Would an all-time team Germany be enough for them to compete for gold in best on best?

[llwyd]

From a German perspective comparing Draisaitl to Kühnhackl is a bit like comparing Connor McDavid to Gordie Howe.

Yeah, and that makes these comparisons so difficult.

But in any case the Cold War era Czcechoslovakia was a real powerhouse - the only European team that were consistently competitive against the Red Machine. They used to beat Sweden and Finland on regular basis.

 

[mkev400]

Christian Ehrhoff - Dennis Seidenberg
Christoph Schubert - Uwe Krupp
Sascha Goc - Jan Benda
Ulrich Hiemer - Udo Kießling

I have some concerns over that D corps... A prime Uwe Krupp would probably better than Seidenberg and Schubert played considerable streches as 13th forward for Ottawa if I remember correctly and his ceiling was never that high and he quickly fell off the cliff. Even a prime Schubert wouldn't probably be a Top 4 D for Germany in my book , with Kießling and Hiemer would probably higher rated in my opinion (obviously this precludes the assumption that you ranked these in order of assumed lineup pairings).
Also, as far as I remember, Jan Benda played primarily at C for the most part of his career, and certainly would have done so in his prime (I think he only played D at the end of his career, in the lower class German leagues). He might make the team as an extra forward, but not as a D. There have to be better D options out there. At the risk of being laughed out of this forum, I'd throw Harold Kreis, Korbinian Holzer, Alex Sulzer or Sven Butenschoen in the mix (all for the bottom pairing, alongside Goc)...
Even then, I doubt that this D would be good enough for Germany to stay in the mix for a best on best tournament.

For the forwards I would put forward the inclusion of Ustorf over MacKay, though at the end of the day, the same argument as for the D depth could be used. There just isnt enough quality throughout to stay in the mix.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Yeah, and that makes these comparisons so difficult.

But in any case the Cold War era Czcechoslovakia was a real powerhouse - the only European team that were consistently competitive against the Red Machine. They used to beat Sweden and Finland on regular basis.

sweden was better than finland in cold war era.

 

[Albatros]

sweden was better than finland in cold war era.

For sure, but was losing to Finland frequently by the early 1970s. Czechoslovakia maintained its dominance until the 1990s.

 

[llwyd]

sweden was better than finland in cold war era.

Yep, sure - and Czechoslovakia was better than both, repeatedly challenging even the USSR.

 

[Czechboy]

I think it bears repeating... Czechs were very good for about 90 years. They are definitely not in big 5 and the current Finn's are much better. That is one decade out of 10. Swedes have been better for 2 decades out of 10.

Regarding German team... I'd say the current German team at next Olympics will be very strong. I don't think they win gold but they could make some noise. I have no reason to believe Czechs, Swiss or Slovaks are more than 50-50 at the 2022 Olympics with pros. I'll even go further and say the 2026 German team might make it a Top 6 again. They are looking great. I think the 2022 Swiss team will also be very competitive. Ftr. I love the loons of the 2022 Czech team and think they'll be a pain to the big 5 as well. Not like the WJHC where 7-0 is a normal loss.

 

[Albatros]

For what it's worth also Kühnhackl and Draisaitl the elder played their youth hockey in Czechoslovakia and came to Germany as teenagers.

 

[Raimo Sillanpää]

Czechs were the best team in Europe and only threat to the Red Machine for sooo long.

But even if we’d talk just modern age, Czechia would win gold in an all time greats at peak tournament - Hasek with the shutout..

 

[Eye of Ra]

I think it bears repeating... Czechs were very good for about 90 years. They are definitely not in big 5 and the current Finn's are much better. That is one decade out of 10. Swedes have been better for 2 decades out of 10.

Regarding German team... I'd say the current German team at next Olympics will be very strong. I don't think they win gold but they could make some noise. I have no reason to believe Czechs, Swiss or Slovaks are more than 50-50 at the 2022 Olympics with pros. I'll even go further and say the 2026 German team might make it a Top 6 again. They are looking great. I think the 2022 Swiss team will also be very competitive. Ftr. I love the loons of the 2022 Czech team and think they'll be a pain to the big 5 as well. Not like the WJHC where 7-0 is a normal loss.

if we look at the 90s, sweden won 3 gold in wc and 1 og gold, czech won 2 golds in wc and 1 og gold. sweden was also super close to reach finals in world cup 1996. so i would not say czechs was better than sweden in the 90s, i would say same level.

 

[Czechboy]

if we look at the 90s, sweden won 3 gold in wc and 1 og gold, czech won 2 golds in wc and 1 og gold. sweden was also super close to reach finals in world cup 1996. so i would not say czechs was better than sweden in the 90s, i would say same level.

Our Olympic gold was best on best and we did it by beating Canada, Russia and the defending World Cup Champions the US. Those teams were stacked with Hall of Famers.

A draw seems fair.

2000 and 2001 were 2 golds for us at WC so we weren't terrible yet. 2005 is an unofficial best on best as well and we got Gold at that one. Then it all fell apart.

My point was that a lot of people seem to discount how good we were and for how long by bringing up todays players and no one is arguing Czechs are better than Finland/Sweden today. From 1965 to 1985 only 2 teams won Gold at the World Championships.

 

[MaxV]

if we look at the 90s, sweden won 3 gold in wc and 1 og gold, czech won 2 golds in wc and 1 og gold. sweden was also super close to reach finals in world cup 1996. so i would not say czechs was better than sweden in the 90s, i would say same level.

Comparing decades is pretty irrelevant for the purpose of an all-time team. It doesn't matter which decades players come from, as long as there are enough of them to fill one roster.

Team USA, for example, would be very strong and would consist mainly of 2-3 generations.