Best WJC team ever?

[reidy]

Being American, we don't get much coverage of this, or past tournaments.

With that said, who had the best WJC squad ever? Wasn't Russia loaded that year with Bure - Mogilny - Federov? What about Sweden in 93 with Forsberg and Naslund?

Thoughts?

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[E&M]

Canada 2005

 

[Geese_Howard*]

Canada 2005

i agree only question mark was goalie but man was this team loaded only allowed i think 7 goals in the entire tourny, no team will ever match this, imo 2nd is the one were federov, bure and almo went.

 

[MOGiLNY]

i agree only question mark was goalie but man was this team loaded only allowed i think 7 goals in the entire tourny, no team will ever match this, imo 2nd is the one were federov, bure and almo went.

2005 Canada was +34

1978 Soviet Union +34
1979 Soviet Union +35
1983 Soviet Union +37
1989 Soviet Union +37
1993 Sweden +38

 

[Canuck21t]

2005 Canada was +34

1978 Soviet Union +34
1979 Soviet Union +35
1983 Soviet Union +37
1989 Soviet Union +37
1993 Sweden +38

The 1993 Sweden team, was that the year when Forsberg made his scoring record? If that's the case, you can take that team out of the list of possible best WJC team ever. A team that didn't win the Gold can't possibly considered among the best ever. It just shows that +38 doesn't mean much. You'd have to see HOW and in what manner the team dominated. I have no recollection of tournaments in the '80s so I can't really comment on this thread. I can only say that since the '90s up to now, Team Canada of 2005 was THE most dominant. It cruised all the way to the Gold medal, I don't remember any other team doing that.

 

[MOGiLNY]

Forsberg had 7 goals in that '93 tournament out of his teams' 53.. right on par with Jeff Carter's 7 goals last year.

I guess you are right though that since Sweden didn't get the gold, they can't be called the most dominant team.

Still, Canada had a fantastic team last year, but others in the past have done the same or even better..

 

[Canuck21t]

Forsberg had 7 goals in that '93 tournament out of his teams' 53.. right on par with Jeff Carter's 7 goals last year.

I guess you are right though that since Sweden didn't get the gold, they can't be called the most dominant team.

Still, Canada had a fantastic team last year, but others in the past have done the same or even better..

That's why I can't really say for sure which team is the best ever. I can only point out what I remember and I doubt anyone here have seen all the years since the start of the tournament.

 

[Geese_Howard*]

The reason I believe Canada 2005 is the best is because more then half the roster would not have been there, they would have been playing in the NHL if there was not a lockout.

That will never happen again IMO, that much talent on a single WJR's team

 

[thomasincanada]

2005 Canada was +34

1978 Soviet Union +34
1979 Soviet Union +35
1983 Soviet Union +37
1989 Soviet Union +37
1993 Sweden +38

The plus/minus can be a bit misleading. There was probably more scoring in the 80's and maybe 70's as well. If a team scores 100 and gives up 70, it's not nearly as impressive as a team scoring 40 and giving up 10.

 

[pei fan]

There has never been a team with the depth of Canada's last year.They have several players playing at a high level in the NHL THIS year.Several of the players are potential hall of famers.Let's put it this way .Who was the seventh best player on the team?.........Brent Seabrook maybe?

Another point is that just like junior hockey was stronger last year because of the NHL lockout,so was the WJC.The tournament had players that otherwise might have been with their NHL club.

 

[Preds666]

What about Sweden in 93 with Forsberg and Naslund?

Most known players on that Swedish WJC roster.

Niclas Hävelid
Hans Jonsson
Kenny Jönsson

Pete Forsberg
Andreas Johansson
Mats Lindgren
Markus Näslund
Andreas Salomonsson
Niklas Sundström

There were also several players that did not play in the NHL, but became big time players in Sweden. Not one of the top teams to play the tourney, though.

 

[cfrancis]

Canada 2005, I don't think there should be much doubt.

 

[clay]

Canada 2005... that team was ridiculously good.

 

[BuppY]

Don't rememmber the teams from the 80's but from the 90's till now 2005 was the best.

 

[NyQuil]

I don't think Canada's 2005 WJC team gave up a lead at any point in the entire tournament.

Similar feat to the World Cup team of 2004, but the Juniors were much more dominant overall.

That Russian team was stacked with Ovechkin AND Malkin but were soundly routed in the final. It's not just the stats, it's the competition.

 

[God Bless Canada]

Sweden did not win gold, despite all of the talent and home-ice advantage, thus they are not even up for consideration.

 

[Letang fan 58]

Being American, we don't get much coverage of this, or past tournaments.

With that said, who had the best WJC squad ever? Wasn't Russia loaded that year with Bure - Mogilny - Federov? What about Sweden in 93 with Forsberg and Naslund?

Thoughts?

Canada 05.........Hands down, Sweden and Russia have had some good ones, but never a full out team like Canada was last year, there was no game where another team was even in it.

 

[ryz]

Definately Canada 05. That is probably the most dominant team I've ever seen at any decent level in relation to where their competition was at. You could have literally given them the Gold beofre the tourney started and it wouldn't have been a big deal. Not only were they dominant skill-wise but they were equally dominant physically. They could have played another 30 games agaisnt their competition that year and not been in jepardy of losing a single game.

 

[Anksun]

Another point might be taken into account when talking about the plus/minus statistic. This tournament has not been the way it is since too long (i mean 4 games + mini-elimination tournament"). Before, if i'm not mistaken, all teams were playing 1 time against each other and the standing was determining the winner. Not only that was giving the better teams more games against lower competition but it was actually more important to run up the score because it was possibly what would result in a 2nd or 1st place.

I'm not 100% sure of that but i think it's right.


Canada 2005 was never in danger of loosing a game, really.

 

[flambers]

Canada 2005

I agree

 

[MOGiLNY]

The plus/minus can be a bit misleading. There was probably more scoring in the 80's and maybe 70's as well. If a team scores 100 and gives up 70, it's not nearly as impressive as a team scoring 40 and giving up 10.

2005 Canada 41-7 +34

1978 Soviet Union 50-16 +34
1979 Soviet Union 46-11 +35
1983 Soviet Union 50-13 +37
1989 Soviet Union 51-14 +37

Only reason you guys say Canada is the most dominant team ever is because you are Canadian and because it happened last year so it's fresh in your minds. I don't know which team is the most dominant team ever, but looking at the numbers, I think a few teams also have a right to say that they were the best..

This definitely looks like the most dominant Canadian team though as I wasn't able to find another one with such a big goal differential.

 

[Raging Bull]

I think both in terms of players turning out to be very good in the NHL, look at the 1995 roster:

Bryan McCabe
Wade Redden
Ed Jovanovski
Jason Allison
Darcy Tucker
Ryan Smyth
Jeff Friesen
Jeff O'Neill
Eric Daze
Dan Cloutier


Definatley because of the lockout that year.

 

[Siberian]

Some people here are like parakeets - repeat everything what TSN brainwashes them with.

In reality I would think that top 3 teams ever in U-20 competion are all Soviet teams. Outside of top three there were many great dominating teams but I believe that Canada of last year should be in top 15. I also believe that Russia of this year is one of the best Russia put together since Soviet Union collapse and if it handles Canada tonight with ease this should also be considered as top 15 teams in the history of the tournament.

 

[MOGiLNY]

Top 15?? More like top 5..

It's really a wash after that. Many teams had great records at the tournament and there's no way of telling which team was better than which as they've all won.

I don't think objectively, anybody can say which is the best team ever.

 

[MentalPowerHouse]

Some people here are like parakeets - repeat everything what TSN brainwashes them with.

In reality I would think that top 3 teams ever in U-20 competion are all Soviet teams. Outside of top three there were many great dominating teams but I believe that Canada of last year should be in top 15. I also believe that Russia of this year is one of the best Russia put together since Soviet Union collapse and if it handles Canada tonight with ease this should also be considered as top 15 teams in the history of the tournament.

How can you deny that Canada 2005 was an amazing team? I can't say it was the best ever, but it crushed everyone in the tournament with ease including the Russians who had 2 huge superstars. Spout your TSN brainwash garbage if you want but facts are facts, they dominated the tournament.

I was born in 83 so I can't say anything bout the 70s or 80s but in the modern age of the WJC, since they introduced the medal round, I will say that Canada 2005 is definitely top 3 if not first.

That Swedish with Forsberg may be the best team to not win.