I think this still holds some ground. Allow me to explain. I will just give an example in terms of best-on-best tournaments, as I am too lazy to dig up similar results for the IIHF WC tournaments. If you think how many times a team outside of Canada has won when games have played on NHL sized rink - I can only think of two examples: 1981 Canada Cup and USA in 1996 (World Cup of Hockey). So it seems when the games are played on NHL sized rinks it seems like it is almost guaranteed for Canada to win. Actually kinda pathetic performance for the rest of the world, when you think about it.
Now, if we take the best-on-best tournaments to bigger ice - that's we start to seeing more winners from other countries as well (e.g. Czech Republic, Sweden). So I think from purely statistically speaking, when playing on small ice = Canada (or USA) is almost guaranteed to win. Play on big ice= at least some chance for other countries as well.
Obviously most likely it can be various reasons for this - e.g. in this year's IIHF tournament Canada started very slowly, maybe it was the jet lag or players adjusting to big ice again, similar observations can be made for the big ice.
And for the record, nobody is denying Canada's supremacy - they could easily ice 5-6 competitive teams, while other countries are lucky if they are able to get 1-2 teams.
I get your point but some(a lot actually) European fans seem to think we struggle on it always and one look at our victories on it at all levels should be enough to silence even a casual fan about that theory.You are kind of bringing up a different thing here. Hell, some were pointing out that if we don't have star players we can never win on it yet here we are again in the gold medal game on big ice and this team doesn't have a single star on it. Before Salt lake european fans were saying we couldn't win an olympic gold on big ice and then we did it so they changed the goalposts again this time saying we could only do it on north american soil (some were even throwing in that it wasn't quite exact iihf dimensions) so along comes sochi, where they put on a clinic on the exact international ice dimensions right in Europe. Now european fans are left with what? because they always seem to have to have something........................and here it is, smoke and mirrors on overall results compared to big ice vs small ice despite the fact that we have won plenty on big ice and have a chance to do it again tomorrow.
You can make a claim that there is a bigger adjustment for Canadian teams on big ice and because of that won't get the same degree results they get on small ice (and for obvious reasons, they don't grow up on it, along with other reasons too) but this myth that they are naturally subpar big ice hockey players that need 10 wayne gretzkys and bobby orrs to ever have a hope of winning gold on it, that's utter horseshit and just plain european arrogance. Well it's not even arrogance really, it's just jealousy and hatred at our RESULTS period, on small or big ice, they hate us because they ain't us and that's the bottom line.
But it's all they have left now, but it's so small and has such little merit that I just don't see why a single fan there clings to this flimsy last little straw. It's in the same vein as some dinosaur fans who think Canadians always have bigger heart and european players are softer.
all I can suggest to you is not to be one of those dinosaurs or you are going to be left behind. I bet the coaches and players of the european teams don't hold this view that so many european fans seem to persist in. Honestly, it just makes European fans look petty and out of touch in this day and age.