World Cup should be as follows:

1. Canada (must be 21 or over)
2. USA
3. Sweden & Finland (Scandinavia)
4. Russia
5. Czech-Slovkia
6. Central Europe - Germany, Swiss, France, Latvia, Kopitar
7. Which ever planet Brent Burns is from

Eklund: Should the World Cup be Team Ontario vs. Team Canada vs. Team USA?
- Eklund

Ek ...Canada is not the uk and its three " homeland" countries

World Cup should be as follows:

1. Canada (must be 21 or over)
2. USA
3. Sweden & Finland (Scandinavia)
4. Russia
5. Czech-Slovkia
6. Central Europe - Germany, Swiss, France, Latvia, Kopitar
7. Which ever planet Brent Burns is from
- AlfieisKing

I have always wished for Sweden and Finland to play as one team in a big competition. think they could be really good

I think you're right, real talent can't be taught. If you dropped 25 year old Mario into the 2016 NHL, he still has the best hands in the league. Nobody is capable of teaching hands like that, you're either born with it or your not. Same with Gretzky pulling up, finding someone in traffic and in the net. As a Flames fan, I watched Johnny Gaudreau lead the team in scoring when he shoots it 60-70mph max. Literally everyone in the league shoots harder than JH yet he's top 20 in goals.
- tincup

Exactly!

Some of you guys are talking like today's players are Captain America style super soldiers or something compared to the 80s and 90s. Training may have gotten more intense, but I don't think those older players were laying around on the couch eating chips the entire time until it was time to play. The idea of the evolution of the game is a little over-the-top in this thread imo.

Ek, I thought you were American? Why push a Canadian agenda?

Be proud of who you are and where you're from.

It's just a way of adding a team. Splitting it into 2 Canadiens teams would only mean less U S players in tournament. Hardly fair

Some of you guys are talking like today's players are Captain America style super soldiers or something compared to the 80s and 90s. Training may have gotten more intense, but I don't think those older players were laying around on the couch eating chips the entire time until it was time to play. The idea of the evolution of the game is a little over-the-top in this thread imo.
- Zezel

Jaromir jagr was good in the early 90’s.

Probably wouldn’t even make the nhl nowadays.

Jaromir jagr was good in the early 90’s.

Probably wouldn’t even make the nhl nowadays.
- Tumbleweed

you do know that jagr is a training freak right?

Ummmm Ekblad is from Windsor so shouldnt he be on Team Ontario? he is better then most D men already in the game.....

you do know that jagr is a training freak right?
- martox

Oh

Very little has changed in Basketball since Jordan played game wise. Basketball players have always been athletes, jordan would fit right in todays game and the results would be similar

Take a look at Gretzky highlights. He feasted in an era of chainsmoking defenseman and goalies who could barely cover 1/3rd of the net. Gretzky wouldn't be allotted the time nor the space in todays game that he had back in the 80's and wouldn't have an enforcer to make sure he "Didn't get hit" Take a look at the beating that Crosby takes in a game by game basis, can you see Gretzky taking the same and still scoring at the level he did?

I think Gretzky would be a Martin St Louis type player in todays game. Very good, Very good at making plays and scoring points, NOT a dominant player like the Gretzky we all remember from back in the day
- TheGame316

Well said. There was also the unwritten league-wide 'no hit Gretzky' rule. I have personally heard former NHL players talk about this. Gretz wasn't as 'elusive' as people think…a lot of it was that the players were scared poopless what the league was going to do if he was hurt. What was the name of the STL Dman that hit Gretzky cleanly and I think gave Gretz a mild concussion…he never played another game in the league.

World Cup should be as follows:

1. Canada (must be 21 or over)
2. USA
3. Sweden & Finland (Scandinavia)
4. Russia
5. Czech-Slovkia
6. Central Europe - Germany, Swiss, France, Latvia, Kopitar
7. Which ever planet Brent Burns is from
- AlfieisKing

Finland is not Scandinavia.

You're not understanding the idea of 'talent'. Time travel a 37 year old Wayne Gretzky into the league TODAY and he probably won't even make the team.

Another tiny example of what I mean by talent:

Back in the 80's if you get could give and receive a saucer pass in the NHL you were a rare elite breed. Nowadays if you can't do this by the time you are 12 years forget about it. The players today skate faster, shoot harder, defend better, hit harder, shoot more accurately and handle the puck way better than they did in the past.

edit: just because Gretzky was so much better than his peers at the time, that doesn't mean he holds a candle to the skills of Crosby, Ovy, Kane, etc.
- Njuice

How many rocks did your mom smoke when she was pregnant with you..?

It may have already been said, but Greztky's "talent" was his brain. He was light years ahead of mentally processing situations on the ice compared to his peers. This gave him the ability to know where and when to shoot, pass, skate, etc. It's the same skill that Lidstrom had.

This isn't breaching the CoC, because it's truth: Njuice is a retard.

I said quality of hockey. That doesn't mean one dominant team. It doesn't simply mean the quality of players team Canada compared to their own peers in the same generation.

Every generation learns the skills and strategies developed from the previous generation. There are tons of 3rd liners in the NHL who have more skills than Gretzky ever had. But if Gretzky never existed the players today could not have learned from him and surpassed him.
- Njuice

ya...thank you for showing us once more that smoking crack is well...bad...Very bad...

Well said. There was also the unwritten league-wide 'no hit Gretzky' rule. I have personally heard former NHL players talk about this. Gretz wasn't as 'elusive' as people think…a lot of it was that the players were scared poopless what the league was going to do if he was hurt. What was the name of the STL Dman that hit Gretzky cleanly and I think gave Gretz a mild concussion…he never played another game in the league.
- LordHumungous

Meh, that's what loser Flames and Canucks fans used to say. Fact is, we was tough to hit and if you did get in a good one, you had a pack of wild dogs after you. Neil Sheehy did a good job on the great one but he could also drop the mitts.

I have always wished for Sweden and Finland to play as one team in a big competition. think they could be really good
- martox

Yah because they love each other