Question about NHL-less Olympics

[Urbanskog]

Compared to what kind of teams the russians will be able to ice, they might as well be amateurs. And oh yeah i forgot about the completely dominating performance in sochi by the Slovenians and the Norwegians, they absolutely tore up the group play...right? No.

The point is that the gap between the KHL and the other Euro leagues is certainly not as big as some clueless North Americans believe.

Olympics are very shot tournament where lesser teams play 6 men defense while highly skilled teams like Canada, USA or Russia don't have time to gel for the skill to fully take over, I think Canada barely won 2:1 against Latvia in elimination game, with your logic latvian hockey is right up there on par with canadian

Yeah... I don't think I ever implied that Latvian hockey is on par with that of Canada's.

 

[Helistin]

for the sake of discussion those players are amateurs in the sense that they probably not very good compared to the top NHL players, in this set up Russia will have a huge advantage and most likely will dominate the Olympics because the KHL is the 2nd best league

Most teams from the Swedish,Finnish and Czech league would do just fine in the KHL. The difference between the leagues (if there even is any) isn't very big. For example Jokerit that moved from the Finnish league to KHL this season is currently tied for 2nd in KHL out of the 28 teams.
Also people should know by now that the games aren't played on paper.
Oh and saying that players are amateurs that aren't playing in NHL or KHL is plain ignorant , they earn a alot still. Not millions per season though.

 

[GoodKnight]

The point is that the gap between the KHL and the other Euro leagues is certainly not as big as some clueless North Americans believe.



Yeah... I don't think I ever implied that Latvian hockey is on par with that of Canada's.

If you honestly believe that a team comprised of the best Russians playing in the KHL wouldn't dominate a team any other country on the planet could ice without their NHLers, there's really no helping you. Players from the nhl have said top end KHL teams, which are made up of mostly russians (shocking i know), could compete in NHL play. Never once has that been said about the NLA, FEL, DEL, SHL, or any other league on the planet. Give your dam head a shake dude

 

[GoodKnight]

Most teams from the Swedish,Finnish and Czech league would do just fine in the KHL. The difference between the leagues (if there even is any) isn't very big. For example Jokerit that moved from the Finnish league to KHL this season is currently tied for 2nd in KHL out of the 28 teams.
Also people should know by now that the games aren't played on paper.
Oh and saying that players are amateurs that aren't playing in NHL or KHL is plain ignorant , they earn a alot still. Not millions per season though.

Terrible argument. Theres an astounding difference in Jokerit's roster this year than there was last year

 

[Urbanskog]

If you honestly believe that a team comprised of the best Russians playing in the KHL wouldn't dominate a team any other country on the planet could ice without their NHLers, there's really no helping you. Players from the nhl have said top end KHL teams, which are made up of mostly russians (shocking i know), could compete in NHL play. Never once has that been said about the NLA, FEL, DEL, SHL, or any other league on the planet. Give your dam head a shake dude

By that logic, Russia should win the World Championship every year. And they often have the likes of Ovechkin, Malkin and Varlamov coming from the NHL for reinforcements, yet they don't win it every year.

 

[Helistin]

Why don't the Russian win the World Championships every year since all the best Russian from the Europe are there and hardly any NHLers are?
Since 1991 Russia has won 4 times, Sweden 5 times , Canada 3 times , Czech 6 times , Finland twice and Slovakia once.

 

[GoodKnight]

By that logic, Russia should win the World Championship every year. And they often have the likes of Ovechkin, Malkin and Varlamov coming from the NHL for reinforcements, yet they don't win it every year.

Are other teams not allowed to send NHLers? Must have missed that rule

 

[Urbanskog]

Terrible argument. Theres an astounding difference in Jokerit's roster this year than there was last year

Yet the top scorer (who's also the current scoring leader of the league, leaving the likes of Kovalchuk and Radulov behind) played in Liiga last season.

 

[Urbanskog]

Are other teams not allowed to send NHLers? Must have missed that rule

No, but you might have noticed that the Russian NHL'ers are less likely to refuse to represent their country in the WHC. Finland for one had 3 NHL players in the entire roster, Czech and Sweden both had 6.

 

[GoodKnight]

Why don't the Russian win the World Championships every year since all the best Russian from the Europe are there and harly any NHLers are?
Since 1991 Russia has won 4 times, Sweden 5 times , Canada 3 times , Czech 6 times , Finland twice and Slovakia once.

Look at canadas roster from 2014, pretty sure that's nhlers

 

[Helistin]

Terrible argument. Theres an astounding difference in Jokerit's roster this year than there was last year

No there isn't.

 

[GoodKnight]

No, but you might have noticed that the Russian NHL'ers are less likely to refuse to represent their country in the WHC. Finland for one had 3 NHL players in the entire roster, Czech and Sweden both had 6.

Russians had 6 current NHLers compete last time, since Loktionov went to the KHL. The talent pool that they have to replace those 6 players is higher than the talent pool that any other country has to replace their NHLers, and thats an undeniable fact.

 

[GoodKnight]

No there isn't.

19 new players on their roster as of 2014, but by all means continue to be wrong

 

[Daishi]

Only in a sport as 'small' as hockey could this kind of discussion even exist. Imagine if a soccer league like the English Premier League decided that the World Cup is such a distraction (injuries etc) every 4 years that they won't allow any players to compete there? It would be an outrage of catastrophic proportions. I guess the UEFA rules don't even leave the teams a choice in the matter. It is the players' right to represent their countries.

There's nothing else going in the case of NHL except greed, and any attempt to rationalise the idea of not allowing NHL players to participate in the most prestigious international competition that is only held once per 4 years, will fail.

 

[Helistin]

Russians had 6 current NHLers compete last time, since Loktionov went to the KHL. The talent pool that they have to replace those 6 players is higher than the talent pool that any other country has to replace their NHLers, and thats an undeniable fact.

Sure. Too bad talent alone doesn't win Championships like it was pointed out above.

 

[GoodKnight]

Sure. Too bad talent alone doesn't win Championships like it was pointed out above.

Never said that it did, but it certainly helps.

 

[Urbanskog]

Russians had 6 current NHLers compete last time, since Loktionov went to the KHL. The talent pool that they have to replace those 6 players is higher than the talent pool that any other country has to replace their NHLers, and thats an undeniable fact.

The fact that he played the season preceding the tournament in the NHL makes him an NHL player. And I guess you didn't count the goaltenders, of which 2 came from the NHL.

The NHL'ers Russia brought over are of entirely different calibre anyways, Ovechkin and Malkin versus Calle Järnkrok and Mattias Ekholm.

 

[Helistin]

19 new players on their roster as of 2014, but by all means continue to be wrong

Out of around 40 conracts around half are new. KHL teams tend to have more players under contract. The core of Jokerit is still about the same.

 

[GoodKnight]

The fact that he played the season preceding the tournament in the NHL makes him an NHL player. And I guess you didn't count the goaltenders, of which 2 came from the NHL.

The NHL'ers Russia brought over are of entirely different calibre anyways, Ovechkin and Malkin versus Calle Järnkrok and Mattias Ekholm.

If you want to use Sweden as an example, remove Nyquist, Erixon, Ekholm, Jarnkrok, and Backlund from just their skaters alone, not including goalies, which im not sure where nilsson and Eriksson are even playing anymore. Try to replace them with the best swedish non nhlers you can. Got your roster? good. Is it anywhere as good as the russian roster minus the NHLers? No it isnt

 

[sajmae]

Wouldnt watch a single game if NHLers werent there. That's basically like playing watered down world championships.

Russia wins every time, even teams like Finland, Sweden and Switzerland are pure **** without a couple of NHL stars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IIHF_World_Championship_medalists

Damn those Russians, winning every year.

Would Russia be the favorite at non-NHL Olympic games? Yes. Would it win every 4 years? No chance. The disparity between the KHL/SEL/FEL isn't that big and it is not like there are only Russians in the KHL.

 

[GoodKnight]

Out of around 40 conracts around half are new. KHL teams tend to have more players under contract. The core of Jokerit is still about the same.

2 of their top 3 scorers, Omark and Koukal are new. As are 3 of the top 4

 

[Urbanskog]

If you want to use Sweden as an example, remove Nyquist, Erixon, Ekholm, Jarnkrok, and Backlund from just their skaters alone, not including goalies, which im not sure where nilsson and Eriksson are even playing anymore. Try to replace them with the best swedish non nhlers you can. Got your roster? good. Is it anywhere as good as the russian roster minus the NHLers? No it isnt

You know, it's quite funny that Finland just recently beat Russia 6:2 in the EHT tournament if the gap is that big. Finland's roster mainly consisted of Liiga players whereas Russia only had KHL'ers in their squad.

 

[GoodKnight]

You know, it's quite funny that Finland just recently beat Russia 6:2 in the EHT tournament if the gap is that big. Finland's roster mainly consisted of Liiga players whereas Russia only had KHL'ers in their squad.

Wow one game definitely decides it doesn't it?

 

[Urbanskog]

2 of their top 3 scorers, Omark and Koukal are new

Omark didn't even play in the KHL last season, weird how someone from an amateur league is performing so well.

Jokerit have hardly any players that were in the K last season, yet they're tied at 2nd place in the league.

 

[Urbanskog]

Wow one game definitely decides it doesn't it?

No, just a recent example. Finland has a good history of beating Russia though.