Will an 8th team ever be added to the "big 7"?

okok some of you will argue that Slovakia doesn't really belong and its really the big 6 but others will disagree so for the sake of argument lets say that they are. So, my questions to you are: Will there EVER be more great hockey countries (ie maybe Norway, Denmark, Germany, Belarus, Switzerland, Austria, Latvia even France and Britain maybe in the distant future...) or is international hockey stuck in a deadlock? And if you think more countries will eventually be able to compete with the top tier, who do you think they will be?

I don't think Swiss or Germans are much weacker than Slovaks, if at all

Belarus will be there in 5-10 years. That's for sure. Hockey is becoming the most populat sport there. They are building arenas, have a club in KHL, and their U-18 team is pretty good.

Considering that some decades ago, international hockey was USSR vs Canada for first place, Sweden vs Czechoslovakia for 3rd, Finland vs USA for 5th and the other teams pretty much played to try to keep the goals against under ten, it's quite obvious there has been a big evolution since those times and nothing suggests that this evolution has come to an end.

As for which teams will get there first, Switzerland is the most obvious answer, as they clearly are the 8th best team right now, and have been slowly improving for ten years. On the other hand, Germany, after looking on the way up earlier this decade, seems to be back where it belongs for something like 40 years, behind the best teams but unable to get there (I would like to get some opinions from German fans about that). Among the former USSR members, only Belarus has a strong local league and some success in junior hockey, so I think they are a better bet than Latvia or Kazakhstan so far. Other teams improving are Denmark and Hungary, more so than teams like Norway or Austria, though there's still a long way to go, especially for the latter.

Belarus will be there in 5-10 years. That's for sure. Hockey is becoming the most populat sport there. They are building arenas, have a club in KHL, and their U-18 team is pretty good.
Also, isn't the president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko a big hockey fan?

if i didn't miss a game then germany is undefeated against slovakia for around two years now (men, U20, U18) with at least 12 games in that period. i seriously can't remember the last loss.
slovakia still has the better NHLers, but what will happen after the hossa-generation? it seems that they will drop to the germany/switzerland/belarus level.

if you really want to get on the same level as the top6, you have to produce depth. 5-10 NHLers won't be enough. and i can't see that happening in the next 10-15 years for any country.
but switzerland, belarus, germany and denmark should be able to beat the top teams more regularly.

germany's league is a bit in trouble, the interest in hockey is lower than it was a few years ago, but the youth program is much better and there are more and more good hockey players. germany still lacks a superstar. sturm/hecht/ehrhoff/seidenberg, that's nice, but they get no attention in the media. german hockey needs a player who can join the elite players. similar to nowitzki in the nba. nowitzki alone gets some interest in in german media for basketball.
i personally hope for kuhnhackl and grubauer in the 2010 draft. both are very interesting players.
in general germany will try to get ahead of switzerland and always reach the quarterfinals. so it'll be the same goal as in the past. :)

and my answer to the thread title is a simple: no, i can't see any country to reach the toplevel in quality and depth within the next decade. and anything after is not predictable.

I don't think Swiss or Germans are much weacker than Slovaks, if at all

I disagree. Slovakia is a traditional hockey country that loves the sport, they've underachieved. Look how good Finland does with their lack of talent, and Sovakian players are much more gifted than Finnish players.

I disagree. Slovakia is a traditional hockey country that loves the sport, they've underachieved. Look how good Finland does with their lack of talent, and Sovakian players are much more gifted than Finnish players.

slovak hockey is in a big downfall, period! their junior teams are loosing, while having 10 goals scored on them to hockey powers, but you can disagree all you want.

cska78 is right about Slovakia. They've always been way behind Sweden, the Czech Republic and Finland regarding player depth, and now that it doesn't look like the Pallfy/Bondra generation will be replaced, it's unlikely they will be able to contend in the near futur.

there is no Big 7 anymore .

Also, isn't the president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko a big hockey fan?

yep, that's a huge reason hockey is growing out there.

Belarus will be there in 5-10 years. That's for sure. Hockey is becoming the most populat sport there. They are building arenas, have a club in KHL, and their U-18 team is pretty good.

For sure? How can you be so sure in such things? Lukashenko is going to be a president for 10 years?

Belarus is rather poor country so it's not like they can "buy" sucess. They are going in right direction, but where are big talents? Kostistyns, ok, Grabovski. But they are not so young, Sergei is 21, Andrei is 23, Grabovski is 24. And what about their 88,89,90,91 classes? Stefanovich is only NHL-calibre prospect, and he's a project.

Russia taking players like Ostapchuk and Chernov doesn't help too.

U18 results doesn't show so much. It's unlikely that Belarus or for example Denmark will have same depth as Sweden or Russia in hockey. So on big world forums they will probably rely on 8-10high class players. So in the end it all comes to how many elite players did this countries produced, not bout how good were their U18 teams.

And if we speak about U22 players, then Denmark or Germany or Switzerland have advantage over Belarus.

Interesting replies... Kind of disappointed though. I guess there not much that can be done about it though.

Does anyone have Hockey enrollment numbers for any of these countries (and the big 7)? Because the only thing I can find is this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey (scroll to the bottom) but Im not sure how correct those numbers are as they aren't cited and it would be interesting to see how some of the bigger powers as well as the smaller ones are doing (especially with regards to minor hockey enrollment) because it would say a lot about that country's future...I started a thread about this but no one answered so maybe no one has any numbers :D. But its worth another shot!!

Interesting replies... Kind of disappointed though. I guess there not much that can be done about it though.

Does anyone have Hockey enrollment numbers for any of these countries (and the big 7)? Because the only thing I can find is this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey (scroll to the bottom) but Im not sure how correct those numbers are as they aren't cited and it would be interesting to see how some of the bigger powers as well as the smaller ones are doing (especially with regards to minor hockey enrollment) because it would say a lot about that country's future...I started a thread about this but no one answered so maybe no one has any numbers :D. But its worth another shot!!

The IIHF site has enrollment numbers for each member country on their website, just click on each country's name for their info. http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/the-iihf/members.html

I don't see anyone joining the top countries any time soon. The Swiss I suppose are closest to doing so, but I don't see any advancement in their development to have them take the final step. Belarus and Latvia have been at the doorstep too, but they lack the proper coaches to get their players to make the jump. Latvia especially suffers from a lack of coaching at the junior level, and the senior team always gets some has-been ex soviet player with a poor coaching record instead of an experienced Canadian one. A lot of Latvia's best players also seem to stop developing once they're drafted, thinking they've made it already. They lack the mind set for them to finish in the top 8 (for instance at this years WC, they were 10 minutes from the quarter finals, but blew it by taking dumb penalty after dumb penalty and letting Germany get back in it, which lead to them finishing at least three positions lower). Both they and Belarus though will benefit from having teams in the KHL.

^^^Thanks a lot, thats very helpful. This may be a stretch but does anyone know if these numbers have been growing (for the big 7, that is)? The fact that the czech republic has far more adult players than junior players seems worrying, no?

Also, I thought I heard that the US passed canada for Junior players a coupe of years ago but it doesnt look like thats true...

Among the former USSR members, only Belarus has a strong local league and some success in junior hockey, so I think they are a better bet than Latvia or Kazakhstan so far.

Well, to be honest, Latvia's top four domestic teams play in the Belarus league, and it's Latvia and Kazakhstan, not Belarus that have junior teams in the elite level. Latvia, much like the White Russians have most of their top guys playing in the KHL, which means that for theses countries with small populations (especially Latvia), the domestic leagues are going to be of poorer quality now than they had been in the past, as all their best players are either in the KHL or abroad.

Well, to be honest, Latvia's top four domestic teams play in the Belarus league, and it's Latvia and Kazakhstan, not Belarus that have junior teams in the elite level. Latvia, much like the White Russians have most of their top guys playing in the KHL, which means that for theses countries with small populations (especially Latvia), the domestic leagues are going to be of poorer quality now than they had been in the past, as all their best players are either in the KHL or abroad.

Belarus has been a victim of the small number of teams allowed to play in the top pool at the U20 worlds, but they still regulary play in it and had some interesting results against top teams, while Latvia got promoted last year for the first time. Time will tell if it's a sign of improvement for Latvia's junior program or just a fluke year, but considering the whole last decade, I'd still say that Belarus is ahead of Latvia.

And you're right about the fact that the KHL will lessen the importance of a strong local league, which, considering that the state of hockey in Latvia has been relatively poor for a country with such a good national team, could help them get back the title of "best hockey national team among the former USSR members" (not counting Russia, of course).

Belarus has been a victim of the small number of teams allowed to play in the top pool at the U20 worlds, but they still regulary play in it and had some interesting results against top teams, while Latvia got promoted last year for the first time.

Nope, Latvia played in the top tournament in BC three years ago, just barely missed getting back up two years ago (They had the same record as the Danes, beat Denmark head to head, but lost on goal differential by one goal) and has been a victim of the 10 team rule for the last five at least. They, Belarus and Denmark would all be better served if there were 12 teams in the U20. They can't quite compete for medals with the best yet, but are too good for those below them. That said, I'm not expecting much from Latvia this year. They lost too many good offensive players, and there are only three that I can think of who will be factors. But let's not forget that it's exactly Belarus that Latvia beat to get to the elite level this year.

i think denmark ;)

they have a pretty good team,especielly the first line :)


boedker-frans nielsen-jannik hansen
eller-regin-kim staal
hardt-morten green-?????
starkov-morten madsen-????



Damgaard-Mads Bødker
Nielsen-philip larsen
Andreasen-stefan lassen
???-????


hirsh
???

Slovakia can't put it all together. They have the talent but they don't have the team.

Slovakia can't put it all together. They have the talent but they don't have the team.

They did win their pool in the last olympics, and now Budaj has established himself as a half decent goalie. Don't forget that if you win one QF game at the Olympics you are guaranteed to play for a medal.

Personally I think it is a loose suggestion to even have Slovakia in there as the 7th "top 7." No doubt in my mind they are 7th, but after the top 6 there is a drop off. They win the 2002 WC and they are all of the sudden elite? Never thought of them as that and to be honest with you Slovakia has never put thefear of God into me, I never worried about Canada losing to them almost never.

To answer the OP though, it'll be a while before either one of Germany, Switz, Belarus, Denmark, Poland, Kazakstan, Ukraine can be considered elite and not just a practice game

In Switzerland, hockey is also quite popular. It's the #2 in sports here. The playoff finals get about 200k - 300k viewers on the tv. On a country with just 7 million people, quite impressive. :nod:

On the other side, the swiss players don't develop like they should. At the age of 20, were the most players of the other countries try to play in the NHL, they stay in Switzerland. That's because they get a lot of money. A foreign player (like Christian Dubé) how is really good, can make $400'000 a year. Netto (taxes have already been paid). Plus he gets a car, a house free flights for his family to Switzerland etc. All he has to do is to play about 65 games (incl. playoffs). Not a bad life, isn't it?

Personally I think it is a loose suggestion to even have Slovakia in there as the 7th "top 7." No doubt in my mind they are 7th, but after the top 6 there is a drop off. They win the 2002 WC and they are all of the sudden elite? Never thought of them as that and to be honest with you Slovakia has never put thefear of God into me, I never worried about Canada losing to them almost never.


Well, Finland has only won 1 World Championship, in 1995 and no-one's ever questioning Finland's status as one of the bigs.

Not that I am, I'm a Finn myself, but I think there's more to it than just the golds won.

I think Switzerland might take Slovakia's place as the 7th nation of hockey in a few years, say starting after Vancouver.

Well, Finland has only won 1 World Championship, in 1995 and no-one's ever questioning Finland's status as one of the bigs.

Not that I am, I'm a Finn myself, but I think there's more to it than just the golds won.

I think Switzerland might take Slovakia's place as the 7th nation of hockey in a few years, say starting after Vancouver.

Finland has been consistently good for a much longer time and at a better level

Japan

Japan is way behind. Their U20 team is in Div 2 and has been for at least the past two years (too lazy to look up more). They beat Romania 12-0 yesterday but lost to S. Korea 5-4 today.

Their men's team will be competing in Lithuania at the Division 1 Men's Championship where they have been since 2005.

The Germans have a chance at being a hockey power and I would have to see them get higher in the rankings and produce elite hockey talent. They probably have the best infrastructure of the lower teams. The problem is their young kinds all want to be soccer players and that's all they care about growing up. It's the same thing even in England. It's soccer 24/7 and nobody really knows about hockey unless they're transplants from NA.

Japan is way behind. Their U20 team is in Div 2 and has been for at least the past two years (too lazy to look up more). They beat Romania 12-0 yesterday but lost to S. Korea 5-4 today.

Their men's team will be competing in Lithuania at the Division 1 Men's Championship where they have been since 2005.

I was just playing, I don't really think Japan will be good anytime soon, unless Fukufuji wins a Veznia.

I read about this a long time ago and I got the impression Germany was gonna become big. Hasn't happened so far, but you never know.

In Switzerland, hockey is also quite popular. It's the #2 in sports here. The playoff finals get about 200k - 300k viewers on the tv. On a country with just 7 million people, quite impressive. :nod:

On the other side, the swiss players don't develop like they should. At the age of 20, were the most players of the other countries try to play in the NHL, they stay in Switzerland. That's because they get a lot of money. A foreign player (like Christian Dubé) how is really good, can make $400'000 a year. Netto (taxes have already been paid). Plus he gets a car, a house free flights for his family to Switzerland etc. All he has to do is to play about 65 games (incl. playoffs). Not a bad life, isn't it?

Sign me up!!!!! Wait forgot that I am the Zoolander of hockey I can't go left.

cska78 is right about Slovakia. They've always been way behind Sweden, the Czech Republic and Finland regarding player depth, and now that it doesn't look like the Pallfy/Bondra generation will be replaced, it's unlikely they will be able to contend in the near futur.

I would argue Slovakia is more well rounded then they used to be. In 1996 their national team had a pylon in net, and on defense was Robert Svehla and seven pieces of wood.

Now in goal they have guys like Jaroslav Halak and Peter Budaj. On defense they have young guys like Andrej Meszaros, Andrej Sekera, and Milan Jurcina, plus Zdeno Chara and Lubomir Visnovsky are still going to be around for a long while.

The offense is not as scary as it used to be, but I think it is a MUCH tougher team to play against than it was in 1996. And it isn't like the team has completely stopped producing forwards. Marian Gaborik is still young, Stefan Ruzicka is doing great in the KHL. Look forward to seeing Richard Panik, Tomas Tatar, and further down the road David Bondra (his dad says he is better than he was).

Switzerland beating Canada and the Czech Republic in the 2006 Olympics was not a fluke. The Swiss along with Belarus have made great strides. Slovakia continues to produce great players and are starting to pay more attention to their youth programs. I can see a Big 9 or 10 in the future.

Slovakia isn't churning out the high end prospects consistently anymore, but the CHL is eating a lot of their local talent.

Sekera is probably their best young defenseman though. They have some goodies, they just need to grow around that.

"Slovakia isn't churning out the high end prospects consistently anymore, but the CHL is eating a lot of their local talent"

Well as above, I argued that they are, just different types of players now like G, D, etc. In Owen Sound you should be keenly aware of young Slovak talent, like Andrej Sekera of the Buffalo Sabres and Stefan Ruzicka who is having a great year in the KHL.

The recent silver medal at the U18 WJC, and the medal Panik et al. will lead them to this year at the WJCU18 should dispel these silly rumours of a Slovak hockey demise. :)

"Slovakia isn't churning out the high end prospects consistently anymore, but the CHL is eating a lot of their local talent"

Well as above, I argued that they are, just different types of players now like G, D, etc. In Owen Sound you should be keenly aware of young Slovak talent, like Andrej Sekera of the Buffalo Sabres and Stefan Ruzicka who is having a great year in the KHL.

The recent silver medal at the U18 WJC, and the medal Panik et al. will lead them to this year at the WJCU18 should dispel these silly rumours of a Slovak hockey demise. :)

I can´t agree with you o n everything. Although I´m a big fan of our current U20 program and when I watch guys like Čaládi, Hudáček or others I do believe that it has brought some succes. But starting to pay more attention to the junior players when they´re 18 already or even older is too late. The first thing we need to do is not to have our kids grow up by using the Italian system of hockey. Also I think that the NT programme should be done continously and we would need some programme for the U18 guys as well since most of the kids are usually 17 when they cross the pond and go to the CHL. Although I agree that the CHL can be good experience for a lot of players, a lot of the kids aren´t really ready for it.

Here in Finland we have made some mistakes in our juniorsystem in past but now the news about the future are brighter. Nineties should be brilliant for us.

The biggest problem with ice-hockey in Finland is that it's too popular. Eventhough it's very expensive we have almost every kid wants to play it and we can't give everyone enough icetime. For example the greater Oulu region we have approx. 250 000 people and 10 indoor rinks and we are just managing.

So don't you worry about the Finland even if we have had some quieter years at juniorlevels lately, we shall be back!:yo:

Slovakia isn't churning out the high end prospects consistently anymore, but the CHL is eating a lot of their local talent.
Neither Chara nor Višňovsky were high end prospects, they still turned out to be high end defencemen.

The Germans have a chance at being a hockey power and I would have to see them get higher in the rankings and produce elite hockey talent. They probably have the best infrastructure of the lower teams. The problem is their young kinds all want to be soccer players and that's all they care about growing up. It's the same thing even in England. It's soccer 24/7 and nobody really knows about hockey unless they're transplants from NA.

Well , that is the major problem with German hockey. There are so many different sports that are more popular and cheaper. Besides soccer there are also Handball(esp. in the north) , Tennis , Basketball e.g. Plus in some parts of Germany there hasn't been snow and ice for years to encourage skating in general.....

I think you hit the head on the nail with the comment on the Slovaks.

Not long ago there really was a big 8. Like Finland, Slovakia and co had the talent level to not only beat, but to really compete, with the best.

Now I think its possible that the 8-9th team could close in on the 6-7th team. Though it could take much longer for the 8-9th team to catch up with Russia and Canada.

Switzerland should have the best shot at coming close to the big nations. Their youth hockey is working, they have a good league with lots of money and a climate which helps hockey. Hockey is popular enough to be in the eye of the public, unlike Germany, where hockey is getting more of a negative reputation these days.

Not to mention that the Swiss have five times as many players as Germany, which is huge if you consider that Germany's population is dwarfing the Swiss'.

Quebec

Quebec

...or Alberta.
;)

Not to mention that the Swiss have five times as many players as Germany, which is huge if you consider that Germany's population is dwarfing the Swiss'.
Both countries have roughly the same number of players according to this : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey#Number_of_registered_players_by_country :dunno:

But starting to pay more attention to the junior players when they´re 18 already or even older is too late.

I agree with this of course. Also the country needs to continue constructing new rinks. More NHL players need to follow the lead of Marian Gaborik (he has built an arena in Trencin for young players). I'm not sure what they are doing with their millions of dollars.

Quebec

:laugh:

not for another 4 years anyway;)

lecavalier was recently asked who he'd play for if quebec separated (which it probably never will) and he said canada

:laugh:

not for another 4 years anyway;)

lecavalier was recently asked who he'd play for if quebec separated (which it probably never will) and he said canada

Not surprised with the answer, but surprised with a question :amazed:

Both countries have roughly the same number of players according to this : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey#Number_of_registered_players_by_country :dunno:

Weird, they recently had an article about this in the German press before the game between Germany and Switzerland. Switzerland's number was a bit higher, while Germany's was drastically lower. May have to check were they got their numbers from.

Denmark is well on their way. Some great young players coming out of that country right now. Hopefully it's a trend and not just a random spike. More Jannik Hansens, please. :naughty:

About one year ago new Toronto GM Brian Burke had an interview with a german hockey magazine. He said that he believes that the amount of german players in the NHL will rise dramatically over the next years. He expected that 50 (!) germans could play in the NHL in a few years.

While i don't think that it'll be 50, i think a raise has already started. Actually, there're 7 germans on NHL rosters (Kolzig, Ehrhoff, Seidenberg, Schubert, Sturm, Hecht, Goc) - the highest amount ever. Not to forget 4 more guys (Greiss, Sulzer, Dietrich, Schutz) in the AHL. Also the amount of germans in the CHL is rising year by year now.

Next year Gogulla (Buffalo) or Holzer (Toronto) are a lock to go overseas in their NHL organisations. Other talents (Pielmeier, Flaake, Ritter, Reul, and the biggest talent of the last decade, Tom Kuhnhackl) will follow soon.

So, even if i think that 50 players on NHL rosters is a bit high, Burke is right that the amount of germans is rising.

For Switzerland, the negatives are still obvious. Too few goal scorers, too few forwards who can deceide a game alone. There's Roman Wick and Julien Sprunger who do well in the Swiss League, but there's doubt that they'll succeed in NA.

The positives, there's a lot talent on the defense (Streit, Weber, Sbisa, Josi, Forster, Blindenbacher, Bezina -> D for Vancouver), and it seems that Switzerland finds a way to develop a lot international proven goalies (Gerber, Hiller, Stephan in the NHL, proven players like Bührer, Aebischer, Rüeger, Bäumle, and then young players like Gennoni and Flüeler who each had a shutout in their first senior national team game).

The junior programs are not so successful anymore (relegation of the U20 team last year). I hope they can develop and find ways to push players over that 20 year old development break. There are signs, role models like Streit and Sbisa show it's possible.

Funny you posted about the relegation since they just won promotion to the WJC 2010

Yeah, a one time relegation you can say it was bad luck, ups and downs are bad luck. We'll see next year.

Belarus.

Sergei Kostitsyn, Andrei Kostitsyn and Mikhail Grabovski would make a lethal first line (if the didn't hate each other)

Slovakia is reaching the end of the line. With Bondra's retirement, Gaborik's constant injuries, and Demitra's aging, they're losing their top players quickly.

I think that the Swiss could take Slovakia's place. Belarus and Denmark are also climbing.

Slovakia is reaching the end of the line. With Bondra's retirement, Gaborik's constant injuries, and Demitra's aging, they're losing their top players quickly.

I think that the Swiss could take Slovakia's place. Belarus and Denmark are also climbing.

As was argued above, Slovakia is now doing a better job at producing a variety of players instead of just the high scoring wingers. The defense and goaltending of the national team is especially improved. Young goaltenders and dmen include Jaroslav Halak, Milan Jurcina, Andrej Meszaros, Andrej Sekera, Vladimir Mihalik, Boris Valabik, etc.

As was argued above, Slovakia is now doing a better job at producing a variety of players instead of just the high scoring wingers. The defense and goaltending of the national team is especially improved. Young goaltenders and dmen include Jaroslav Halak, Milan Jurcina, Andrej Meszaros, Andrej Sekera, Vladimir Mihalik, Boris Valabik, etc.

The issue with that is that none of those players are even close to the talent levels of guys like Bondra, Gaborik and Demitra.

About one year ago new Toronto GM Brian Burke had an interview with a german hockey magazine. He said that he believes that the amount of german players in the NHL will rise dramatically over the next years. He expected that 50 (!) germans could play in the NHL in a few years.

While i don't think that it'll be 50, i think a raise has already started. Actually, there're 7 germans on NHL rosters (Kolzig, Ehrhoff, Seidenberg, Schubert, Sturm, Hecht, Goc) - the highest amount ever. Not to forget 4 more guys (Greiss, Sulzer, Dietrich, Schutz) in the AHL. Also the amount of germans in the CHL is rising year by year now.

Next year Gogulla (Buffalo) or Holzer (Toronto) are a lock to go overseas in their NHL organisations. Other talents (Pielmeier, Flaake, Ritter, Reul, and the biggest talent of the last decade, Tom Kuhnhackl) will follow soon.

So, even if i think that 50 players on NHL rosters is a bit high, Burke is right that the amount of germans is rising.

The Germans, Swiss and Slovaks are invading the CHL. It won't take long for some of them to make it to the bigs, and if those countries can build on that and continue to improve their youth program, they'll be producing talent at the same rate as CZE, SWE and FIN.

I am also in love with Toni Ritter. <3

The issue with that is that none of those players are even close to the talent levels of guys like Bondra, Gaborik and Demitra.

Well you are talking about the fall of the Slovak National team and I am arguing the Slovak defense and goaltending is better than ever. Twelve years ago the National team would kill to have had such good skating puck moving D like Sekera, and Meszaros.

We'll always have our share of high scoring wingers. Bondra's son David is on the Slovak U17 team, and his father says he has as much talent (if not more) than he did. Seventeen year old Richard Panik is reminding many of a young Marian Hossa.

Looking at how Denmark performed against Austria several days ago (they had their ***** handed to them), in comparison to the Slovak roster for this tournament they are still miles behind. As for the Swiss and Belarus, I already count them amongst the elite teams.

Looking at how Denmark performed against Austria several days ago (they had their ***** handed to them), in comparison to the Slovak roster for this tournament they are still miles behind. As for the Swiss and Belarus, I already count them amongst the elite teams.

Well don't judge the game by the result, it was a very close game for the most part. In the end our coach made some stupid decisions which was the main reason why they got 3 empty net goals.

Besides that, of course we are missing a mile. We have a little more than 4.000 registered hockey players. We will never be one of the top countries, that's impossible.

Registered Players = Players
Registered Players per Rink = PPR
Rinks per capita = RPC
Players per capita = PPC

I have sorted by players per capita:

Country Players PPR RPC PPC
Canada 558,173 41 2,469 60
Finland 61,684 250 21,234 85
Czech Republic 94,876 530 57,100 108
Sweden 65,178 143 19,836 139
Switzerland 24,449 167 51,928 310
Latvia 4,463 213 106,925 503
Slovakia 9,870 145 80,227 553
USA 466,300 239 155,808 652
Norway 6,381 160 116,111 728
Russia 82,967 485 826,767 1,704
Slovenia 978 109 223,079 2,053
Germany 29,465 136 379,583 2,796
Belarus 3,160 211 645,718 3,065
Kazakhstan 4,716 127 413,106 3,241
Japan 20,349 82 513,260 6,255
Mexico 1,900 86 4,997,973 57,871

You would think the USA would have more elite talent than many of the countries ahead of it based on sheer numbers of registered players. I am also surprised that with over 20000 registered players that there isn't at least one or two consistent Japanese NHLers.

Registered Players = Players
Registered Players per Rink = PPR
Rinks per capita = RPC
Players per capita = PPC

I have sorted by players per capita:

Country Players PPR RPC PPC
Canada 558,173 41 2,469 60
Finland 61,684 250 21,234 85
Czech Republic 94,876 530 57,100 108
Sweden 65,178 143 19,836 139
Switzerland 24,449 167 51,928 310
Latvia 4,463 213 106,925 503
Slovakia 9,870 145 80,227 553
USA 466,300 239 155,808 652
Norway 6,381 160 116,111 728
Russia 82,967 485 826,767 1,704
Slovenia 978 109 223,079 2,053
Germany 29,465 136 379,583 2,796
Belarus 3,160 211 645,718 3,065
Kazakhstan 4,716 127 413,106 3,241
Japan 20,349 82 513,260 6,255
Mexico 1,900 86 4,997,973 57,871

You would think the USA would have more elite talent than many of the countries ahead of it based on sheer numbers of registered players. I am also surprised that with over 20000 registered players that there isn't at least one or two consistent Japanese NHLers.

Hmmm...not sure how to make that seperated....

:huh:What di u want to say?