Is Germany a part of the big nations now?

[member 305909]

Hockey gets constantly ridiculed for that there are only 7-8 top tier competitive countries and the rest are trash.

However, apart from soccer is there any other game in which the number of competitive countries is considerably higher than 7 or 8?

Rugby for example is a much bigger sport than hockey but their 20 team World Cup has most matches ridiculously predictable and one-sided.

Or cricket? Much bigger than hockey there are only 10 or so countries where it is played at all.

Yes of course one of those countries is India with its over 1 bn people but nevertheless it is one country.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

I don't know if rugby union is really a much bigger sport than hockey. There's big groups of hockey fans in Russia, Germany and the U.S. in addition to the less populous countries where it's more popular...but then rugby union is really only the most popular sport in some small countries in Oceania incl. NZ and small pockets in Europe (Wales notably). It has some popularity in Ireland, the rest of the UK, France, Argentina, Australia and South Africa but is not the no.1 sport there (arguably no better than no.3 in a good few of those countries).

 

[Siludin]

I would say they are definitely a Tier 2 nation now. For a while they were tier 3 but they have surpassed that.

Id roughly say

Tier 1 Canada Sweden Finland USA Russia
Tier 2 Switzerland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany,
Tier 3 France, Norway, Denmark, Austria Belarus, Latvia

There is only one Tier 1 Nation and that's Canada.

 

[Eye of Ra]

There is only one Tier 1 Nation and that's Canada.

why did canada miss final in 1998 and 2006 olympics?

 

[Husqvarna]

Hockey gets constantly ridiculed for that there are only 7-8 top tier competitive countries and the rest are trash.

However, apart from soccer is there any other game in which the number of competitive countries is considerably higher than 7 or 8?

Rugby for example is a much bigger sport than hockey but their 20 team World Cup has most matches ridiculously predictable and one-sided.

Or cricket? Much bigger than hockey there are only 10 or so countries where it is played at all.

Yes of course one of those countries is India with its over 1 bn people but nevertheless it is one country.

The worst of it all - World Series of Baseball(!) and that really awkward sport they call football.

No way I can dig it:

 

[Husqvarna]

Football?

Germany kicks to kill kaiser Beckenbauer style. Perfect.

 

[Husqvarna]

There is only one Tier 1 Nation and that's Canada.

... and only 1 and a half NHL:er of Finland that as it seems that almost send you on your knees Canada:

Olli Määttä of L.A Kings fame and Arttu Ruotsalainen ... who only played a couple of games with Buffalo Sabres this time around.

Enough is enough.

 

[Husqvarna]

On your feet or on your knees next time you run into Finland Canada ...

... maybe baby Germany will treat you better.

 

[Siludin]

Lots of butthurt but we all know the truth; Canada send their 5th best team to the WCs and won.

 

[garbageteam]

Getting way ahead of ourselves here. Germany being in the same tier as Switzerland/Slovakia is a big leap forwards already, this team was Belarus level a couple of Olympic cycles ago.

It's still a top 5, Czech clearly sitting by themselves in 6, then a nice group of Switzerland/Germany/Slovakia in the next group (in that current order, IMO, but I wouldn't argue against someone ranking Germany's best on best team ahead of Switzerland at the 2022 OG).

If Germany continues to produce talents like Draisaitl and the recent draft for years to come, then yeah. I can see them joining the Czechs during this current generation.

 

[SwedishFire]

There is only one Tier 1 Nation and that's Canada.

Well.... *ROTFL*
Many canadian players are stoll so overrated.
Russians, Swedes, Finns, americans can still win over them any given day.

There is no big 6 no more, the big 5 is big 5 because they all can beat everyone, its about who plays better in given game

 

[PettersonHughes]

If Moritz Seider develops as planned, they could probably have a #1 in each important position (Draisaitl - C, Seider - D, Grubauer - G). I don't know the rest of the German roster or who would make it but it's probably still a big jump in quality from where they were.

 

[Hasa92]

Lots of butthurt but we all know the truth; Canada send their 5th best team to the WCs and won.

So did Finland twice in a row and got gold & silver... And we won in a year when the level of play was actually pretty good, beating Russia's almost best possible team for example.

 

[czechmate]

I would say they are definitely a Tier 2 nation now. For a while they were tier 3 but they have surpassed that.

Id roughly say

Tier 1 Canada Sweden Finland USA Russia
Tier 2 Switzerland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany,
Tier 3 France, Norway, Denmark, Austria Belarus, Latvia

I think it all comes down to how you define those tiers. What concerns the Czechs, I have to say that our most recent results on the international stage do not really help us proving our point of being in our own tier, i.e. between the top 5 nations and SUI, SVK and GER. However, if you have a close look at the player depth that is available to the Czechs in a best on best tournament, there is a clear gap between them and the remaining nations in your tier 2.

Czechs have more NHL players (+/- 30) than the three countries combined that you listed in the same tier and we are very likely to increase that number by a few more players within the upcoming years. Also, when you look at the players themselves, we can ice four high-quality lines in a best on best tournament that will challenge all top 5 nations, even if a win against any of them is more of a surprise than a realistic scenario at the moment. The only real weak spot holding us back from the top 5 though is our defense and maybe an elite-goaltender. We have some very promising defensive prospects coming up and I think that our situation will get substantially better in a few years time.

That being said, Czechs have more depth to select from the best league in the world and also have a greater number of high-end players than SUI (Josi), SVK and GER (Draisaitl).

 

[Czechboy]

I think it all comes down to how you define those tiers. What concerns the Czechs, I have to say that our most recent results on the international stage do not really help us proving our point of being in our own tier, i.e. between the top 5 nations and SUI, SVK and GER (side note: we never really had the best squ However, if you have a close look at the player depth that is available to the Czechs in a best on best tournament, there is a clear gap between them and the remaining nations in your tier 2.

Czechs have more NHL players (+/- 30) than the three countries combined that you listed in the same tier and we are very likely to increase that number by a few more players within the upcoming years. Also, when you look at the players themselves, we can ice four high-quality lines in a best on best tournament that will challenge all top 5 nations, even if a win against any of them is more of a surprise than a realistic scenario at the moment. The only real weak spot holding us back from the top 5 though is our defense and maybe an elite-goaltender. We have some very promising defensive prospects coming up and I think that our situation will get substantially better in a few years time.

That being said, Czechs have more depth to select from the best league in the world and also have a greater number of high-end players than SUI (Josi), SVK and GER (Draisaitl).

The funny thing is that we are probably '3 players away'... we are actually 3 cuts away.lol

If the Swede's coudl give us their 8th D (first one cut) and the Russians give us their 4th goalie (first one cut) and Canada gives us their 14th forward (first one cut) then it's now a big 6 again.

One more Good D, another strong C and a solid G is what we need.

We might have a solid G at the Olympics based on next season.. Mrazek should be injury free and a starter somewhere, Francouz should be back and, hopefully, back in a good goalie mix, Vanecek might be a starter again as well. Who knows, maybe one of them catches fire. Maybe Rittich regains a starting role? Depends where he signs but I assume he's still an NHLer (hope so)?

As far as another strong C.. maybe Zacha takes another step by then? Kaut emerges? Chytil takes next steps? Necas goes next level? So we have some options for another good C.

Only prayer for another good D by the Olympics is a miraculous recovery from Kempny as we have nothing entering an NHL training camp that'd I'd say is a lock for the NHL. Guys like Kral, Krutil, Has, Svozil won't be NHLers by then (or maybe ever).

 

[Mehar]

Lots of butthurt but we all know the truth; Canada send their 5th best team to the WCs and won.

The Finnish and Russian fans are now saying their teams were not better than Canada on paper (LOL). Nobody in Canada predicted a Gold Medal with the roster Canada sent. It was one of the weakest rosters ever, with a bunch of third and 4th liners, and a career backup goalie. This was probably the 6th or 7th best team of Canada, and they still won. That is the truth, regardless of what the Finnish fans believe.

 

[OskarOskarius]

Hockey gets constantly ridiculed for that there are only 7-8 top tier competitive countries and the rest are trash.

However, apart from soccer is there any other game in which the number of competitive countries is considerably higher than 7 or 8?

Rugby for example is a much bigger sport than hockey but their 20 team World Cup has most matches ridiculously predictable and one-sided.

Or cricket? Much bigger than hockey there are only 10 or so countries where it is played at all.

Yes of course one of those countries is India with its over 1 bn people but nevertheless it is one country.

Handball is awfully hard to predict.

 

[Lambo]

The Finnish and Russian fans are now saying their teams were not better than Canada on paper (LOL). Nobody in Canada predicted a Gold Medal with the roster Canada sent. It was one of the weakest rosters ever, with a bunch of third and 4th liners, and a career backup goalie. This was probably the 6th or 7th best team of Canada, and they still won. That is the truth, regardless of what the Finnish fans believe.

Explain me how do you thing that this canadian roster wasn t stonger on paper than Finland? 21 NHL-Players vs 1,5!

 

[MattiasSnall]

The Finnish and Russian fans are now saying their teams were not better than Canada on paper (LOL). Nobody in Canada predicted a Gold Medal with the roster Canada sent. It was one of the weakest rosters ever, with a bunch of third and 4th liners, and a career backup goalie. This was probably the 6th or 7th best team of Canada, and they still won. That is the truth, regardless of what the Finnish fans believe.

Well on paper Canada’s team was certainly better then the Finnish team, Finland had 2 active NHL players + B/C squad from Europe. I know Canada sent their weakest roster in many years, but on paper its certainly better then the Finnish team.

 

[The Kingslayer]

I think the Big 6 is still petty strong but at least Germany getting better shows the NHL they can field their own national team next time theres a "world" Cup of Hockey. Instead of including 2 made up teams.

that under 25 NA team was so damn fun

 

[Mehar]

Explain me how do you thing that this canadian roster wasn t stonger on paper than Finland? 21 NHL-Players vs 1,5!

The same Canadian roster that got shut out by Latvia 2-0, started the tournament 0-3, and were lucky to get in the QF. Now that Finland lost, they are resorting to the NHL players argument, while ignoring the fact on paper they had a much better team. Does not matter if they were NHL players or not. Our NHL players were a career backup goalie, and a bunch of 3rd and 4th liners.

 

[Mehar]

Well on paper Canada’s team was certainly better then the Finnish team, Finland had 2 active NHL players + B/C squad from Europe. I know Canada sent their weakest roster in many years, but on paper its certainly better then the Finnish team.

What a joke. The Finnish fans before the tournament were even saying Finland had a better roster on paper than Canada (which is true). Now they lost, they resort to the NHL argument, and how they did not have a better team on paper. This Canadian team got shut out by Latvia 2-0, and started the tournament 0-3 with the same NHL players. They were even lucky to get in the QF. You can be a NHL player and still be a backup goalie like we had, and a bunch of 4th liners.

 

[lamini]

The funny thing is that we are probably '3 players away'... we are actually 3 cuts away.lol

Team Holy Roman Empire? Adding Draisaitl, Grubauer and Seider may be enough to make it Big 6 again

 

[Czechboy]

Team Holy Roman Empire? Adding Draisaitl, Grubauer and Seider may be enough to make it Big 6 again

It would...

Drai as 1c
Hertl as 2c
Krejci as 3c

Seider, hronek, kempny, gudas

Grubauer with mrazek as backup

I think drai and pasta would do okay.lol

 

[Lambo]

The same Canadian roster that got shut out by Latvia 2-0, started the tournament 0-3, and were lucky to get in the QF. Now that Finland lost, they are resorting to the NHL players argument, while ignoring the fact on paper they had a much better team. Does not matter if they were NHL players or not. Our NHL players were a career backup goalie, and a bunch of 3rd and 4th liners.

You mean the most of this finnish squad could make 1s and 2nd line in NHL? Are you kidding me? You look only to canadian roster only with a tunnel vision.