Toggle sidebar

Favourites to win gold in Russia WHC 2016?

  • 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
Teams haven't played yet so you have to go by roster strength. Canada has the strongest roster on paper by far in this tournament, they are the favorites.
 
Huffman said:
Teams haven't played yet so you have to go by roster strength. Canada has the strongest roster on paper by far in this tournament, they are the favorites.
Click to expand...

Considering who's most likely coming...when all is said and done, Russia will have the best team on paper...doesn't mean they'll win though.

This year's TC is a long way from last year's star studded squad. Talented for sure, but green and really green, plus less than scary on D. Barring injuries, there won't be any late additions either...
 
Canada, Finland and Russia are the favorites

1st Canada. The defending champs from last year who dominated on a lesser roster on paper. This year they clearly better roster than last year and also have the best team on paper on the whole tournament.

2nd Finland. The best roster on paper Finland has had since well ever (Not counting Olympics or World Cups) And the 2nd, or 3rd. best on paper roster just after Canada and arguably Russia. Finland also has the biggest morale for this tournament, they have won pretty much every hockey tournament this year and the boost in morale is huge.

Finland also tends to play better than expected every year so being the 2nd best team on talent this year could be better than Canada or any other team on the tournament for these reasons.

3. Russia, very good roster just after Finland's but arguably is on par or maybe even better this year. Home ice, not just the crowd but the referees seem to always favor the home team and the traditional teams on these tournaments, so we are probably going to see a lot of questionable calls in favor of Team Russia (not trying to bash Russia, this is just how reffing is in the IIHF).
 
Hasa92 said:
1st Canada. The defending champs from last year who dominated on a lesser roster on paper. This year they clearly better roster than last year and also have the best team on paper on the whole tournament.
Click to expand...
wat? canada 2015 was so much better than this year's roster is.
 
Hasa92 said:
1st Canada. The defending champs from last year who dominated on a lesser roster on paper. This year they clearly better roster than last year and also have the best team on paper on the whole tournament.
Click to expand...

If by "clearly" you mean "no way in hell" you'd be right.
 
Isn't it too late to make these predictions after seeing Russia's form... I still don't want Finland to face them in the QF though with some NHL superstar additions. Hopefully they get only Malkin and St. Louis advances so no Tarasenko.
 
Hasa92 said:
Canada, Finland and Russia are the favorites

1st Canada. The defending champs from last year who dominated on a lesser roster on paper. This year they clearly better roster than last year and also have the best team on paper on the whole tournament.

2nd Finland. The best roster on paper Finland has had since well ever (Not counting Olympics or World Cups) And the 2nd, or 3rd. best on paper roster just after Canada and arguably Russia. Finland also has the biggest morale for this tournament, they have won pretty much every hockey tournament this year and the boost in morale is huge.

Finland also tends to play better than expected every year so being the 2nd best team on talent this year could be better than Canada or any other team on the tournament for these reasons.

3. Russia, very good roster just after Finland's but arguably is on par or maybe even better this year. Home ice, not just the crowd but the referees seem to always favor the home team and the traditional teams on these tournaments, so we are probably going to see a lot of questionable calls in favor of Team Russia (not trying to bash Russia, this is just how reffing is in the IIHF).
Click to expand...

The reffing was neutral in the 1st game.
 
I'd have to say that Russia are the favourites with The washington trio joining the team, followed by Canada and then Finland.
 
Everyone is sleeping on the Czechs, they got to be in the favourites considerations as well with the other 3 countries.

I still think Canada is winning gold if they play the way they should and keep the partying to a minimum until after the tournament.
 
1. Canada
2. Finland
3. Sweden

People are underrating Sweden, it's a team that only wins the games that matter even with a "worse" team.
 
Zamuz said:
People are underrating Sweden, it's a team that only wins the games that matter even with a "worse" team.
Click to expand...
Has Sweden ever won a title with a true underdog team?

If we're simply talking about doing good generally and potting a medal despite an underwhelming roster, I'd say it's us Finns who are the poster boys for that.


That being said, it'd be silly to underestimate Sweden. They may have a pure EHT team with a handful of NHLers in the mix (most of them second rate, even), but again... what other country has won games with a roster like that? We Finns if anyone should know that if not winning it all, at least medalling is perfectly within reason for Sweden.
 
FiLe said:
Has Sweden ever won a title with a true underdog team?
Click to expand...

If my memory serves me correctly, the Swedes had a quite average team back in 2006. I remember saying to myself, "Swedes surely won't win the championship with this team" or something along those lines.

And fellow Finns, I'm sorry for mentioning the year 2006. I hope I didn't trigger anyone's PTSD :sarcasm:
 
FiLe said:
Has Sweden ever won a title with a true underdog team?

If we're simply talking about doing good generally and potting a medal despite an underwhelming roster, I'd say it's us Finns who are the poster boys for that.


That being said, it'd be silly to underestimate Sweden. They may have a pure EHT team with a handful of NHLers in the mix (most of them second rate, even), but again... what other country has won games with a roster like that? We Finns if anyone should know that if not winning it all, at least medalling is perfectly within reason for Sweden.
Click to expand...

It always seemed to me that when people didnt find Selanne or Koivu in your roster, they automatically underestimate you for basically no reason. I knew you were always good so I never scan your roster so much. But you are probably right. Still when you won gold you had pretty good roster, didnt you?
 
Jablkon said:
But you are probably right. Still when you won gold you had pretty good roster, didnt you?
Click to expand...
If we're talking about 2011, that roster was very average on paper, by said year's standards at least. Of course since then maybe half of the players on it have gained more recognition, but back then most mainstream hockey spectators would hardly have recognized anyone past M.Koivu and T.Ruutu. Perhaps N.Kapanen as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom