wjc S72 WJC Team Rankings

[FrostBeard 2,061]

 

VSN is back here again with our Team Rankings for S72 WJC! Competition to be the team will be tough and we are here to give our opinion on who is going to be crowned the best! As always - share your opinion and tell us what do you think and who in your mind is going to win it all!

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When talking about these teams we are looking at somewhat of an interesting situation where three teams have very strong rosters compared to the other two teams. That said, we have seen plenty of surprises in these sort of tournaments so we should not turn a blind eye of them. That said, here is our ranking of teams competing in S72 WJC!
 

1.Team USA
 

When it comes to Team USA, it should be clear that right now they don’t have a true star goaltender to lead them on to the ice. John Poremba is a quality goaltender and can hold his own but in a competition of this scale, it just is not going to be enough. What really makes Team USA a true power is their skater depth. With players like General Zod, Robin Winter, Randy Marsh, Vin Calia and Jeff Blaze on their first line and Gino DiGiannantonio with Shawn Glade III being at the bottom of the lineup, I see no reason to doubt their abilities to score. Their ability to create offence will be recognised and I see no reason to doubt that Team USA will be the team with most goals scored in Round Robin. Will their goaltending be enough, hard to say, but I am sure they will compensate that with the best possible offensive game we have seen.

Strengths - Skater depth, high scoring ability across their lineup
Weaknesses - Goaltending

2. Team Europe
 

Team Europe has been very consistently one of the top teams for quite some time now and I see no reason to doubt that in the slightest. As I look through the roster, we see a very well rounded group of players who would fit on any team and could play any role given to them. Probably the most dominating part of their roster is their incredible goaltender Zamboni Driver who talent-wise is miles ahead of anyone even remotely challenging his position. His play is well recognised and if he will be able to show his best, there won’t be much discussion who is going to be tournament MVP.  That said Team Europe will rely heavily on their ability to have a strong defensive game throughout this tournament. For this team, using their true star player in Valterri Vaakanainen is crucial for gaining an upper hand against teams of equal strength and talent.

Strengths - Depth and goaltending
Weaknesses - Weak skating ability

3. Team Canada
 

Team Canada, very similar to what we saw in Team Europe, great balance in every position, strong forward and defencemen group with highly talented goaltender pair. Talking about their goaltenders, both Woody McPine and Jacob Tonn are extremely good players and have the ability to take over games if any other part of their team is struggling. Their forward core with Andrew Su and SS Hornet will be their driving force. Not really sure how Team Canada will set up lines but it is clear that with JaredN also on the team, possibilities for line combinations are too many to count. Their most problematic part of their roster is going to be defence and not because their don’t have the ability to be stars, on the contrary, they are well balanced two-way defenders, every single one of them. So the question I ask is - if necessary, who will be their Number 1 defensive defenceman to hold the line in clutch situations?

Strengths - Depth all across their lineup
Weaknesses - Lack of true defensive presence 

4. Team World

 

Team World was ranked 5th last season and we are not too far from there this season. Team World has a roster that they can depend on but it is very average. From their goaltending being on a similar level as Team USA, you could say that I am underrating this team but the problem is is that Team USA have the offensive and defensive game to support lack of star goaltender. This tournament, Team World have to be absolutely perfect on offence to even get a chance at winning games against any of the top teams. They have few truly amazing players like Aleelee Kiak and Micah Adrienne who can be juggernauts for their team but I don’t think their bottom lines will be able to sustain being pounded away by their opposition.

Strengths - Star players,
Weaknesses - Average goaltending and weak Centre players

5. Team Asia

 

We have been worn about Team Asia so many times that I am quite scared to rank them this low. With fairly weak goaltending and lack-lustre defensive core, there is very little they will be able to do against any of the above-listed teams. Their saving grace might be Vladimir Shaposhnikov and Jungkok and their wickedly amazing scoring ability but even that might not be enough. With few upcoming stars and players like Dan Baillie Jr, Kazimir Komarov and Viktor Alexei Kamenov they are here to compete and who knows, maybe we are looking at another strong tournament for a team that has been put down by VSN for some time.  

Strengths - First-line forward goalscoring ability
Weaknesses - Goaltending, depth and defensive game

 

With the most talented young players in this tournament, it could go any direction, from Team USA losing every game to Team Europe having worst goaltending in Round Robin. Good luck in the tournament everyone, let the best team win!

Players mentioned : @ng1291, @tfong @wcats @Gooningitup @BigTittySmitty @Grant @Poptart @jared @McWolf @Da_Berr @Jubo07 @Tape-to-Tape @ShawnGlade @pennypenny @NyQuil @Sonnet @Matt_O @oilmandan @CrlineDijohn14 @MexicanCow123 and @HearnNation67

[Da_Berr 219]

Too bad I'm a bust and will definitely be the equivalent of a pylon on the ice

[CrlineDijohn14 19]

I’ve been exposed

[ShawnGlade 1,010]

On 6/8/2020 at 12:47 PM, FrostBeard said:

with Shawn Glade III being at the bottom of the lineup

I've gained 50 TPE since this post, so if im at the bottom still, our depth is godly