Would have been interesting to see how team Canada and US would have looked if they only had about 9 millions citizens, like Sweden. Pretty impressive that Sweden can be just as good as these countries!
Rank the top 8.
- Thread starter Lollipop
- Start date
There was a best-on-best tournament only two months ago so I guess my picks are:
1 Canada
2 Sweden
3 Finland
4 United States
5 Russia
6 Czech Republic
7 Slovenia
8 Latvia
1 Canada
2 Sweden
3 Finland
4 United States
5 Russia
6 Czech Republic
7 Slovenia
8 Latvia
Top 5
It depends what you're asking. If the question is regarding results in 1-game-tournaments then:
Canada
Sweden
Finland
USA
Russia
If it's regarding which I think is the better hockey nations with aspect to results, elite talent, player depth etc:
Canada
Sweden/USA
Russia
Finland
It depends what you're asking. If the question is regarding results in 1-game-tournaments then:
Canada
Sweden
Finland
USA
Russia
If it's regarding which I think is the better hockey nations with aspect to results, elite talent, player depth etc:
Canada
Sweden/USA
Russia
Finland
Kamzik
Registered User
- Dec 18, 2008
- 1,802
- 158
Regardless of where you rank them, I take exception to this statement.
Slovakia has been able to participate in 3 Olympics in which they were able to send their best: Turin 2006, Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014.
In Turin, Slovakia went 5-0-0 in the preliminary round, including a 5-3 win over Russia, a 3-0 win over Sweden, and a 2-1 win over the United States. In the QF they fell 3-1 to the Czechs and finished the Olympics in 5th place; not bad!
The Vancouver Olympics was perhaps their best hockey tournament ever as a nation. In the prelims they waxed Latvia 6-0 and of course beat Russia for the second straight Olympics thanks to some late heroics by Pavol Demitra RIP. In the QF they knocked off the defending gold medalists Sweden. In the semi-finals in one of their best games in history, Roberto Luongo robbed Pavol Demitra with 8 seconds left as Slovakia was edged by Canada 3-2; in other words, not bad!
In Sochi, the Slovak team crashed and burned. Given the success in the last two Olympics it would be a lot to ask for such a small country to post 3 straight top 5 finishes. Your assessment is too critical. Add to this their 4 World Championship medals including a gold, I think they sometimes DO put it together on the ice.
1. Canada
2. Sweden
3. Finland
4. USA
5. Russia
6. Czech Republic
7. Switzerland
8. Slovakia
My rankings are based more on results than paper.
2. Sweden
3. Finland
4. USA
5. Russia
6. Czech Republic
7. Switzerland
8. Slovakia
My rankings are based more on results than paper.
Based on results, I have it as follows:
1. Canada
2. Finland
2. Sweden
4. United States
4. Russia
6. Czech Republic
7. Switzerland
8. Slovakia
I have ties for 2nd and 4th place because there is no plausible way to really separate these nations from the competition. Affording Sweden a tie with Finland for second place is generous, given Sweden's pathetic performance in the Gold Medal game that made Canada look better than it did in the rest of the tournament. Especially considering that Tuukka Rask missed the Semis because of illness, but was back for the Bronze game.
Even the NBC commentators suggested that Russia outplayed the US overall in their prelim meeting, and that only T.J. Oshie's performance in a long, drawn-out Shootout was the difference. The US won the game, but provided no basis in so doing to separate themselves from the Russians.
Factoring in performances in the WC's and WJC's in recent years, I believe my rankings mirror recent results.
Last edited:
Eye of Ra
Grandmaster General of the International boards
without nhl players.
1: russia
2: finland
3: czech
4: switzerland
5: sweden
6: slovakia
7: canada
8: usa
1: russia
2: finland
3: czech
4: switzerland
5: sweden
6: slovakia
7: canada
8: usa
Tre Kronor, as their coach ( BAG was it? ) tacitly admitted, live and on camera
, mailed it in, in one of the most shameful episodes in international hockey history...Still a Win's a Win
****
EDIT: On paper I'd still put Russia at #2, in terms of star power...they're NOT well coached, and haven't been for years, they're philosophically bereft of new ideas/ stuck in Vik T era, can't make adjustments on the fly, eg: tend to be clueless when teams like Suomi take lead + play kitty bar the door, keep trotting out same line combos in succession, lack cohesion btwn D and forwards, lack guys like Toews or Bergeron who play a great 200 ft game, won't add dump and chase to their repertoire to back in/ turn opponents D when entering zone, attackers keep wanting to beat D one on one at the blue, leading to turnovers, counter attacks, yadda yadda
In a nut shell, Russians ( both individually and as a team ) can be esthetically pleasing , but frustrating too due to their collectively LOW HOCKEY IQ.
***
On paper, States and 3Kronor come next, pour moi. Tough to chose between the two, red white and blue have better depth, but haven't historically produced many top scorers for some strange reason?
Last edited:
Seems about right, but I'd like to present my rankings without the NHL-players
1. Finland
2. Russia
3. Czech Republic
4. Switzerland
5. Canada
6. Sweden
7. USA
8. Slovakia
my rank
1.Canada (IF they lose their arrogance this time)
2.Czechs (Face it! they are getting most skilled roster to WC after Canada)
3.USA (Allways hard to european teams)
4.Russia (New coach often gives some boost to team)
5. KHL-Jokerit (50% of the team was already, new or rumoered Jokerit Helsinki players)
6.Sweden (too many denials + very hard tactics to 2nd hand players)
7.Swiss (Not this year sorry, major thing is lack of goaltending)
8.Slovakia (Who ever is in the team)
1.Canada (IF they lose their arrogance this time)
2.Czechs (Face it! they are getting most skilled roster to WC after Canada)
3.USA (Allways hard to european teams)
4.Russia (New coach often gives some boost to team)
5. KHL-Jokerit (50% of the team was already, new or rumoered Jokerit Helsinki players)
6.Sweden (too many denials + very hard tactics to 2nd hand players)
7.Swiss (Not this year sorry, major thing is lack of goaltending)
8.Slovakia (Who ever is in the team)
The only reason why I have USA on top is because of their 2002 and 2010 silver medals in the Olympics while Russia has a silver and bronze.. On top of this, USA has two golds in the WJC's while Russia only has one in the past few years. they're pretty interchangeable in my opinion.
I think there was some misunderstanding over whether we were rating nations based on very recent successes, or whether we were looking at programs spanning a decade or more. I was focusing on the past 3 or 4 years. True, the US has a 2-1 lead in WJC Gold over the past 5 years, but if you look at Silver and Bronze, its pretty close between the two.
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