WJC: IIHF Releases World Junior Rankings

[espo*]

The Russian press is downright crazy but that's nothing new.

Even their ex players can be totally off their rocker, look at Tretiaks remarks after Russia winning the WHC this past year saying Russia is clearly the number one team in international hockey today, this after getting totally smoked in Vancouver and not winning a best on best competition since he himself was in nets, which is basically the Hockey equivalent of when T-Rexs walked the earth.

You can't take anything seriously that they say over there.

The U.S number one?.......hmm, they'll have to prove that for me and up to this point they haven't done that but i'll agree they are ahead of Russia currently and have areas they are better then Canada such as in nets. They stack up well on defense but come out on the losing side considering offense. They'll be tough no doubt. The transition to the big ice game in a quick tournament is key for both them and Canada.No question it favours the European teams.

Russian fans are in a tough position here on HF coming up in sochi. If they lose fans will be all over them, it will cement their position as all hype no substance, if they win a lot of fans will just use the argument they use on Canada's golds when they say "you can only win in North America" fans will say........'yeah,big deal,Russia can only win when it's at home"

The abject stupidity of their fans in trying to cheapen their opponents win this way paves the way for other fans to turn this against them should they be successful in Sochi.

I know one thing, they better win in sochi ....................the pressure on them is enormous.


If they don't i'm sure their bat**** crazy press will have their back though.

I know one thing, if they win but they don't blow everyone out on their way to doing so I am gonna be all over them for having a "less then stellar tournament" despite winning gold, should they even win one game against say, Sweden 5-4 I'll be here to say they had a less then impressive showing and were just lucky to win.

Don't sweat it, hardly worth the aggravation, fans tend to over-value their own, that's our right as fans...

But talking about Delusional, you should get a load of the Russian Sports Press...not a hint of professionalism or objective opinion among the lot of them, just a whole lot of beating the war drum and the return of the Big Red Machine. According to a few of their experts I was reading, Canada just has an outsider's chance of getting a medal and Sweden, The Czechs will be their toughest competition, based on what they believe the core of our Olympic team is the recently completed WHC. One moron expert ex player commented that 12 players from the WC team will be in Sochi, some decent young players he said, but not much of a threat for Sochi.. But the Big Red Machine steamrolled traditional hockey powerhouses Norway (twice) Italy, Denmark, Latvia and one or two others and it's all hail the return of the Big Red Machine. It's so beyond delusional it's hysterical. The Russians may be in line for another beat down in Sochi, but it may not even come from us. It may be the Americans this time, who I consider to be a far better team than Russia. Better goaltending, better defense, more depth in the forward group, balanced attack... The Americans I believe are today the true number 1 ranked team in the world, followed by Canada, then Sweden and Russia 4th with the finns close behind them.

 

[ForumNamePending]

Well this thread very quickly took a predictable turn. The mods should just sticky two threads relating to IIHF rankings. One thread for the small group of Canadians who like to claim injustice, conspiracy & jealousy while at the same time stating they actually don’t care about the rankings. The second thread can be for everyone else to discuss less tired and potentially more interesting topics.

Anyway… Since the rankings are new and not based on a very big sample size it is probably too early to take anything away from it but a few points…

The Czech Republic should be interesting to follow. To my understanding they have acknowledge they have fallen behind and have started to implement changes based on the same model Sweden used a decade or so ago that drastically turned things around for them. If results are half as good as Sweden’s (probably easier said than done) they should have no issue remaining elite at the senior level. It is encouraging to see that they have shown some signs of life over the past year or two although this probably has nothing to do with the changes they are trying to make. Some of the above could also probably be applied to Slovakia.

A few years ago Belarus had established themselves as a ‘yo-yo’ nation on the junior levels but have now been stuck in D1 for a while. I wonder if this because they have declined or if they are still gradually improving but just not at the same rate as other ‘second tier’ countries like Denmark, Norway & Latvia that have apparently past them in recent times.

Slovenia at 15 and climbing is also interesting. A player the quality of Kopitar is probably an anomaly but there still does seem to be a small but steady stream of Slovenians moving to high end European leagues. They have also established themselves as a ‘yo-yo’ nation on the senior level. Hopefully the financial issues facing traditionally the most successful club doesn’t kill any momentum they may have built.

Finally I think if a country can turn out 2 or 3 good players (vague description, I know) a year they should be able to remain or build a competitive team at the senior level. Producing dozens of elite prospects a year is great but when you only need 20 players for a senior national team IMHO it really isn’t necessary.

 

[Siamese Dream]

Well this thread very quickly took a predictable turn. The mods should just sticky two threads relating to IIHF rankings. One thread for the small group of Canadians who like to claim injustice, conspiracy & jealousy while at the same time stating they actually don’t care about the rankings. The second thread can be for everyone else to discuss less tired and potentially more interesting topics.

Anyway… Since the rankings are new and not based on a very big sample size it is probably too early to take anything away from it but a few points…

The Czech Republic should be interesting to follow. To my understanding they have acknowledge they have fallen behind and have started to implement changes based on the same model Sweden used a decade or so ago that drastically turned things around for them. If results are half as good as Sweden’s (probably easier said than done) they should have no issue remaining elite at the senior level. It is encouraging to see that they have shown some signs of life over the past year or two although this probably has nothing to do with the changes they are trying to make. Some of the above could also probably be applied to Slovakia.

A few years ago Belarus had established themselves as a ‘yo-yo’ nation on the junior levels but have now been stuck in D1 for a while. I wonder if this because they have declined or if they are still gradually improving but just not at the same rate as other ‘second tier’ countries like Denmark, Norway & Latvia that have apparently past them in recent times.

Slovenia at 15 and climbing is also interesting. A player the quality of Kopitar is probably an anomaly but there still does seem to be a small but steady stream of Slovenians moving to high end European leagues. They have also established themselves as a ‘yo-yo’ nation on the senior level. Hopefully the financial issues facing traditionally the most successful club doesn’t kill any momentum they may have built.

Finally I think if a country can turn out 2 or 3 good players (vague description, I know) a year they should be able to remain or build a competitive team at the senior level. Producing dozens of elite prospects a year is great but when you only need 20 players for a senior national team IMHO it really isn’t necessary.

Yeah, I should have foreseen before making the thread that this would happen

Thanks for being one of the only posters to actually properly discuss the rankings

 

[The Head Crusher]

Ladies and Gentlemen please keep the conversation on topic and away from personal attacks or political discussion. Any further incidents will result in infractions.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Canada is 4th. What a joke. And then the IIHF wonders why no one takes them seriously.

Considering that Canada has played in the Gold Medal game of the World Juniors from 2002 - 2011 should rank them #1 or at worst #2. No other country since then has won more Gold or Silver Medals and the one time Canada doesn't make the Gold Medal game in Calgary they are ranked 4th, even though at the most recent tournament they won Bronze.

 

[Grabovski]

Looks accurate, Canada has been horrible in JR tournaments the past 4 or so years.

 

[24stanleycups*]

Looks accurate, Canada has been horrible in JR tournaments the past 4 or so years.

Since when was 1 gold, 2 silver and a bronze horrible?
If the rankings were based on the last 4 years canada would be first

 

[MissingNo]

I hope the lockout will do so Canada can send their best players so we can avoid hearing their excuses when they do not win gold

 

[OttawaRoughRiderFan*]

I hope the lockout will do so Canada can send their best players so we can avoid hearing their excuses when they do not win gold

I am trying to think of who we would have that we wouldn't otherwise have. I don't think is will make as much of a difference this year as in the past.

 

[LeafsNation75]

I hope the lockout will do so Canada can send their best players so we can avoid hearing their excuses when they do not win gold

Canada always sends the best players for the World Juniors. The problem is some of them were playing on NHL teams and they might not be released to play, so don't compare Canada's roster from the World Juniors to the World Championships.

 

[1Gold Standard]

I hope the lockout will do so Canada can send their best players so we can avoid hearing their excuses when they do not win gold

Ya, but the thing is, generally in 30 years we've only had to come up with excuses for 15 of those years... Sweden has to come up with excuses for not winning for 29 of those years... Congrats again for last year.. it was a great victory for Sweden... now can you win another one in the next 30 years?

 

[Siamese Dream]

I am trying to think of who we would have that we wouldn't otherwise have. I don't think is will make as much of a difference this year as in the past.

RNH is still eligible, Sheifele would probably make the Jets this year if no lockout, and Ryan Murray in Columbus. But that's about it.

 

[1Gold Standard]

RNH is still eligible, Sheifele would probably make the Jets this year if no lockout, and Ryan Murray in Columbus. But that's about it.

I think Boston has plans of keeping Hamilton in Boston and the NY keeping Strome. So, I believe if there's an NHL season, 3 will be missing for sure, (the ones you mentioned) and possibly as many as 6. As I wouldn't put it past Toronto keeping Rielly. It would be a dumb move, but it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[MissingNo]

Ya, but the thing is, generally in 30 years we've only had to come up with excuses for 15 of those years... Sweden has to come up with excuses for not winning for 29 of those years... Congrats again for last year.. it was a great victory for Sweden... now can you win another one in the next 30 years?

Well Sweden dont have to come up with excuses because if they did not win, they were not the best. Canada always think they are the best even if they did not win

 

[1Gold Standard]

Well Sweden dont have to come up with excuses because if they did not win, they were not the best. Canada always think they are the best even if they did not win

Well in 30 years having played in 23 gold medal games and winning 15 of them is a stat that pretty much says Canada is the best. Always was and always will be! But don't worry, I'm sure the Swedish juniors will see another gold medal sometime in your lifetime. So Everybody wins!

 

[Siamese Dream]

Here we go again

 

[1Gold Standard]

Here we go again

oh relax...it's just a little sparring back and forth. All in good fun. Seriously, as long as it's kept within reason, I don't see anything wrong with each side taking a jab at one another.

 

[Uncle Rotter]

Had they updated those rankings the current results would be:
1.USA 4580
2.Swe 4580
3.Can 4540
4.Rus 4440
5.Fin 4340

 

[Reaganomics]

The attitude from some canadian fans really amazes me. Canada is unquestionably the top dog of hockey. No other country has even close to the number of registered hockey players that Canada has. Their success on both senior and junior level is unparalleled in modern time. And then one little, unofficial ranking doesnt place them on the number one spot and they go bananza??!!

Why not just be happy for other countries developement? Hockey is a very small sport and is only nr 1 in 2 countries (Canada and Finland). I for one am happy that more countries are producing talented hockey players since it creates a foundation for the sport to grow even more. Guess there are more Don Cherry's in Canada than I thought.

 

[Pominville Knows]

Canada is 4th. What a joke. And then the IIHF wonders why no one takes them seriously.

Yes it's terrible. Especially that the number one ranked team draws Canada out of it. Yeah that's a great reason to be first. Not.

 

[TieClark]

The attitude from some canadian fans really amazes me. Canada is unquestionably the top dog of hockey. No other country has even close to the number of registered hockey players that Canada has. Their success on both senior and junior level is unparalleled in modern time. And then one little, unofficial ranking doesnt place them on the number one spot and they go bananza??!!

Why not just be happy for other countries developement? Hockey is a very small sport and is only nr 1 in 2 countries (Canada and Finland). I for one am happy that more countries are producing talented hockey players since it creates a foundation for the sport to grow even more. Guess there are more Don Cherry's in Canada than I thought.

Agree with this. Not to mention it's tough to be ranked #1 in junior rankings when you haven't won in 3 years

 

[Stats01]

Yeah I agree, why is up to us to help these other countries out? If they want to develop hockey then find the money, find the sponsors, and get your kids in your own leagues. IMO it's up to other nations to help themselves out rather than their players coming to Canada to play in North America. I understand why they do it, but I think as a biased Canadian it would help us out even more to develop even more of our kids if spots were open to them on major junior teams. But again I'm being totally biased I know, if you don't like it, suck it up buttercup thats just my opinion.

 

[Stats01]

Well in 30 years having played in 23 gold medal games and winning 15 of them is a stat that pretty much says Canada is the best. Always was and always will be! But don't worry, I'm sure the Swedish juniors will see another gold medal sometime in your lifetime. So Everybody wins!

It's another reason I don't even bother looking at the rankings. We've dominated the world juniors, we've won 2 out of the past 3 Olympics, we're developing world class players at an enormous rate. When it comes to the best nation in hockey it's Canada and it's not even close IMO.

Like you said, 23 gold medal games in the past 30 years!! Just think about that..

 

[Uno Bench]

It's another reason I don't even bother looking at the rankings. We've dominated the world juniors, we've won 2 out of the past 3 Olympics, we're developing world class players at an enormous rate. When it comes to the best nation in hockey it's Canada and it's not even close IMO.

Like you said, 23 gold medal games in the past 30 years!! Just think about that..

Agreed, very impressive. What the rankings do show though is that we are now at the ending and past the ending of the Canadian 30 year dominance at the WJC level. In fact the rankings at all levels shows the same, Canada is no longer the clear No1, there are multiple countries competing for that Hockeynation-No1 spot every year, nowdays.

 

[EverybodyLovesRay]

Glad to see that canada isn't anymore #1.. Usa has amazing junior program.