Rabid Ranger; I don't usually agree with your opinions but I think you're bang on with your assessment of the USNTDP. I'm always amazed at the number of Americans who are against this program. In Europe, hockey is a much more elitist sport. It is not a game of the masses. The Europeans focus on identifying top talent early, for example, players that could eventually represent them internationally, attempt to separate them from the masses and provide them with the absolute best coaching and training environment possible.
In Canada, it is the opposite. Everyone plays the game and the quality of the coaching at the developmental level is for the most part very poor. In Europe, the best coaches coach at the minor hockey level. In Canada, we'll allow anyone whose taken a weekend certification course to step behind the bench. As a result, most of our top players receive their coaching from a coach who is probably much better at his day job than he is at teaching them how to play and think the game. Even at the Midget and Junior levels, it is amazing how many great players receive very poor coaching.
I think the US is somewhere in between. The game in the US is certainly more elitist than it is in Canada, but not to the extent of the European game. However, young Americans who play in an elite minor hockey program such as Honeybaked or the California Wave receive better coaching, for the most part, than Canada's top young players. With the USNTDP, USA hockey has simply recognized that only a select few players will ever been in the position to represent their nation internationally. The key is to make sure those players are identified and are provided with elite coaching and training opportunities so that they don't slip through the cracks. It is definitely paying dividends. I would like to see Hockey Canada develop a similar program, but only on a provincial or regional basis with u-16 and perhaps u-15 teams.
I think they trick is to make the pool or potential players as large as possible in the early years. However, when the players are approaching junior and college hockey the key is to identify and separate the top players and make sure that they are as well prepared as possible for international competition.