Rank the last 4 Olympic Gold Medal teams

[Ilya Kovalchoke*]

Canada 2014
Canada 2002
Sweden
Canada 2010

 

[tony d]

2002 Canada
2006 Sweden
2010 Canada
1998 Czech Republic

 

[Gobo]

Canada 2014
Canada 2002
Sweden
Canada 2010

Canada 2014 is going to be scary good. But so is USA 2014 and Sweden 2014, and most likely Russia 2014.

 

[begbeee]

Canada 2014 is going to be scary good.

Do you mean that team without NHL players?

 

[Howe Elbows 9]

I have Sweden 3rd because the 02 team was better than the 06 team imo. Sundin was in the prime of his career and so was Forsberg, Alfredsson and Lidstrom. 06 wasn't as good, although they did have Lundqvist and Zetterberg who were pretty good at the time.

What?

2002:
F: Sundin, Alfredsson, Sundström, Näslund, Nylander, Dahlén, Mathias Johansson, Holmström, Renberg, Zetterberg
D: Lidström, Johnsson, Ragnarsson, Öhlund, Kenny Jönsson
G: Salo, Hedberg.

2006:
F: Alfredsson, Sundin, Axelsson, Zetterberg, Forsberg, Henrik Sedin, Påhlsson, Daniel Sedin, Samuelsson, Holmström, Modin, Jörgen Jönsson
D: Lidström, Kenny Jönsson, Tjärnqvist, Bäckman, Kronwall, Öhlund
G: Lundqvist.

I've included every Swedish skater that registered a point during those Olympic Games.

2002 was around the time of Näslund's peak in the NHL, but aside from his WJC scoring and the 1999 World Championships, Markus has always been underwhelming with the national team.

Comparing these rosters, the only possible edge I see for the 2002 team is on defense. And the first rule of Tre Kronor is that any team with Forsberg is better than a team without him (the second rule being that you have to mix NHL and SEL players on your roster).

 

[The Saw Is the Law]

I'm still crying stones

Niklas Bäckström, Antero Niittymäki, Fredrik Norrena

Lasse Kukkonen, Aki-Petteri Berg, Toni Lydman, Antti-Jussi Niemi, Petteri Nummelin, Teppo Numminen, Sami Salo, Kimmo Timonen

Niklas Hagman, Jussi Jokinen, Antti Laaksonen, Ville Nieminen, Ville Peltonen, Olli Jokinen, Niko Kapanen, Mikko Koivu, Saku Koivu, Jukka Hentunen, Jere Lehtinen, Jarkko Ruutu, Teemu Selänne

 

[Eisen]

****! We were best! Damn Czechs luck! If we did not get them in quarterfinal we would won it!

To be fair, the game winning goal was shot while a player was out with a broken stick and that player would have covered Lidstrom (I think he scored the game winner)

 

[VMBM]

To be fair, the game winning goal was shot while a player was out with a broken stick and that player would have covered Lidstrom (I think he scored the game winner)

Saku Koivu and his broken stick.

I didn't tape/record the game, so I haven't seen it since, but I felt that Finland was constantly slightly behind in the game and just couldn't give their best performance when they should have. What a shame, since it's not looking like we get another chance in the near future (Canada, USA, Sweden and even the you'll-never-know-which-team-will-show-up Russia will probably be too good).

 

[Eisen]

Saku Koivu and his broken stick.

I didn't tape/record the game, so I haven't seen it since, but I felt that Finland was constantly slightly behind in the game and just couldn't give their best performance when they should have. What a shame, since it's not looking like we get another chance in the near future (Canada, USA, Sweden and even the you'll-never-know-which-team-will-show-up Russia will probably be too good).

You are completely right, Finland was being outplayed by Sweden, the result was still super close.
And never give up the hope on Finland. They always play with determination and as a team in tournaments like these. Despite being relatively weaker on paper, if I would bet money on a country being in the top3, Finland would be my first choice.

 

[Seguins Dragon*]

In 1998 the shoot-out was foreign to North American players and Coaches(Why no Gretzky Why!) but in 06 and 10 the NHL had shoot-outs which weakens the 98 Czech team IMO.

Because Marc Crawford is a tool and possibly the worse coach in the NHL... guy got lucky having an allstar team in Coloraldo and has been leaching jobs from that success since.

 

[begbeee]

To be fair, the game winning goal was shot while a player was out with a broken stick and that player would have covered Lidstrom (I think he scored the game winner)

I was talking about Slovakia-Sweden game, when Sweden tanked.

 

[luffis]

the game winning goal in 06 was scored like 8 seconds into the 3rd period, sure koivu broke his stick during the faceoff but i doubt that wouldve changed the outcome of that attack.

on a sidenote im from sweden and like the rivalry between sweden and finland, but consider it a friendly one. I really enjoy the games vs finland because they are always good games no matter who wins. When sweden is out of a tournament my cheers are always reserved for finland if they are still in, i was really suffering with the finland team against USA in 10.

02 canada
06 sweden
10 canada
98 czech rep

happy new year everyone

 

[Hollywood Burrows]

2010 Canada was the best team in every game they played, hard not to pick them, imo.

It's hard because the sample sizes are so small. I wish I could have watched all these sides play more games, because they were all great teams. But top to bottom I don't see any flaws in 2010 Canada. They lost to the U.S. in the round robin, but dominated the play. If not for Brodeur's antics, no way they lose that game.

2002 Canada was a shaky club through most of the tournament and then played incredibly in the final game. Czechs in 98 were good, but it's hard to ignore the one man team argument, plus Canada is missing Sakic/Kariya in the semifinal. Swedes in 2006 were just brilliant, but played Switzerland/Czech/Finland through the elimination round. Never played Canada or Russia when it mattered.

I'd say:

2010 Canada
2006 Sweden
2002 Canada
1998 Czechs