Canada should win. They have the deepest team, even with the injuries to the defence, and the most experience playing together at the international level. Two goalies, six defencemen, and 11 forwards were chosen for the World Cup team. (Note: Blake and Pronger missed the World Cup, but they were there for the Olympics). Bertuzzi is the only player who has not played for Canada since the Gretzky era began in 2002.
The Czechs are an excellent team, and would make a deserving champion. For the first time in years, there is a team that matches, if not surpasses, Canada's 1-2 punch in goal. Vokoun and Hasek are fantastic, and have won gold on the international level. The forwards are explosive and capable of generating instant offence. Elias is a world-class addition. The defence, I think, could be had with a relentless forecheck, but that was mitigated in the 1998 Olympics and 2005 Worlds with a strong commitment to overall team play and a defensive system. The volatility and inconsistency that used to rear its ugly head with the Czechs hasn't been a factor since the 1996 World Cup.
Anyone who thinks Canada beats the Czechs by more than a goal (or two, with an empty netter) needs to remove the red-and-white coloured glasses.
Sweden will be strong, even without Naslund and a couple of their defencemen, and possibly Forsberg. (There's still no guarantee Forsberg will play, even though he's gone to Turin). Lundquist gives them credibility they haven't had in goal since Salo's play in 1994. The other teams have too many weaknesses to overcome.
My order:
Gold: Canada
Silver: Czech Republic
Bronze: Sweden.
Darkhorse: Slovakia. Nagy and Handzus won't be there, but they still have a potent offence, especially on the wings. Chara, Visnovsky and Meszaros give them the best defence they've ever had. Goaltending is still suspect, but they have enjoyed some success on the international level.