This is my take on Canadian hockey:
At any given level, the top end Canadian talent is USUALLY top 3 in the world, often #1. However, if you took the top 10 teams from each country, and played them all in a tournament, while the top Canadian team may win or not, I feel confident that of the teams 2-10 from Canada, they would be better than the other country's teams 2-10. Go ahead and make a depth chart and look at it. Players like Patrick Marleau and Mark Recchi could be on the 3rd tier Canadian team. What other country could boast talent like that on their third team? So, while Canada is always in the running for the top place, it is the depth of talent that makes Canada, in my opinion, the best hockey country.
And I am not Canadian, so this is not about nationalism, it is just the way things seem to me.