Toggle sidebar

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

  • Xenforo Cloud will be upgrading us to version 2.3.5 on March 3rd at 12 AM GMT. This version has increased stability and fixes several bugs. We expect downtime for the duration of the update. The admin team will continue to work on existing issues, templates and upgrade all necessary available addons to minimize impact of this new version. Click Here for Updates
Status
Not open for further replies.
Let's wait for the end of the tournament but I don't think its far fetched , If canada had their missing pieces the Defence would be closer but America could still win.
 
notdoneyet said:
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
Click to expand...

it would probably help if Canada put like....one of their top 10 Goalies in net

there's plenty of Canadian Goalies having great years and Binnington is very much not one of them
 
  • Like
Reactions: Voight and Moncherry
No. But overall talent is closer than ever. Close enough that one game could easily go either way. Only an extended series of games would provide more conclusive info. Of course, we won't get that. But boards like this will be saturated with these low quality data opinions.
 
100% we are witnessing it. 20 years ago Canada was light years ahead. 10 years ago the US could kind of hang but was outclassed up and down the roster. Nowadays we have the better top 12 forwards and top 6 defense by a bit. Canada still has the few cheat code players (McDavid, Mackinnon, Makar) but outside of that they don't stand up. 10 years from now this won't be a pick em game like this was. USA will be coming in massive favorites.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: connellc
You still have to give the edge to Canada. They have the better top end talent although the USA probably has the more well rounded team.

To say one country is better than the other is sustained dominance. It isn’t a one off win in a round robin of a four nations tournament. If they beat them again on Thursday, I still wouldn’t entertain the conversation. Now if the US win Thursday, and win the Olympics next year…. Then maybe we can discuss a changing of the guard.

All that said, I am sure Canadians aren’t happy that America is now on their heels of their number one sport. That would be like the Canadians beating the US in a football game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Voight, Mattb124, Mrfenn92 and 1 other person
Canada still produces the best players. How long that lasts we'll see.

But there's a glaring hole in net. In 2014 Carey Price was the best player in the tournament and now we can't even ice a decent starter. That's a weakness that has to be addressed and it's going to take while before it happens - if it happens at all.
 
John Pedro said:
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
Click to expand...
And yet Canada won every best on best tournament since 2010, so I guess they’re doing something right
 
Right now they have a strong case.

I’ve posted about this before but the Americans have a golden generation if players from around 96-01 who are all entering their prime. Canada is still matching that talent but their is a gap in the goaltending.

Good news for fellow Canadians is that if you look at the last few drafts and the next couple Canada seems to have a pretty significant edge in elite talent. Hopefully we produce a few decent goalies.
 
In my experience, debating anything with “most” Americans is pointless and a waste of time.

I’ve learned to just nod, and say sure thing. Then laugh my ass off later.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: sanscosm
Crosby was on a 26-0 "best vs. best" run before last night. All good things must end.

The US is better than it was a decade ago and the trend line is in favor of the US continuing to close ground on Canada. But we're not there yet.

Even with a (possible) US win in this event, Canada is still King of the Rink.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mattb124
USA and Canada are at about the same level in hockey. I would say it's really a toss up. When you look at the big four in hockey Canada, USA, Russia, Sweden, these are usually the teams that win the medals in international tournaments. I think if Sweden and Finland can stay a threat in international hockey despite their small populations Canada can too. USA use to not be a threat in hockey that has slowly changed to them now being a major threat in every tournament. It's kind of sad though most people in the USA don't care at all about hockey. With the 3rd highest population in the world even if hockeys popularity grows by just a couple percentage points in the USA they will have the best teams the best players and win all the time yet no one in the country will care. When Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland win big tournaments it's a big deal in all these countries. You see on TSN/Sportsnet etc when these teams win something big sometimes they show newspapers from these countries and it's front page news, or you see after winning a big tournament the teams coming home and the airport being full of fans going crazy, or huge groups of fans on the street or huddle around tv/monitors etc watching a important game. This never happens in the USA.
 
Cooper got outcoached by torts and the entire team Canada roster looked like Milan lucic on the ice, but it's just one game.
 
DethOfDragnz said:
USA and Canada are at about the same level in hockey. I would say it's really a toss up. When you look at the big four in hockey Canada, USA, Russia, Sweden, these are usually the teams that win the medals in international tournaments. I think if Sweden and Finland can stay a threat in international hockey despite their small populations Canada can too. USA use to not be a threat in hockey that has slowly changed to them now being a major threat in every tournament. It's kind of sad though most people in the USA don't care at all about hockey. With the 3rd highest population in the world even if hockeys popularity grows by just a couple percentage points in the USA they will have the best teams the best players and win all the time yet no one in the country will care. When Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland win big tournaments it's a big deal in all these countries. You see on TSN/Sportsnet etc when these teams win something big sometimes they show newspapers from these countries and it's front page news, or you see after winning a big tournament the teams coming home and the airport being full of fans going crazy, or huge groups of fans on the street or huddle around tv/monitors etc watching a important game. This never happens in the USA.
Click to expand...
LOL, posts like this are total cope. Fans and how enthused or engaged they are has nothing to do with player development and what happens on the ice.
 
It’s close, probably closer than it’s ever been.

I can see an argument for it but I don’t think it’s definitive either way.

It’s probably closer now than it was in 1996 but the Americans still won that tournament.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pavel Buchnevich
To answer the OP's question, no, the U.S. hasn't overtaken Canada. Are we on par? That's hard to say. I think Canada continues to have more overall depth and talent, but the gap has narrowed to the point that Canada can't simply throw a roster together and expect to win. Canada is still the favorite at the Olympics next year, but teams like the U.S., Sweden, and Finland can't be overlooked. Russia as well if eligible. Even Czechia can be a factor.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Elvs
TheDawnOfANewTage said:
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.
Click to expand...
What in the f*ck are you babbling about?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom