Who has been the best WJC country the last 5 years?

[Horvath Broncos]

i would say Finland. just last year we had our best team in years and it was suppose to take the gold... that went nicely.

Finland's WJC coaching sucks some major balls.

 

[Lollipop]

i would say Finland. just last year we had our best team in years and it was suppose to take the gold... that went nicely.

Finland's WJC coaching sucks some major balls.

 

[kudymen]

Sweden, Canada, Russia or USA?

2009. Canada wins the gold, Sweden silver, Russia bronze
2010. USA wins the gold, Canada silver, Sweden bronze
2011. Russia wins the gold, Canada silver, USA bronze
2012. Sweden wins the gold. Russia silver, Canada bronze
2013. USA wins the gold. Sweden silver, Russia bronze

Canada with 1 gold and 2 silver and 1 bronze
USA with 2 golds and 0 silver and 1 bronze
Sweden with 1 gold and 2 silver and 1 bronze
Russia with 1 gold and 1 silver and 2 bronze

This is a very tight race.

1) Based on golds, USA is the best nation in the last 5 tournaments, but they have one less medal then the rest.
2) Sweden and Canada is tied for medals
3) Russia is probably the last nation with one less silver then swe & can.

So much of Czech success in there. Not.

 

[Rob]

USA

 

[Syan Ruter]

Sweden never seizes to amaze me. Even Finland has more registered players, yet Sweden is at the top year after year. My fellow Finnish brethren are going to hate me, but I have to say that, with a Swedish heritage, I'm a proud (and a little jealous) neighbour

 

[QnebO]

Sweden never seizes to amaze me. Even Finland has more registered players, yet Sweden is at the top year after year. My fellow Finnish brethren are going to hate me, but I have to say that, with a Swedish heritage, I'm a proud (and a little jealous) neighbour

Shut up you dum bass, you aren't supposed to give your neighbors any credit!!!



I think who ever wins gold most of the times is best of them.

 

[toewsintangibles]

USA won when it was best on best. Their gold is the most important one

 

[Lollipop]

USA won when it was best on best. Their gold is the most important one

Well, Sweden missed our 4 best players. Among them our 3 best D-men. Except them other players were hurt too. So no this wasn't the best team Sweden.

So I don't see how that gold is more important.

 

[vanskillZ]

Who were these 4 players who were club tied?

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

Who were these 4 players who were club tied?

none, Brodin, Klefbom, Lindholm, Zibanejad were all injured

 

[DaveG]

I'd say the US but eh, when they're bad at the WJC they tend to be BAD. Can't say the same about Canada, Russia, or Sweden

But on the flip side they've also had the most success recently.

 

[Hanji]

Sweden or Canada

Granted we have the 2 golds, but the mark of a great program is the ability to consistently play at a high level. Over a 5 year span Sweden and Canada never finished lower than 4th.

 

[JackSlater]

I'm going to say Sweden because they've consistently looked very good. Even in 2011 they looked like the best team to me.

 

[The Sweetness]

They've been steadily declining and the 94 group is their worst in a while

Perhaps but is that relevant in determining the dominant country over the last five years? Or is more recent success more relevant?

 

[The Sweetness]

I'm just baffled how we even can be in the same ballpark as USA & Canada considering the amount of registered players and population numbers as a whole.
Can throw in Russia there too, but they at least has a common number of registered players as us. (I think?)

Not bad at all.

USA I can understand to a certain extent given that ice hockey is hardly popular at all in most regions and the quality of the coaching is often subpar.


I agree about Canada.

 

[Sojourn]

I'm just baffled how we even can be in the same ballpark as USA & Canada considering the amount of registered players and population numbers as a whole.
Can throw in Russia there too, but they at least has a common number of registered players as us. (I think?)

Not bad at all.

Good hockey programs.

One thing I've been very impressed with when it comes to Sweden is that they really seem to have a lot of players who think the game at a high level.

 

[dwanmaster*]

Saying that Canada or Sweden has been Better than the USA in the last 5 years is like saying the penguins or Bruins have been better than the Blackhawks the pas 5 years.

 

[BiggestLeafsFanEVER*]

USA. Winning is what matters. No one cares who the runner ups are.

After USA I would say Sweden. Even though their results are the same as Canada, Sweden has been on the upswing while Canada keeps getting worse each year.

 

[DaveG]

Good hockey programs.

One thing I've been very impressed with when it comes to Sweden is that they really seem to have a lot of players who think the game at a high level.

It's got a lot to do with the developmental system approach in Europe vs the team based approach here in North America, or at the very least in the US. Not that Sweden hasn't been exceptional at what they've done, given their overall talent pool the results are remarkable.

The USNTDP is a good step in switching up the approach, but really when it gets down to it people want results at lower levels, not necessarily to develop a player to put in the pros. There are exceptions to the rule, but for the most part what I said holds true. Tactics, size, and speed are the emphasis here right now, with some skills being rather secondary in nature here. Seems that this is a bit of a backwards approach to it as tactics really shouldn't be developed until later on IMO. Instead the priority should be on developing skills that would emphasize the players strong points and turn them into better overall players at the higher levels and emphasizing creative play. Just my take, but it seems logical being that we get inferior results with a larger amount of individuals to draw from, it's almost as if success is in spite of our approach even more then it's because of it.

That'll likely take implementing programs even more programs levels lower then the USHL/NAHL/NTDP emphasizing skills development if it has to come at the expense of individual season results. But without clubs having a juniors system in place as a necessity for developing talent at lower levels that's probably asking way too much.

 

[LeafsNation75]

I'm going to say it's Canada.

Yes I know they have not won the Gold since 2009, however if it wasn't for that overtime loss against the Americans and the choke against Russia, they could have won 7 straight Gold medals. Plus until their most recent 4th place finish they won at least a medal since 1999, a streak no other country has ever done.

 

[VictorLustig]

I'm going to say it's Canada.

Yes I know they have not won the Gold since 2009, however if it wasn't for that overtime loss against the Americans and the choke against Russia, they could have won 7 straight Gold medals. Plus until their most recent 4th place finish they won at least a medal since 1999, a streak no other country has ever done.

Well, what happened >5 years ago doesn't matter much in this thread. Also, other teams have also lost in overtimes and choked, not just Canada.

 

[UsernameWasTaken]

I'm going to say it's Canada.

Yes I know they have not won the Gold since 2009, however if it wasn't for that overtime loss against the Americans and the choke against Russia, they could have won 7 straight Gold medals. Plus until their most recent 4th place finish they won at least a medal since 1999, a streak no other country has ever done.

You could say that about all these teams every year. "If the Russians didn't give up that OT goal to Sweden in '12, they'd have two gold medals in the last 5 years."

 

[LeafsNation75]

You could say that about all these teams every year. "If the Russians didn't give up that OT goal to Sweden in '12, they'd have two gold medals in the last 5 years."

I brought that up because I believe no other country has ever won the Gold 5 straight years and it's something Canada did two different times.

 

[UsernameWasTaken]

I brought that up because I believe no other country has ever won the Gold 5 straight years and it's something Canada did two different times.

But the other countries have improved their national programs and are now a lot more competitive. i do not think we will see canada, or any other country for that matter, winning that many consecutive championships. the competition is now too tough. if anything, i expect that finland and maybe even switzerland will become more competitive in coming years.

 

[Pontius Palat]

All about Gold Medals who cares where you finish if you dont finish first.
USA

USA. Winning is what matters. No one cares who the runner ups are.

USA won their 2010 gold over Canada 6-5 in OT. Take away that one overtime goal and they instantly become the worst of all of them. They've almost been relegated and only have three medals. If a single goal is enough for you to jump USA from last to first then that is nothing but sheer nonsense.