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Favourites to win gold in Russia WHC 2016?

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illone84

illone84

Registered User
Sep 15, 2005
1,885
719
London
It's that special time of year again for WHC fans, so I'm wondering, which team is the consensus favourite to win WHC gold this year in Russia?

IMHO,

I would say:

1) Canada
2) Finland
3) Russia
4) Sweden/Cze
5) the rest

Why?

1) Canada has a nice mix of skill, speed, grit, and team game: MCdavid, Scheifele, Perry, Hall, Domi, Reilly, Duchene. I can see McDavid doing some real damage this year!
The team is solid overall, but how will their D hold up?

2) Barkov, Jokinen, Koivu, Granny, Laine, Aho. Team game, mix of youngsters, vets and future star Laine! What worries me the most is questionable goaltending. Will Koskinen or Saros start for the qf?

3) Russia: Datsyuk, Panarin, Kalinin, probably will get Ovechkin and Kuznetsov. If the caps drop and they can get Ovi and Kuznetsov, I will place them #2 over Finland.
Russia looks good, but can they handle the pressure on home ice? See Moscow 2007 and St Petersburg 2000.

4) Sweden is missing a bunch of players but Sweden is Sweden, and can never be counted out regardless of the roster on paper.

Then the rest.....
Click to read more...
 
Right now I like Finlands mix slightly better then anyone else.

What is the general consensus among fans of their defense?

I would go as it stands right now 1.Finland 2. Canada 3. Russia

Finland has good forwards and a dream year for momentum.

Canada has good forwards, decent goaltending and a let's wait and see defense

Russia as usual with good firepower up front that will get even better after the 2nd round. Goaltending should be fine at least, defense I really don't know.
 
jj cale said:
Right now I like Finlands mix slightly better then anyone else.

What is the general consensus among fans of their defense?

I would go as it stands right now 1.Finland 2. Canada 3. Russia
Click to expand...

I think Finland's defense is good enough to win this tournament on the big ice in Russia.
TBH on paper, I would say it's better than that of 2011. But personally, I don't like the goaltending too much. Koskinen can look shaky and times and not sure if Saros can handle it. But I prefer Saros.

Too bad Rask didn't come, I think he would have given Finland a better chance at gold. I mean sure, his 2015-2016 season wasn't amazing, but he always plays lights out with the blue and white :)
 
illone84 said:
I think Finland's defense is good enough to win this tournament on the big ice in Russia.
TBH on paper, I would say it's better than that of 2011. But personally, I don't like the goaltending too much. Koskinen can look shaky and times and not sure if Saros can handle it. But I prefer Saros.

Too bad Rask didn't come, I think he would have given Finland a better chance at gold. I mean sure, his 2015-2016 season wasn't amazing, but he always plays lights out with the blue and white :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the insight.

All starts tomorrow, can't wait.
 
illone84 said:
It's that special time of year again for WHC fans, so I'm wondering, which team is the consensus favourite to win WHC gold this year in Russia?

IMHO,

I would say:

1) Canada
2) Finland
3) Russia
4) Sweden/Cze
5) the rest

Why?



1) Canada has a nice mix of skill, speed, grit, and team game: MCdavid, Scheifele, Perry, Hall, Domi, Reilly, Duchene. I can see McDavid doing some real damage this year!
The team is solid overall, but how will their D hold up?

2) Barkov, Jokinen, Koivu, Granny, Laine, Aho. Team game, mix of youngsters, vets and future star Laine! What worries me the most is questionable goaltending. Will Koskinen or Saros start for the qf?

3) Russia: Datsyuk, Panarin, Kalinin, probably will get Ovechkin and Kuznetsov. If the caps drop and they can get Ovi and Kuznetsov, I will place them #2 over Finland.
Russia looks good, but can they handle the pressure on home ice? See Moscow 2007 and St Petersburg 2000.

4) Sweden is missing a bunch of players but Sweden is Sweden, and can never be counted out regardless of the roster on paper.

Then the rest.....
Click to expand...

For me: 1. Finland (Good mix of talent,experience and charakter)
2. Canada(Top-Team)
3. Russia(Top-Playern but a Team?)
4. Sweden(D-Team but always competitive)
5. USA (looks like mediocre but with good spirit and competitive)
6. Czech Republic(same problems as Sweden ;)).
 
Lataba76 said:
For me: 1. Finland (Good mix of talent,experience and charakter)
2. Canada(Top-Team)
3. Russia(Top-Playern but a Team?)
4. Sweden(D-Team but always competitive)
5. USA (looks like mediocre but with good spirit and competitive)
6. Czech Republic(same problems as Sweden ;)).
Click to expand...

I do have to give an honourable mention to the US team.
They look really fast and hungry. I really like Larkin and Matthews is obviously pretty darn good!

The US looked pretty good against Finland. You never know, they could surprise. Although they have a pretty poor record historically in this tournament. Can vs USA is going to amazing to watch, with Mcdavid and Matthews. Also, Im looking forward to seeing Laine go head to head against Mcdavid, and against Matthews. :yo::yo::yo:
 
I'd say word "favorite" equals to "strong team on paper". Of course, the strongest team does not always win, but they're the favorite regardless. Therefore...

1. Canada
2. Russia
3. Finland

These three stand out, in that order. Then I've no idea how to distinguish the Czech Rep, Sweden and USA. But they form the next tier.
 
jj cale said:
Thanks for the insight.

All starts tomorrow, can't wait.
Click to expand...

No problem! I don't usually get too hyped about this tournament, but with all the young guys playing this year, it sure looks like its going to be a treat for the eyes!

McDavid, Matthews, Laine, Aho, Larkin, Domi to name a few! Nice! :yo:
 
illone84 said:
No problem! I don't usually get too hyped about this tournament, but with all the young guys playing this year, it sure looks like its going to be a treat for the eyes!

McDavid, Matthews, Laine, Aho, Larkin, Domi to name a few! Nice! :yo:
Click to expand...



Yeah, there sure is a lot of really good young players to watch this year.

Mcdavid, Matthews and Aho, Laine are the four guys I will really be zeroing in on.
 
illone84 said:
I do have to give an honourable mention to the US team.
They look really fast and hungry. I really like Larkin and Matthews is obviously pretty darn good!

The US looked pretty good against Finland. You never know, they could surprise. Although they have a pretty poor record historically in this tournament. Can vs USA is going to amazing to watch, with Mcdavid and Matthews. Also, Im looking forward to seeing Laine go head to head against Mcdavid, and against Matthews. :yo::yo::yo:
Click to expand...

Yes right! But the depth is mediocre.
 
petemalmi said:
Canada

Russia
Finland

Finnish defense and goal-tending is questionable.
Click to expand...

Finnish d always questionable but the forwards help them out. Anyhow the defense works lot better each year than it would appear on first glance, way better.
 
jj cale said:
Yeah, there sure is a lot of really good young players to watch this year.

Mcdavid, Matthews and Aho, Laine are the four guys I will really be zeroing in on.
Click to expand...

Absolutely.

In other news, Aho will probably play on the top 6 (second or first line) with Granny and Koivu in tomorrow's game against Belarus. Wow, this kid is really stellar!
 
illone84 said:
Absolutely.

In other news, Aho will probably play on the top line with Granny and Koivu in tomorrow's game against Belarus. Wow, this kid is really stellar!
Click to expand...

It is starting to look as though he was picked far too low.

But I want to see what he can do right now against men to have a better perspective about him.

He does well here we could be looking at the next Johnny Gaudreau maybe.
 
jj cale said:
It is starting to look as though he was picked far too low.

But I want to see what he can do right now against men to have a better perspective about him.

He does well here we could be looking at the next Johnny Gaudreau maybe.
Click to expand...

True. Although he has already being playing against men for a while now, it will be nice what he can do in a Men's tournament. I think the kid is gonna just fine. I predict he will get 12 pts this tournament.
 
Probably Russia, factoring in inevitable players that will be added after the second round. Then probably Finland, decent forwards and Finland intangibles. Then Canada. Good forward talent, though potentially some penalty issues. Bad, inexperienced defence will probably be the downfall.
 
The question here is, will Canada be a lot like last year's Canada. If they are, then they are the #1 favorite. Else Canada might be even behind Finland at #3. I would imagine Canadian players will be hungry to show that they want to be in Canada's World Cup team so it will be interesting.

I think Russia will benefit of the refs a little bit at their home like we saw in 2014 in Minsk final, Finland-Russia. I want to say Russia #2 favorite, but I think that little home advantage/ref advantage will put them to #1.

So my prediction is that top-3 is Finland, Russia and Canada in any order.

Czech is the dark horse of the tournament, even without Jagr. They are the ones most likely to mess up my predicted top-3. I don't think Sweden can do what Finland has been doing last years with weaker line ups, so I don't belive in Sweden this year. I also don't think MÃ¥rts is that great coach, especially with player material being weaker than normally.
 
Me and Milansdad have agreed that Hungary is going to win it. I am the first person to suggest Hungary will win it, so if anyone agrees with me, I started the trend bro ;)
 
Canada is still the favorite, whether you like it or not.

I've been liking Finland's defense and offense, but Canada or Russia might be too much for Koskinen and Saros in the finals.
 
Mestaruus said:
The question here is, will Canada be a lot like last year's Canada.
Click to expand...

Why would Canada be similar this year? The team last year had significantly better forwards, a more talented and far more experienced defence and a far more experienced goaltender.
 
Canadas defense is too inexperienced to be considered the favorite at this point.

Looks like Russia and Finland will have to carry that mantle this year.

Pressures on.
 
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