Canada vs USA, 24 and under

[Luigi Lemieux]

I was surprised to see how much stronger the US defense is than Canada's. Canada's young d is a far cry from their 24+ group. That said Matt Murray has ice water running through his veins and was superb in both of the cup runs. Not to mention Mcdavid is the best player on either team. I would go with Canada by a hair.

 

[lwvs84]

Not a knock on Murray, but I think there are far more goalies that could have replaced him than forwards that could have replaced Crosby and Malkin. There's probably 10 goalies in the league that can replace Murray and the Pens still win, can you say the same about those two? Also, Gibson has taken a huge step forward this year. The numbers may not show it, but he's playing great outside of a couple games which really hurt his numbers. Not to mention, the team is relying on Derek Grant to be their top offensive C and Wagner to be the shutdown C. There's probably a good chance we'll see them face off for a medal at some point in their careers though. It should be a fun matchup (if the skaters are relatively even).

 

[wintersej]

Team USA with the better D. And by a lot. Shoot, I might take McAvoy, USAs 7th D in this scenario, over Canada's #1.

Canada easy takes the wingers. By almost as much as USA takes the D.

Up the middle its Canada, but not by a substantial amount.

Canada takes in net, too, but in a 7 game series, any of them could be good enough.

Canada in 7 right now. If only because those USA d-men are further from their prime. In 5 years? Answer might be reversed.