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Ranking WC teams

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I don't think the USA's apparent lack of fan support from the state will have a real impact on how far they go in this tourney...

honestly i'd say their downfall will be goaltending because conklin just isn't that good and if they then just throw dipietro in there it's not gonna work...they should just make dipietro the starter now and hope he gets hot
 
Levitate said:
I don't think the USA's apparent lack of fan support from the state will have a real impact on how far they go in this tourney...

honestly i'd say their downfall will be goaltending because conklin just isn't that good and if they then just throw dipietro in there it's not gonna work...they should just make dipietro the starter now and hope he gets hot
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Conklin's performance last year at the World Championships invalidates everything you say in this post. He was named the tournament's top goaltender and stood on his head last year. I don't know if he'll be as good this time around, but he is capable.
 
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It's nice to see here Russia as one of the contenders but without hot goalie we could easily fail even in the quarterfinals. So if Sokolov will regain his best conditions and Bryzgalov will be added to the team later I am as a biased Russian poster ;) could expect some success at last. Especially after two previous WCh. :shakehead
 
Ola said:
"Not a shot" are maybe a bad use of words, but I could never imagine them winning it all. Without a doubt they aren't 100% motivated, allot of european players equall winning the ECH to winning a cup. For americans sadly if they win it all theyd be happy if there was a little notice in a newspaper. In Sweden/Finland/Chechz Rep. 75%(well maybe not 75% but allot of people) of the population would hit the streets celebrating...

If USA don't win the group they have to beat three of the top 6 teams in three straight games. I just can't see it happening.
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It's impossible for us to know whether or not they are motivated,they may be the most motivated team there.We won't have any idea how motivated they are or anyone else is until the games get going.
 
Traditionally team USA has had the worst attitude of all teams and that has showed, dunno about this year as they haven't had other hockey around, it might boost their motivation.
 
their attitude looked allright to me last year,they went over there with what was on paper a team that people said could'nt compete against the rest of the big boys and they went home with bronze.What are we basing this bad attitude and non-motivation talk on?
 
cyclops said:
their attitude looked allright to me last year,they went over there with what was on paper a team that people said could'nt compete against the rest of the big boys and they went home with bronze.What are we basing this bad attitude and non-motivation talk on?
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I wasn't talking about any specific year, sure there are exceptions but in the past americans have been total tourists.
 
Pepper said:
I wasn't talking about any specific year, sure there are exceptions but in the past americans have been total tourists.
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I just think their results at previous world's have had more to do with many of the top players not having an interest in playing in the tourney more then any lack of motivation with the guys who did choose to play.In that sense(stars not commiting),i suppose one could say their attitude concerning this competition has'nt been great but i think the players that do sign up for them try their best all the time.Canada has also had a difficult time over the years to get our best players to come over,even this year it has been a problem.Traidtionally we get a better response from our stars but not by a whole lot....our depth of talent allows us to overcome that problem whereas up to this point their's has'nt for the most part.When our top end stars don't play we still have "2nd end stars" who do play and can win us gold anyway...they have'nt had that luxury over the years.
 
Pepper said:
I wasn't talking about any specific year, sure there are exceptions but in the past americans have been total tourists.
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When Dieter Kochan is your starting goaltender you're just about as good as a tourist............
 
cyclops said:
I just think their results at previous world's have had more to do with many of the top players not having an interest in playing in the tourney more then any lack of motivation with the guys who did choose to play.
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I think that speaks volumes about their motivation & attitude. Canadians have always been more ready to represent their country in WC, in Europe (Russia excluded) it's expected that all players want to play for the national team if healthy.

The ones who bother to play have taken it as an all-paid vacation in Europe with their families and it has showed.
 
Pepper said:
I think that speaks volumes about their motivation & attitude. Canadians have always been more ready to represent their country in WC, in Europe (Russia excluded) it's expected that all players want to play for the national team if healthy.

The ones who bother to play have taken it as an all-paid vacation in Europe with their families and it has showed.
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They(Canada) have but when we have'nt we've had the depth to bail us out and keep our results good.They don't have that luxury,it's getting better though.....look at last year. I agree,historically in this tournament their top stars have'nt been keen on representing their country(in other tournaments it's a different story however) but......i've got some beefs with several of our guys over the years too.They did'nt drop everything to play either and it was'nt any injury that kept them out at all.
 
Conklin's performance last year at the World Championships invalidates everything you say in this post. He was named the tournament's top goaltender and stood on his head last year. I don't know if he'll be as good this time around, but he is capable.
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I'm sorry but one good performance last year doesn't sell me on Conklin as a good enough goalie to make me feel confident, and it irks me that someone like esche wasn't even called about playing

maybe conklin will do well but i'm not filled with confidence when I look at him in net for the US
 
therealdeal said:
1. Canada
2. Czech Republic
3. Russia
4. USA
5. Slovakia
6. Sweden

This I think is more just the rankings going into the tournament, this doesnt neccessarily represent how I think things will end up.
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Slovakia's team can be scary if they get goaltending from Lasak (when he's on, he's pretty good)... most of their top forwards are playing in this tournament so look for them to possibly open a few eyes
 
Hackett said:
Slovakia's team can be scary if they get goaltending from Lasak (when he's on, he's pretty good)... most of their top forwards are playing in this tournament so look for them to possibly open a few eyes
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When Lasak is on, he's the best goaltender in the world on the big ice.

If I'd make an all-star lineup of active players on international ice it'd be something like...

Satan - Sundin - Pálffy
Norström - Nummelin

Lasak
 
Looking at Slovakia's roster, it looks pretty damn good.
Sweden might overachieve by bringing players who are usually left off the team and therefore have something to prove and also because of Lundqvist.
Canada has looked better on paper and on the ice.
Russia finally seems to have a good core of determined players.
I don't know what to think about the Czechs and US.
But here's my prediction:

GOLD: Slovakia -- yeah that's right!
SILVER: Sweden
BRONZE: Canada
4th: Russia
5th: Czechs
6th: US
7th: Finland

It's going to be a very close tournament!
 
Ismellofhockey said:
Looking at Slovakia's roster, it looks pretty damn good.
Sweden might overachieve by bringing players who are usually left off the team and therefore have something to prove and also because of Lundqvist.
Canada has looked better on paper and on the ice.
Russia finally seems to have a good core of determined players.
I don't know what to think about the Czechs and US.
But here's my prediction:

GOLD: Slovakia -- yeah that's right!
SILVER: Sweden
BRONZE: Canada
4th: Russia
5th: Czechs
6th: US
7th: Finland

It's going to be a very close tournament!
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If Lundqvist carry the swedes, they might play the final, and I think they're a sure thing for a medal. But Slovakia has looked awful lately... Not much team chemistry it seems.
 
Final predictions:

Gold Czech Republic - best team in the tournament.

Silver Russia - great scoring but not sure about the goaltending

Bronze Canada - good on paper but might be rusty from lack of play this season.

4th Finland - always put in a solid effort

5th US

6th Sweden

7th Slovakia

8th Germany
 
wassup77 said:
This is how Peter Forsberg is ranking the top 8:

1. Sweden
2. Canada
3. Slovakia
4. Russia
5. Czechs
6. Finland
7. USA
8. Slovenia

Source: Peter Forsberg
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Forsberg thinks that Slovenia will get into the medal round? That's unbelievable.

I think this year we'll see a new champion. I get this feeling that this year's tournament will be like Euro 2004, where the big teams and big stars mostly struggled, and the more defensive minded team won in the end. This is based on nothing other than a hunch, but somebody will one day dethrone Canada. Perhaps that means that Sweden, with its general lack of stars, but strong defensive play will come out on top.
 
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