The Russians are very scary upfront with the likes of Ovechkin and Malkin, not to mention the line of Voloshenko, Radulov and Yunkov. Their goaltending is quite good aswell with Khudobin, however the D is not very good at all, and that is where they will lose this tourney.
The defending champs are not the same team they were a year ago. They have boat loads of skill and have an all around very good team, but I think teams like Finland, the Czechs and maybe even Slovakia, have improved enough over last year, that the US will be in a dog fight for the Bronze. Montoya will have to be even better than last year, and he hasn't shown that thus far at Michigan.
Canada has a very good chance of scoring the most goals of the tournament. I believe they had the best Defence corps with a healthy Seabrook, but without him...well they still have the best group, but would be much happier with him back there. Goaltending is really the wild card for Canada going in, but with the way the team stacks up in front of Glass, I feel he won't be called upon to really have to steal any games. They can score in bunches, their system is very smart and goaltender friendly, and so if Glass or Beauchemin make 20 saves a night, it should really be enough.
I have never looked more forward to the WJC than this year. Obviously, without NHL hockey, this will give me my fix, but this tournament is so much more than just hockey. We get to watch the future of hockey now! There is so much pressure for these guys to perform for their country. Add to that the extra motivation for those players who are in their draft year and you have the makings of the best hockey you will see all year, any year. Lets get it on!!!
