Toggle sidebar

Does Canada causing less parity in international tournaments make international tournaments less fun?

jj cale said:
Speaking of cockiness and living the past, you would think that world cup win in 1995 was last week.

You guys haven't won anything yet and it's been quite some time since you have, pretty big talk, but you've got to back that up. i think you are probably aware that we've been in this business for a long time and do back it up.

The last team you want to poo poo is Canada, that's foolish in the highest degree.
Click to expand...
Relax it's not that serious.
 
It’s impossible to make this claim when international beat on best tournaments happen so rarely. Realistically any of the top five countries can win gold in any single knockout elimination style of tournament.

By the way I absolutely love the World Juniors and it is a yearly tradition but I don’t view it as best on best. Their is always multiple players who are not at the tournament because they are in the NHL. If those players would be at the tournament then they would be some of the very best ones there.
 
Fantomas said:
It's a problem and not because Canada is all that good. Rather the entire system is now heavily biased towards Canada in terms of where tournaments are played, in terms of facilities, equipment, everything. Canadians teams have home ice advantage in overwhelming amount of tournaments.

And it's boring.
Click to expand...
They dominated in Sochi, so it’s hard to argue against their reign right now
 
US Sweden Finland and Russia if they play can all beat Canada on their day. There’s still enough parity in international hockey.
 
Vakarte said:
And that was 16 years ago. Since then, the game has changed and Canada has adapted to being a powerhouse while the other countries are still a long away from being true contenders.
Click to expand...

I'm gonna guess you were not around 16 years ago if you think the game changed THAT much since then. Do you think Canada was not heavy favourites to win in 2006? Or in 1998?

Vakarte said:
Also you are crazy to think USA or Finland can beat Canada.
Click to expand...

Actually, you are crazy to think this is some sort of impossibily in a tournament consisting one game elimination rounds. You should probably not get into betting.

I don't even know why I bother.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I would say there's actually more parity in international hockey than there's ever been. At both the junior and senior levels. It's a small pool, but around four or five countries have a reasonable chance of winning at most tournaments without Canada always being the prohibitive favorite. USA Basketball is in the same position.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: SanDogBrewin
jigglysquishy said:
We lost 2006 pretty badly.

Since then, there's only been 2 best on best.
Click to expand...
Crazy to look at some of the guys that got taken over Crosby that year. I don't care how young he was, he was already a superstar.

Pretty solid goaltending and defense, and then you see guys like Draper, Doan and Nash there. Questionable.
 
The only difference between Canada and the rest of the competing nations, is that Canada can field 2 x teams that can win gold. And Canada has McDavid.

Canada obviously has more depth but when it comes down to single elimination, anything can happen.
 
Junohockeyfan said:
The only difference between Canada and the rest of the competing nations, is that Canada can field 2 x teams that can win gold. And Canada has McDavid.

Canada obviously has more depth but when it comes down to single elimination, anything can happen.
Click to expand...
Interesting idea. Maybe if a country feels they can ice two teams in a tournament we should let them. I have no problem with two team Canada’s competing as long as they aren’t allowed to swap players between teams mid tournament. If they meet each other in the finals so be it. Extra bragging rights for Canadians and extra embarrassment for the rest of the world.
 
Jerzey Devil said:
Interesting idea. Maybe if a country feels they can ice two teams in a tournament we should let them. I have no problem with two team Canada’s competing as long as they aren’t allowed to swap players between teams mid tournament. If they meet each other in the finals so be it. Extra bragging rights for Canadians and extra embarrassment for the rest of the world.
Click to expand...

Canada's Team B would have so much motivation to beat Team A after not making Team A.

Players like Nick Suzuki and Danault may not even make Team B. That's how strong Team B would be.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jerzey Devil
Team Canada always has an upper hand in these tournaments. Senior level tourneys are far more competitive than the WJC though. A lot of teams can give Canada a run for their money. Just look at the other rosters.

USA will be a very strong team.

Russia will be strong if they can compete in some way.

Sweden and Finland are always very good.

Czech Republic have a deep forward lineup.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Czechboy
Would love to see a B team Canadian team that people feel would compete with a US/Finland squad right now.

Yes we could sit here and say that anything could happen but a Canadian B team would currently be a severe underdog.
 
It won't be a problem for long anymore because Crosby have only 1-2 best on best tournaments left on him. After that, Finland will win the next
 
teravaineSAROS said:
In the 2019 WHC a team including players like Couturier, Stone, Dubois, Reinhart, Stone, Nurse, Theodore, Chabot among other NHL players lost the gold medal game to a Finnish team full of players from European leagues. Anything can happen.

I thought Usman defending his UFC belt was a given aswell but here we are.
Click to expand...
In 2019 they even lost twice(RR + F) against the European selection from Finland. But there are some Canadian fans who have persistent tunnel vision. ;)
 
haven't you heard? - SWE has been disqualified due to throwing that game vs SVK - in order to get an easy way to the finals

the Olympic principles do not allow losing on purpose!
 
For the 2026 Olympics if it is truly best on best IMO Canada, US and Russia are as equal as we've ever seen.

I won't get into the Russia situation other than look at my avatar.

In a short tournament anything can happen. I believe the 98 Olympics the US (on paper) were considered the best team by many and they didn't even medal. Nor did Canada.

f***, the way the worlds going who knows if we'll even have a 2026 Olympics.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom