Keep in mind those are the headliners so they’ll be putting the best guys on them all night
The problem with World Juniors or any of the intl tourneys is there's always an excuse. For juniors, it's usually the guys in the show. With that, it's not truly best on best and historical the Olympics is about it for that.
Kindel
Like who are you thinking? There’s no other draft eligibles that are good enough. This is a bad year for the Americans top to bottom.
Rombach would definitely help. He'll go somewhere between 25-55 in the draft. Also, Cooper Simpson for sure. More skilled than virtually every player on the NTDP.
the Ntdp practices and played together for almost 18 months that should have had a large advantage over CHL team - no excuses it was embarrassing! hopefully better next game .
Why give the Americans the benefit of winning a world championship by gaining experience.
Not an excuse. Just a fact.
That’s true, Rombach is a solid player and I didn’t mind Simpson at the Hlinka. But I doubt either of those guys make much of a difference here. That game was boys vs men and the skill difference was stark.
The age differences here as so marginal it shouldn’t even be a talking point. Especially when you look at the ncaa this season. The best players are all junior aged and eligible. Skill will always overcome a slight age difference. USA hockey has an issue at the youth level, it’s the same 7-10 programs in the Natty’s every year. They need to focus on depth. USA hockey has come a long way, I don’t disagree with that, but it’s still true they can’t really compete after their top guys. Canada could throw 3 teams at the WJC this year from these age groups and all compete for gold.
Hockey is a regional sport in America that even then is played mostly by kids who have familial connections to the sport who even then have the means to pony up for the associated costs of youth hockey in the US. The talent pool USA hockey is drawing from is always going to be relatively shallow compared to the one in Canada.
That's fair but you have to remember, posters dump on the CHL all the time so we need to enjoy this moment.
Am I the only one who is not quite invested in this so much as some sort of Canada vs USA “measuring stick” and rather just enjoying a bunch of 2025 prospects on the ice together?
Or am I just coping as an American?
Of course it’s a fair talking point. Doesn’t mean the USA team would be better, but it adds to why the CHL is simply better.
