What nation will join the Elite 7 of Hockey?

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xMenace

Registered User
Sep 16, 2005
216
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Rothesay, NB
Dan Galvin said:
Ahh good. They need to churn out a few more forwards. Most of the players it seems recently have been dmen or goalies. Thanks

Skating C+ - does not have an efficient stride. Feet do not come to the center of his body. His speed and mobility both suffer because of this. I have seen the occaisional shift where he does skate well. I think professional coaching will really help this.

Shot B - very quick, accurate, and deceptive but not the most powerful.

Puck Handling A+ - I swear the kid uses two-sided tape and a puck magnet. It is pure joy to watch him in the corners and around the net.

Vision/Anticipation A - He knows what's going on. Often has to wait for linemates to get open, but when they do he finds them.

Physical B- - for a small kid he's tough as nails and solid. The Q is really helping this aspect.

Intensity A - He is always in the game.

Faceoffs D - he's brutal *smile*

Leadership A - you can feel the energy level rise when he's on the ice. I get the impression [I know some of the host families] he's really liked and looked up to. He's one of the fan favorites.

I think he has a legitimate shot at the pros. His size should not be a hinderance with today's rules, but his skating needs lots of work. Sometimes you watch him and wonder why he's even there, then suddenly he creates a 3 on 2 with a heads up play and pulls out his magic stick to set up a great scoring chance, and you go *wow!*
 

insider

Registered User
Nov 14, 2003
2,345
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Great Britain is DOMINATING the tier 3 WJC... 48 goals for, 2 against after 4 games :eek:
 

Jazz

Registered User
insider said:
Great Britain is DOMINATING the tier 3 WJC... 48 goals for, 2 against after 4 games :eek:
Having followed the different pools in the different age levels pretty closely for years now, this is nothing new. Hockey's world heirarchy is very polarized. :teach:

Last year in Div I (tier 2), Britain finished dead last (0-5), and finished with -21 in goal differential before being relegated to Div II.

Eg, last year, at the senior level Div III (tier 4), Mexico demolished Armenia 48-0 :eek:
Don't believe me, see this: :) http://www.iihf.com/Hydra/Tournamen...t/xml/1000000016/IHM1000000016908_74_1_0.html
 

insider

Registered User
Nov 14, 2003
2,345
0
Jazz said:
Having followed the different pools in the different age levels pretty closely for years now, this is nothing new. Hockey's world heirarchy is very polarized. :teach:

Last year in Div I (tier 2), Britain finished dead last (0-5), and finished with -21 in goal differential before being relegated to Div II.

Eg, last year, at the senior level Div III (tier 4), Mexico demolished Armenia 48-0 :eek:
Don't believe me, see this: :) http://www.iihf.com/Hydra/Tournamen...t/xml/1000000016/IHM1000000016908_74_1_0.html
:eek:
 

Markov79

Registered User
Apr 22, 2002
1,389
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Canuckastan
Visit site
Jazz said:
Having followed the different pools in the different age levels pretty closely for years now, this is nothing new. Hockey's world heirarchy is very polarized. :teach:

Last year in Div I (tier 2), Britain finished dead last (0-5), and finished with -21 in goal differential before being relegated to Div II.

Eg, last year, at the senior level Div III (tier 4), Mexico demolished Armenia 48-0 :eek:
Don't believe me, see this: :) http://www.iihf.com/Hydra/Tournamen...t/xml/1000000016/IHM1000000016908_74_1_0.html

I onced played team Mexico all alone and still managed a tie.

Armenia sucks
 

The Nemesis

Semper Tyrannus
Apr 11, 2005
87,969
31,193
Langley, BC
Germany does have some good young talent. Buffalo picked Philippe Gogulla last entry draft (a bit of a shocker at 48th overall). Christoph Gawlik was mentioned as a possible 1st rounder before he suffered some huge injury problems. But the biggest bright spot for German juniors is Thomas Greiss (04 3rd rounder by San Jose).
The kid's 20 years old, and this year he's posted a 1.76 GAA and .948 sv% with a shutout playing in the DEL. He's leading the league in both GAA and sv%, and although the DEL isn't one of hte super elite leagues of teh world, it's still very very respectable in a league of men and several former NHLers.

Honestly, I'd be shocked of Greiss wasn't Olie Kolzig's backup for the olympics.
 

friction

5-14-6-1
Nov 17, 2003
5,602
7
Calgary
I voted Japan.

I don't see any of these nations getting good enough to be included in the Elite 7 in the near future, so I went with the country with a large fanbase in sports and a slowly rising interest in hockey. I think that in the next 15-20 years or less, you'll start seeing some players, like Fukafuji, come over to North America and play well, just as how players like Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui, etc. have started to make their mark on baseball.
 

friction

5-14-6-1
Nov 17, 2003
5,602
7
Calgary
Jazz said:
Having followed the different pools in the different age levels pretty closely for years now, this is nothing new. Hockey's world heirarchy is very polarized. :teach:

Last year in Div I (tier 2), Britain finished dead last (0-5), and finished with -21 in goal differential before being relegated to Div II.

Eg, last year, at the senior level Div III (tier 4), Mexico demolished Armenia 48-0 :eek:
Don't believe me, see this: :) http://www.iihf.com/Hydra/Tournamen...t/xml/1000000016/IHM1000000016908_74_1_0.html

Adrian Cervantes >>> Sid the Kid

Let's see him score 22 pts in a game...13 goals on 18 shots :eek:
 

Jazz

Registered User
Extinguisher said:
I voted Japan.

I don't see any of these nations getting good enough to be included in the Elite 7 in the near future, so I went with the country with a large fanbase in sports and a slowly rising interest in hockey. I think that in the next 15-20 years or less, you'll start seeing some players, like Fukafuji, come over to North America and play well, just as how players like Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui, etc. have started to make their mark on baseball.
My understanding is that hockey is way off the map in Japan...

Fukafuji would help, and that help is desperately needed!
 

someguy44

Registered User
Apr 6, 2004
2,715
247
Space Jail
Jovanovski = Norris said:
And if a guy like Dany Heatley, who has dual citizenship (born in Germany), suddenly has a change of heart and starts playing for Germany as their star winger, they will be favorites for #8.

He can't. It doesn't matter how many citizenships Heatley or anyone else has. According to IOC (or was it IIHF) rules, once you choose to play for a certain country, you're stuck with that country for life. I think Heatley played for Canada at the WC's, right? If so, he can't play for any other country, but Canada in terms of international play.
 

Archijerej

Registered User
Jan 17, 2005
8,414
7,886
Poland
TORRUS said:
Latvia has great potential.

1) Hockey is religion and #1 sport
2) They know how to produce great players unlike Switzerland (where are all those Swiss first rounders?). They all seem to choke somewhere down the road.
3) The country is becoming wealthier and wealthier and they will invest more and more money.

That would be my pick also. They and Belarus, although I don't think it will happen soon.
 

Jazz

Registered User
someguy44 said:
He can't. It doesn't matter how many citizenships Heatley or anyone else has. According to IOC (or was it IIHF) rules, once you choose to play for a certain country, you're stuck with that country for life. I think Heatley played for Canada at the WC's, right? If so, he can't play for any other country, but Canada in terms of international play.
No, it is not for life.

There are 2 scenarios:
  1. If a player plays for a country before he is 18, then he can suit-up for another country after playing for 2 years in the new country's domestic league
  2. If a player plays for a country after he is 18, then he can suit-up for another country after playing for 4 years in the new country's domestic league.
This one-time change will be final.

However, this is the rule that was originally preventing Evgeni Nabakov from switching over from Kazakhstan (which he represented in the 1994 U20s) to Russia. So I am not sure what admendment they made to allow Nabokov to play for Russia.
 

Mr. Penguin

Registered User
Aug 30, 2004
1,411
38
Finland
Uh, next team to join the elite 7? What next team? Do you guys honestly believe that nations like Germany, Latvia and Swizerland are going to reach even the Slovaks and Finns? No way, not in this century even though I'd really love to see Latvia or another great nation where hockey is a really popular sport to reach the Elite group some day.

Let's see, Germany is the closest to the Elite 7, but they're not producing enough good players and Germans don't care about hockey so it hurts. Swizerland is a weird case IMO, they'd have potential to become a really great hockey country but Swiss players seem to be satisfied to their current state. No one wants to go to the NHL from that country. *shrugs*
What about Latvia? Man I love Latvia! That country loves hockey so much! They produce decent players all the time and things are starting to look better in general in Latvia... I don't know. Latvia has potential but still I think it's just a wild dream they'l ever reach the Elite nations...

Sorry to sound so pessimistic. I hope I'm so wrong...
 
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