorry, if it's hard to understand... English isn't my first language.

Bolded....Yes. Yes you are.

 

[Fataldogg]

I think its arguably better right now. The difference between offense and defense is negligible at this point. Fans from Canada pretend the goaltending position doesn't exist. The days of Roy, Brodeur, Price, Luongo, are gone. They arguably have the worst goaltending in this tournament.

 

[sadpanda]

Came looking for this post today and I’m not disappointed

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

No one game doesn't unseat Canada as #1 that's ridiculous.

That's like if Seattle beats Florida 3-1 on Saturday and then you come on here and ask if Florida are still the defending Stanley cup champions.

Of course they are 1 game doesn't change that, and 1 game doesn't change the fact Canada is #1

 

[notdoneyet]

The difference is goaltending

USA goaltending is the best in the world

Canada is probably behind Sweden Finland
Russia

Binnington let in two soft goals
Against the Americans

Hellybuck was incredible

 

[Mathieukferland]

If it’s still the case where they’ve had the better team over the next 10 years, I would say yes, just as they had a golden generation in the late 90s that won their first best on best, their current 97 to 01 years are extremely strong; beyond that I think, in spite of youth results, that there is a considerable drop off, and I think the new NCAA/CHL agreement will hurt their player development. But for the moment I would still say that Canada still produces the best players. But a lot of credit for the USA being able to put together a national team that is if not the best, closer than they’ve ever been to it.

 

[Midnight Judges]

A good barometer for this is the number or percentage of NHL players.

Canada is about 40%. USA is approaching 29%.

So no.

 

[Gerulaitis]

Canada is still the top hockey nation.

We can't judge by just a short tournament.
Players obviously lack chemistry.
Plus, the Russians weren't playing.

Anyway, it's fun to see a mini Canada Cup.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Team USA from front to back is far more well rounded. They have Oettinger and Swayman as their backup and 3rd goalie and both are better than Canada's best goalies. Logan Thompson is probably Canada's best goalie right now and he isn't even on the team lol.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

Star

Came looking for this post today and I’m not disappointed

Gretzky, Messier, Crosby and now McDavid have now lost to the US in a BOB game.
I think this shows pretty clearly that Canada has needed to be at their best or close to best to now beat the US. All evidence still says Canada is the best but difference isn't significant.

 

[PuckFegula]

We have the greatest players, simply phenomenal, and you know- I had a tough guy come up to me the other day, a real “goon”, and he had tears in his eyes, and he said “I’m so glad American hockey is great again”. And so I told him about the sharks. They’re from San Jose. Now we don’t like San Jose. But overall I would say America is better, yes.

 

[Calgarybrutalist]

Canada has better high end forwards but...
US is deeper at every position, including Center and Defence, which used to be Canada's main areas of domination.
.
Pretty crazy how quickly it flipped. Quebec has basically stopped producing elite NHLers, which points to broader societal changes as the root cause (ie. birth rates, demographic change, masculinity)

 

[FDBluth]

USA is better than ever but let's not forget that Canada was arguably missing their 3 best defensemen for the last game (Makar, Theodore, Pietrangelo).

Goaltending is a legit concern for Canada these days though. Last reminded me a lot of watching an Oilers game.

 

[Ridley Simon]

The USA certainly may have the best TEAM this tournament, and that’s impressive.

However they could easily still lose a rematch (if that happens), so all of this other talk is just baiting.

And I’m a US fan.

 

[BagHead]

I think in a best-on-best, one team per nation tournament, it's fairly close between the two nations. I think if you were to create three teams per nation instead of just one, Canada's teams would have a better all-around record than any other nation's by quite a lot of wins. They're deeper than anyone else.

 

[um]

Gotta win it all to be the best.

Right now Canada has won the last 3 best on best.