IIHF World ChampionshipDiscuss International Tournaments like the WJC, Olympics, and World Cup, as they take place, or discuss past tournaments. performances.
There are other teams that were great too. 1978 Russia, 1988 Canada for example. But the problem with these teams is that Russia lost a game in 1978, just like 1989 and Canada in 1988 didn't really dominate and pound the other teams. They won a lot of tight games but didn't run the team into the ground.
I am sorry, but there has never been another team like Canada in 2005. I've never seen it in my life. You shouldn't be beating teams like Finland and Sweden 8-1, but they did. The only game that was relatively close was the Czech game and Canada outshot them by a 4 to 1 margin. This is a team that steamrolled the Russians with Ovechkin and Malkin and Radulov. They won 6-1 and did this in the first two periods. They literally could have won the game 10-1 but they showed mercy. Who the heck shows mercy in a Gold medal game? That's just dominance.
The 2005 team has a few potential HHOFers: Crosby, Getzlaf, Perry, Weber. Not to mention a slew of guys who have already won the Olympic gold and the Stanley Cup. They have two Hart trophy winners already. They have what should have been a Norris winner by now (Weber). This team cut Mike Green for crying out loud. They cut him!
I don't think we'll ever see a team like this again. The 2003 draft was extremely deep and the lockout fell at the perfect time. I've never seen a team dominate a tournament like this in my life. Sorry, but if anyone disagrees this is one of those times where there is only one right answer.
Russia's 05 team looks pretty damn good on paper too.
Yea I remember ovechkin crying after the gold medal game probably did the same thing after olympics that group of players can't really prove themselves any more
Just look at the 2005 Team Canada up and down, almost every one has had a successful NHL Career and all of them played really well together and worked as a team. It's not just that they dominated en route to gold, it's that they won it together and as a team, no selfishness.
They won 6-1 and did this in the first two periods. They literally could have won the game 10-1 but they showed mercy. Who the heck shows mercy in a Gold medal game?
Showed mercy? I remember that gold medal game, and yes, Canada did dominate but what kind of mercy you're talking about? Did USA team showed mercy three days ago by beating Canada 5-1? No, but the domination was really comparable to that 2005 gold medal game as Canada did nothing in the whole game just like Russians in 2005.
Showed mercy? I remember that gold medal game, and yes, Canada did dominate but what kind of mercy you're talking about? Did USA team showed mercy three days ago by beating Canada 5-1? No, but the domination was really comparable to that 2005 gold medal game as Canada did nothing in the whole game just like Russians in 2005.
They registered about 4 shots on net in the third period in 2005. They were up 6-1. If you saw the game it isn't even a question that they let up. It was just sheer domination game in and game out. Tell me you aren't comparing a championship team like the Americans, who needed to win their final round robin game just to get into the playoffs, to the greatest one ever are you? USA won the 2013 tournament, but Canada 2005 was a sight to behold.
crazy stat line, Phil. wow. Ya, it's hard to argue against them. I remember that tourney, but didn't know Canada hadn't won in 7 years. Amazing stuff.
Actually by 2005 it had been 8 years. Just a bad knack of losing tight games for a few years. Then the pendulum swung the other way for a while. Now..........well who knows.
Whether or not you agree that the 2005 Canadian team was the best WJC team ever, it's definitely hard to argue that they weren't the most dominant team in a WJC tournament.
Meaning, that while they may have lost to the 89 Soviets or some other team, they ran over the competition unlike any team in any WJC tournament before them.
The 2005 defensive corps was really A one, phaneuf was a junior all stars.
Having Getzlaf, perry, richards, Carter is great, and now you have Crosby and Bergeron with them ?
we can see how great Crosby was, he was not drafter yet, and on the first line of that all-stars team.
While MacKinnon was on a fourth line.
The 2005 Canada team was the best at winning this competition for sure, and were for sure in the best of all time, did some team in 1980 were better but facing better competition or not playing as well during the tourney, maybe.
It's definitely 2005 Canada, they were just dominant unlike anything that tournament has seen before. They outscored Sweden, Russia and Finland 22-3!
I don't see how you can make an argument at all for 1989 USSR considering they lost a game. They preyed on weaker teams like Germany and Norway with huge goal totals, but they weren't excessively dominant when they played top quality teams.
If you take away the 2 'free' games each team had (and calling Slovakia free is a stretch compared to countries like Norway), Canada outscored opponents 25-4 in 4 games (32-7 in 5 games if you count Slovakia). The '89 USSR team outscored opponents 26-14 in 5 games, and that includes a loss. In 1989 the Swedes had the same record as the USSR and they had a very close game (3-2), in 2005 it was clear that no team was even close to as good as Canada.
Meaning, that while they may have lost to the 89 Soviets or some other team, they ran over the competition unlike any team in any WJC tournament before them.
Like someone said, they lost a game to the Czechs. Hard to call yourself the most dominant against perfect teams when you lose yourself. That being said I'd put the 1989 Russian team 3rd best ever. It is one thing to pound West Germany and another thing to pound Sweden. Canada didn't let up with anyone in 2005 and I can't see any junior team even being able to penetrate past that defense. Jeff Glass was our goalie. I have maintained a few times that I myself would have won gold playing net, that team was THAT stacked.
#30 Christopher Heino Lindberg (G) 27 1985-01-29 Helsingborg, SWE 182 86 R
#1 David Rautio (G) 27 1985-07-08 Luleå, SWE 181 77 L
#5 Johan Fransson (D) 27 1985-02-18 Kalix, SWE 187 88 L
#4 Elias Granath (D) 27 1985-09-06 Falun, SWE 190 95 L
#12 Nicklas Grossmann (D) 27 1985-01-22 Nacka, SWE 194 102 L
#8 Oscar Hedman (D) 26 1986-04-21 Örnsköldsvik, SWE 184 96 L
#14 Per Savilahti Nagander (D) 27 1985-04-22 Luleå, SWE 196 102 R
#6 Anton Strålman (D) 26 1986-08-01 Tibro, SWE 185 88 R
#20 Ola Svanberg (D) 27 1985-06-10 Tranemo, SWE 183 90 L
#16 Niclas Bergfors (RW/LW) 25 1987-03-07 Södertälje, SWE 179 88 R
#21 Loui Eriksson (RW/LW) 27 1985-07-17 Göteborg, SWE 187 87 L
#19 David Fredriksson (LW/RW) 27 1985-10-04 Jönköping, SWE 194 104 L
#15 Mattias Hellström (C) 26 1986-06-18 Nordingrå, SWE 185 91 L
#28 Sebastian Karlsson (C/LW) 26 1986-09-19 Göteborg, SWE 183 89 L
#9 Robert Nilsson (LW/RW) 27 1985-01-10 Calgary, AB, CAN 178 88 L
#11 Kalle Olsson (RW/LW) 27 1985-01-31 Munkedal, SWE 184 86 L
#17 Linus Persson (RW) 27 1985-12-29 Hagfors, SWE 180 89 R
#13 Johannes Salmonsson (LW/RW) 26 1986-02-07 Uppsala, SWE 189 90 L
#29 Björn Svensson (LW/RW) 26 1986-06-16 Ljungby, SWE 182 85 L
#27 Carl Söderberg (C) 27 1985-10-12 Malmö, SWE 191 93 L
#18 Linus Videll (RW/LW) 27 1985-05-05 Stockholm, SWE 193 99 L
#22 Daniel Åhsberg (LW) 27 1985-04-14 Göteborg, SWE
If I was to nominate a Swedish team it's definitely the Forsberg-Naslund-Sunshine one, at least its the most memorable.
Several times during the 70ies, and 80ies a CLEARLY underdog Czechoslovakian team would beat a stacked USSR national team that had totally steamrolled all other competition. And this happened not only on junior level but also on men's level. Lightning out of the blue. (however, I am not saying that Czechs ALWAYS had a vastly inferior team, mind you)
If you know the recent history of the two countries, which I am not sure you do (not being an ass here, just an honest assumption), it helps understanding these results. For Czechoslovaks sports was pretty much the only stage where they could "make the USSR pay" for the wrongings happened on their country. So they would sometimes rise to a supernormal level of play, reminiscient of the Miracle on Ice.
Some people have also hypothesized that USSR would occasionally lose on purpose, to help their fellow communists in a tourney but somehow I don't think that was the case with Czechoslovakia. May be true on a few occasions with other countries and other sports, though.
