When Will The USA Be The Country To Beat? (EDIT: Not just for WJHC)

[1Gold Standard]

I am definitely embarrassed by Canada 66% success rate at both the WJC tournaments when everyone was available (1995, 2005, 2013) and 1998+ best on best tournaments (1998, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2014). We often refer to it as the great national shame. If Canada had only won one of those tournaments, as Sweden, Czech Republic and USA have, it would be even worse. If Canada had somehow won none of those tournaments, as (unnamed) countries have, it would be unbearable.

The International Game is not the reason we pour the resources we do into the game. The domestic game on a local/community/grass roots level is our real pride and joy and the real reason we do it... all or any international success is just a by-product of that, the cherry on top sort of deal. And while I'm a fan of the international game and enjoy the tournaments, if Hockey Canada were to announce tomorrow that we've played our last international game, I wouldn't lament that decision in the slightest nor lose a minute's sleep over it. In fact, it's not a bad idea really...or just play the Americans once every 4 years on the junior and senior level and forget all the other nonsense.

 

[Scotty B]

The International Game is not the reason we pour the resources we do into the game. The domestic game on a local/community/grass roots level is our real pride and joy and the real reason we do it... all or any international success is just a by-product of that, the cherry on top sort of deal. And while I'm a fan of the international game and enjoy the tournaments, if Hockey Canada were to announce tomorrow that we've played our last international game, I wouldn't lament that decision in the slightest nor lose a minute's sleep over it. In fact, it's not a bad idea really...or just play the Americans once every 4 years on the junior and senior level and forget all the other nonsense.

Won't happen obviously...STILL there IS historical precedent for it...

 

[1Gold Standard]

Won't happen obviously...STILL there IS historical precedent for it...

obviously, but it wouldn't be tragic if that were to happen again. At least I wouldn't care. As I said, the international game is just a sideshow and not our main motivator.

 

[Scotty B]

obviously, but it wouldn't be tragic if that were to happen again. At least I wouldn't care. As I said, the international game is just a sideshow and not our main motivator.

World Juniors is a big money maker for HC. And international competition remains a good measuring stick. Soon as our boyz go thru a dry patch, talk of a another hockey summit + reforming our player development program ensues, plus those fat cats feel the noose tightening which should be right down ur alley

 

[1Gold Standard]

World Juniors is a big money maker for HC. And international competition remains a good measuring stick. Soon as our boyz go thru a dry patch, talk of a another hockey summit + reforming our player development program ensues, plus those fat cats feel the noose tightening which should be right down ur alley

I get your point, but those should happen regardless of the results. There are always ways to improve, do things better.

 

[JackSlater]

Some have been making the argument that Hockey Canada et al hasn't been getting enough return on their investment, enough bang for their buck as it were, compared to their Euro counterparts, as measured by INTERNATIONAL hockey successes. That argument may be SOMEWHAT valid,(although our Best on Best success rate remains the envy of the hockey world ); still...

two can play that game !

Nowadays, my understanding is that USA Hockey et al have about the same number of registered players and spend as much as we here in the Great White North do on player development , if not more -- factoring in those deep pocketed D 1 College programs, the fact that many high school coaches stateside get paid, the USHL, the shared CHL, the US NTDP, yadda yadda, it seems something of a mystery why Yanks don't seen to be subject to anywhere near the same high standards ( both at home and abroad ) as us Canucks?

As an aside, Yanks can't even use the warm climate vs cold excuse imo ( to try to explain away their also ran status ), since the vast majority of their players are from the North East where the climate IS conducive to Hockey. So this begs the question.

Why aren't Yanks doing better at international hockey than some of their comparably poorly financed European counterparts? In other words, why aren't they a close 2nd to Canada ( at a bare minimum ) in terms of winning Best on Best tourneys?

And why aren't they producing more top 25 NHL scorers, considering the number of US born NHLers?

Considering that huge amount of talent drain that USA benefits from in hockey, it's actually very surprising that they aren't much better than they are. Sons of professional hockey players are by far the easiest players to produce (they already have more than enough money to play at a high level and they have access to at the very least an adequate level of coaching) and USA benefits massively from this. Those players and coaches can also stay in whatever area they happen to be from and enrich the hockey infrastructure in the area. It's a massive advantage.

The International Game is not the reason we pour the resources we do into the game. The domestic game on a local/community/grass roots level is our real pride and joy and the real reason we do it... all or any international success is just a by-product of that, the cherry on top sort of deal. And while I'm a fan of the international game and enjoy the tournaments, if Hockey Canada were to announce tomorrow that we've played our last international game, I wouldn't lament that decision in the slightest nor lose a minute's sleep over it. In fact, it's not a bad idea really...or just play the Americans once every 4 years on the junior and senior level and forget all the other nonsense.

Of course, Canada's success internationally is just a byproduct of the development that goes into ensuring that people around the country can play hockey. I find it funny that many people around here are known to romanticize past systems of player development that were set up with the clear goal of just winning tournaments for their country (and their particular ideology), as opposed to ensuring that as many people as possible are able to enjoy hockey. It's why I hate the hothousing idea for the junior level too. Canada's goal has always been just to maximize the opportunity to play hockey, not to develop chemistry (and sacrifice opportunity for some players in my opinion) just to win the odd tournament.

 

[Canuckistani]

Given the lack of interest and the lack of competition in the rest of the World, some of that embarrassment is well justified.

Huh?

There are six or seven top nations that challenge for gold in hockey, just as there are in most sports.

 

[AmericanDream]

Eichel, Matthews, and Wise are 3 potential generational talents all coming...havent seen that level of talent in some time. It is coming...took a while but it is coming.

 

[Pominville Knows]

Eichel, Matthews, and Wise are 3 potential generational talents all coming...havent seen that level of talent in some time. It is coming...took a while but it is coming.

You got some more top-notch dudes in this summers draft as well: Hanifin, Werenski and Kyle Connor. I say this becouse its obviously important to surround generational talents with other top-notch professionals. Obviously grinders do complement good as well.

 

[hutdevil]

long way to go

There is still a long way to go

 

[Dod93Cityt]

Maybe when Eichel, Matthews, Hanifin, and co. are leading the team.

 

[SOLR]

And why aren't they producing more top 25 NHL scorers, considering the number of US born NHLers?

That's because the CHL has been undervalued in terms of development quality for the past 10+ years. It is the strongest league by far for this age group. There was a fantasy created by the elite Europeans of the last generation(Jagr, Forsberg, Selanne) for scouts; nobody wanted to miss the next one. Expensive fantasy. Looking at 2015 and 2016's draft I have personally subtracted 10% to every non-CHL prospects in their ranking score. I have done so for years and have been proven right by the results in the NHL and international play. I have Strome-Marner very close to Eichel and Hanifin 5th, for example. If you overvalue them as prospects, you set expectations too high for them in the NHL. Then there is Patrick Kane.

As for the climbing US: It will happen if the south part of the US can develop. It is a long process.

There are also some countries where the floor has fell from under them. Czech, Slovaks particularly cannot be considered part of the elite anymore. They form a B group with the Swiss. Finland depth seems always to follow a sin wave graph where they go from group b to group a and then back. They also produce very elite phenoms while the depth is not there.

Canada
Russia
US
Sweden

Fins

Czechs
Swiss

Slovaks
Denmark
German
Belarus
Ukr
Latvia

One aspect of Canadian hockey that most won't talk about is how Canadian cultures are contributing more and more to the game. PK Subban, Kadri, etc. we will see more and more cultural diversity in the players we develop. This is what is not happening in the US yet that would change the game a lot. Hopefully, Seth Jones can become a star, and we see more African-Americans considering hockey instead of Basketball-Football-TrackNfield.

 

[Pominville Knows]

That's because the CHL has been undervalued in terms of development quality for the past 10+ years. It is the strongest league by far for this age group. There was a fantasy created by the elite Europeans of the last generation(Jagr, Forsberg, Selanne) for scouts; nobody wanted to miss the next one. Expensive fantasy. Looking at 2015 and 2016's draft I have personally subtracted 10% to every non-CHL prospects in their ranking score. I have done so for years and have been proven right by the results in the NHL and international play. I have Strome-Marner very close to Eichel and Hanifin 5th, for example. If you overvalue them as prospects, you set expectations too high for them in the NHL. Then there is Patrick Kane.

As for the climbing US: It will happen if the south part of the US can develop. It is a long process.

There are also some countries where the floor has fell from under them. Czech, Slovaks particularly cannot be considered part of the elite anymore. They form a B group with the Swiss. Finland depth seems always to follow a sin wave graph where they go from group b to group a and then back. They also produce very elite phenoms while the depth is not there.

Canada
Russia
US
Sweden

Fins

Czechs
Swiss

Slovaks
Denmark
German
Belarus
Ukr
Latvia

One aspect of Canadian hockey that most won't talk about is how Canadian cultures are contributing more and more to the game. PK Subban, Kadri, etc. we will see more and more cultural diversity in the players we develop. This is what is not happening in the US yet that would change the game a lot. Hopefully, Seth Jones can become a star, and we see more African-Americans considering hockey instead of Basketball-Football-TrackNfield.

In that case Finland has never been an "A" nation. I feel that the czechs are still producing enough to stay competitive although never a favourite. Many other countries have become producers of upset talent, if advancing just a bit more entering "competitive" level.

 

[Yakushev72]

That's because the CHL has been undervalued in terms of development quality for the past 10+ years. It is the strongest league by far for this age group. There was a fantasy created by the elite Europeans of the last generation(Jagr, Forsberg, Selanne) for scouts; nobody wanted to miss the next one. Expensive fantasy. Looking at 2015 and 2016's draft I have personally subtracted 10% to every non-CHL prospects in their ranking score. I have done so for years and have been proven right by the results in the NHL and international play. I have Strome-Marner very close to Eichel and Hanifin 5th, for example. If you overvalue them as prospects, you set expectations too high for them in the NHL. Then there is Patrick Kane.

As for the climbing US: It will happen if the south part of the US can develop. It is a long process.

There are also some countries where the floor has fell from under them. Czech, Slovaks particularly cannot be considered part of the elite anymore. They form a B group with the Swiss. Finland depth seems always to follow a sin wave graph where they go from group b to group a and then back. They also produce very elite phenoms while the depth is not there.

Canada
Russia
US
Sweden

Fins

Czechs
Swiss

Slovaks
Denmark
German
Belarus
Ukr
Latvia

One aspect of Canadian hockey that most won't talk about is how Canadian cultures are contributing more and more to the game. PK Subban, Kadri, etc. we will see more and more cultural diversity in the players we develop. This is what is not happening in the US yet that would change the game a lot. Hopefully, Seth Jones can become a star, and we see more African-Americans considering hockey instead of Basketball-Football-TrackNfield.

No other country has anywhere near the apparatus or resources committed to developing the sheer number of hockey players that the CHL develops. Last year, there were 49 Russians playing in the CHL, and this year there will be more than 60. But while the CHL focuses on quantity and volume, smaller and lower-scale European programs do a much better job of focusing on skills development and teaching. That's because the CHL has chosen to mirror the NHL 90-game road tour, instead of devoting more time to practice.

That's why European teams are very competitive with Canada even when they really shouldn't be, given the vast disparity in interest and resource allocation. The biggest single cause of the overall upgrade of the NHL in the past 25 years has been the infusion of large numbers of Europeans. When Gretzky and Lemieux came into the NHL as teenagers, they could easily score 70 or 80 goals each year. Now, after 2 full seasons, super teen phenom Nathan MacKinnon is scoring 19 goals a year. The difference is that the opposition is much greater because of the infusion of Europeans.

There seems to be no evidence that the Southern US is moving toward the direction of producing hockey players. The biggest hockey event in US history was the "Miracle on Ice," which took place more than 35 years ago. The core area for hockey in the US was, and continues to be, the Northeastern States, Minnesota and Michigan. There are a few anecdotal examples of players who came from other areas, but those numbers are so small that they suggest that hockey is indeed truly anecdotal in those locations.

As for the suggestion that there is a surge of African-Americans in the sport, and that Seth Jones is the evidence, his is probably the most anecdotal case. By all accounts, his father was an NBA player in Denver and Dallas, and while living in Denver, his dad became friends with Joe Sakic of the Avalanche. According to the story, Sakic personally taught Jones to play hockey. When they moved to the Dallas area, Jones pursued his interest by enrolling in a hockey program. He will be a great player, but there is no real evidence of a wave of African-American hockey players who do not have the same advantages.

 

[that is unfortunate]

That's because the CHL has been undervalued in terms of development quality for the past 10+ years. It is the strongest league by far for this age group. There was a fantasy created by the elite Europeans of the last generation(Jagr, Forsberg, Selanne) for scouts; nobody wanted to miss the next one. Expensive fantasy. Looking at 2015 and 2016's draft I have personally subtracted 10% to every non-CHL prospects in their ranking score. I have done so for years and have been proven right by the results in the NHL and international play. I have Strome-Marner very close to Eichel and Hanifin 5th, for example. If you overvalue them as prospects, you set expectations too high for them in the NHL. Then there is Patrick Kane.

As for the climbing US: It will happen if the south part of the US can develop. It is a long process.

There are also some countries where the floor has fell from under them. Czech, Slovaks particularly cannot be considered part of the elite anymore. They form a B group with the Swiss. Finland depth seems always to follow a sin wave graph where they go from group b to group a and then back. They also produce very elite phenoms while the depth is not there.

Canada
Russia
US
Sweden

Fins

Czechs
Swiss

Slovaks
Denmark
German
Belarus
Ukr
Latvia

One aspect of Canadian hockey that most won't talk about is how Canadian cultures are contributing more and more to the game. PK Subban, Kadri, etc. we will see more and more cultural diversity in the players we develop. This is what is not happening in the US yet that would change the game a lot. Hopefully, Seth Jones can become a star, and we see more African-Americans considering hockey instead of Basketball-Football-TrackNfield.

You can't be serious, the Swiss have what, 5 legit NHLers? I get that they underperformed in Sochi but they're still easily better than Switzerland, it's hard to put them ahead of Finland seeing how well they've performed at the Olympics but still, the Czech team is much better on paper.

 

[Urbanskog]

You can't be serious, the Swiss have what, 5 legit NHLers? I get that they underperformed in Sochi but they're still easily better than Switzerland, it's hard to put them ahead of Finland seeing how well they've performed at the Olympics but still, the Czech team is much better on paper.

Yes, there are more Czechs than Finns in the NHL actually.

 

[Stats01]

That's because the CHL has been undervalued in terms of development quality for the past 10+ years. It is the strongest league by far for this age group. There was a fantasy created by the elite Europeans of the last generation(Jagr, Forsberg, Selanne) for scouts; nobody wanted to miss the next one. Expensive fantasy. Looking at 2015 and 2016's draft I have personally subtracted 10% to every non-CHL prospects in their ranking score. I have done so for years and have been proven right by the results in the NHL and international play. I have Strome-Marner very close to Eichel and Hanifin 5th, for example. If you overvalue them as prospects, you set expectations too high for them in the NHL. Then there is Patrick Kane.

As for the climbing US: It will happen if the south part of the US can develop. It is a long process.

There are also some countries where the floor has fell from under them. Czech, Slovaks particularly cannot be considered part of the elite anymore. They form a B group with the Swiss. Finland depth seems always to follow a sin wave graph where they go from group b to group a and then back. They also produce very elite phenoms while the depth is not there.

Canada
Russia
US
Sweden

Fins

Czechs
Swiss

Slovaks
Denmark
German
Belarus
Ukr
Latvia

One aspect of Canadian hockey that most won't talk about is how Canadian cultures are contributing more and more to the game. PK Subban, Kadri, etc. we will see more and more cultural diversity in the players we develop. This is what is not happening in the US yet that would change the game a lot. Hopefully, Seth Jones can become a star, and we see more African-Americans considering hockey instead of Basketball-Football-TrackNfield.

Subban family, Davante Smith-Pelly, Wayne Simmonds, Kadri, it goes way back..Anson Carter, Fred Brathwaite, Willie O'Ree, Jarome Iginla, Trevor Daly, Evander Kane, Jamal Mayers. This isn't something new...As was said before hockey is ingrained in our culture, the U.S can spend as much money as they want on the sport but they can't duplicate what Canada has or does. Canada is unique and is not necessarily the model that countries should be looking at..when it comes to this sport it runs extremely deep in the culture and consciousness of this country.

 

[JackSlater]

No other country has anywhere near the apparatus or resources committed to developing the sheer number of hockey players that the CHL develops. Last year, there were 49 Russians playing in the CHL, and this year there will be more than 60. But while the CHL focuses on quantity and volume, smaller and lower-scale European programs do a much better job of focusing on skills development and teaching. That's because the CHL has chosen to mirror the NHL 90-game road tour, instead of devoting more time to practice. That's why European teams are very competitive with Canada even when they really shouldn't be, given the vast disparity in interest and resource allocation.

Maybe Sweden as they have quality players at all positions, otherwise not really. Canada has far more players than other countries do, and also produces far more players who are elite. Russia produces a roughly comparable number of elite forwards when adjusting for participation, and is starting to do well with goaltenders, but lags massively behind Canada in defencemen even after any adjustment a person could make. Finland is competitive, but it isn't because their teams are composed of players comparable in skill. Similar story for the Czechs and the other countries. Give everyone limited preparation time along with just a few games and lots of teams will be competitive.

The biggest single cause of the overall upgrade of the NHL in the past 25 years has been the infusion of large numbers of Europeans. When Gretzky and Lemieux came into the NHL as teenagers, they could easily score 70 or 80 goals each year. Now, after 2 full seasons, super teen phenom Nathan MacKinnon is scoring 19 goals a year. The difference is that the opposition is much greater because of the infusion of Europeans.

Yes, scoring did go down in large part due to the increase in the number of Europeans... and also Americans. Prior to the mid-80s USA provided the NHL with nothing of note outside of Frank Brimsek. What that has to do with a comparison of MacKinnon and Gretzky/Lemieux, I don't know.

 

[Urbanskog]

Subban family, Davante Smith-Pelly, Wayne Simmonds, Kadri, it goes way back..Anson Carter, Fred Brathwaite, Willie O'Ree, Jarome Iginla, Trevor Daly, Evander Kane, Jamal Mayers. This isn't something new...As was said before hockey is ingrained in our culture, the U.S can spend as much money as they want on the sport but they can't duplicate what Canada has or does. Canada is unique and is not necessarily the model that countries should be looking at..when it comes to this sport it runs extremely deep in the culture and consciousness of this country.

Lol, because hockey is not as big as soccer? It's perfectly okay for say, Germans to use all the resources in soccer while other sports get the crumbs but God forbid if it's hockey that has such position in any country.

 

[WingsFan95]

For any extended period of time? Never.

The United States is going to continue to fall financially, which will hurt their sports development. Hockey has never been, nor will be a Top 3 consideration in the United States.

Considering a growing income inequality and the price to play hockey, it will regress in terms of high-end talent. It's possible in 40 years the national team falls out of the Top 10.

Look at how tiny countries like Sweden and Finland continue to perform.

 

[Thenameless]

I actually thought it would have happened by now. When the US won the World Cup in 96 I remember thinking "uh-oh, this is the beginning of the end." I'm glad Canada's been able to hold on, and even solidify its position as No. 1 since then.

If USA puts their mind and resources to it though, it'll be over within a decade.

 

[Jablkon]

The International Game is not the reason we pour the resources we do into the game. The domestic game on a local/community/grass roots level is our real pride and joy and the real reason we do it... all or any international success is just a by-product of that, the cherry on top sort of deal. And while I'm a fan of the international game and enjoy the tournaments, if Hockey Canada were to announce tomorrow that we've played our last international game, I wouldn't lament that decision in the slightest nor lose a minute's sleep over it. In fact, it's not a bad idea really...or just play the Americans once every 4 years on the junior and senior level and forget all the other nonsense.

I believe your opinion is mostly influenced by the present int. situation. In fact I think that Team Canada's results in 90s are basically the main reason of Canada/NHL success and quality in present days....

 

[Yakushev72]

Maybe Sweden as they have quality players at all positions, otherwise not really. Canada has far more players than other countries do, and also produces far more players who are elite. Russia produces a roughly comparable number of elite forwards when adjusting for participation, and is starting to do well with goaltenders, but lags massively behind Canada in defencemen even after any adjustment a person could make. Finland is competitive, but it isn't because their teams are composed of players comparable in skill. Similar story for the Czechs and the other countries. Give everyone limited preparation time along with just a few games and lots of teams will be competitive.



Yes, scoring did go down in large part due to the increase in the number of Europeans... and also Americans. Prior to the mid-80s USA provided the NHL with nothing of note outside of Frank Brimsek. What that has to do with a comparison of MacKinnon and Gretzky/Lemieux, I don't know.

Stop the spin! Not only is Sweden very close to being equal with Canada, but so is Finland, and to an increasing degree, Russia! These countries don't devote 10% of what Canada does to hockey, but the results show that they are all peers of Canada on the ice, when none of the European countries really should be. And that goes to Canada's focus on producing a quantity of hockey players, instead of quality.

Russia is still behind Sweden and Finland in Europe, but the Russians always have much more success against Canada than they really should, given the intense emotional fire that burns in the hearts of all Canadians when it comes to beating Russia (light years beyond the intensity of rivalries with any other country). No one expects Canada to win the WHC, and only this year did Canada edge Russia in the WJC at home to end a 6-year drought (with Russia eliminating Canada from the medal podium the previous 2 consecutive years), but in fact, Russia has more than held its own against Canada in the Olympic Games as well. Since 1998, when all of Canada's best players wore the Maple Leaf, Russia and Canada are tied 1-1, with a total goal differential of 7-5 favoring Canada. Those numbers speak more to equality and parity than do to being "massively behind" Canada, as you put it.

 

[JackSlater]

Stop the spin! Not only is Sweden very close to being equal with Canada, but so is Finland, and to an increasing degree, Russia! These countries don't devote 10% of what Canada does to hockey, but the results show that they are all peers of Canada on the ice, when none of the European countries really should be. And that goes to Canada's focus on producing a quantity of hockey players, instead of quality.

No, it clearly goes to show that with limited preparation time and just a few games to be played, even a team that is vastly outgunned in terms of talent can attain results similar to a team with vastly better players. Finland plays very well in tournaments, and their players deserve lots of credit for that, but they are not an exceptionally talented team by any stretch of the imagination. It's laughable to suggest that a country like Finland is producing players anywhere near what Canada is doing in terms of "skill". In goaltending? Absolutely. In the future? Possible, who knows. Right now? No, and it's ridiculous to suggest otherwise. Same for Sweden, though they are certainly much closer. Russia is also doing a better job than Finland at producing players, for whatever it's worth.

To avoid "spin", let's write down the top ten forwards, top five defencemen and top three goaltenders from Canada and Finland. If Canada is producing quantity instead of quality and Finland is quite comparable, this exercise should show it. I'll do Canada.

Forwards: Crosby, Tavares, Stamkos, Getzlaf, Giroux, Seguin, Toews, Benn, Perry, Bergeron

Defencemen: Weber, Subban, Keith, Doughty, Giordano

Goaltenders: Price, Luongo, Holtby

Can't wait to see the comparable Finnish players. Somehow, I'm quite confident that you aren't going to bother writing them down.

Russia is still behind Sweden and Finland in Europe, but the Russians always have much more success against Canada than they really should, given the intense emotional fire that burns in the hearts of all Canadians when it comes to beating Russia (light years beyond the intensity of rivalries with any other country). No one expects Canada to win the WHC, and only this year did Canada edge Russia in the WJC at home to end a 6-year drought (with Russia eliminating Canada from the medal podium the previous 2 consecutive years), but in fact, Russia has more than held its own against Canada in the Olympic Games as well. Since 1998, when all of Canada's best players wore the Maple Leaf, Russia and Canada are tied 1-1, with a total goal differential of 7-5 favoring Canada. Those numbers speak more to equality and parity than do to being "massively behind" Canada, as you put it.

Russia always Canada very well, no question there. Using Olympic results since the NHL started participating is laughable though. Russia is 1-1-0 against Canada in the Olympics. Switzerland is 1-0-1, and thus is even closer to Canada using that method. 2 games is a meaningless sample.

I'll give you the whole quote again, since you strategically left part out: "Russia produces a roughly comparable number of elite forwards when adjusting for participation, and is starting to do well with goaltenders, but lags massively behind Canada in defencemen even after any adjustment a person could make." Russia does certainly lag behind massively in defencemen. Take any list of the top defencemen in the world, and plenty of them are Canadian. Weber, Doughty, Keith, Subban, Letang, Giordano, Pietrangelo and so on. You could make a case that Canada has more than half of the world's ten best defencemen. Russia? Obviously not close. Russia's defencemen are pathetic at this time, for reasons that I do not fully understand.

 

[SOLR]

Subban family, Davante Smith-Pelly, Wayne Simmonds, Kadri, it goes way back..Anson Carter, Fred Brathwaite, Willie O'Ree, Jarome Iginla, Trevor Daly, Evander Kane, Jamal Mayers. This isn't something new...As was said before hockey is ingrained in our culture, the U.S can spend as much money as they want on the sport but they can't duplicate what Canada has or does. Canada is unique and is not necessarily the model that countries should be looking at..when it comes to this sport it runs extremely deep in the culture and consciousness of this country.

Agreed.