"Greatest Hockey Tournament"?

There's a lot of talk now about how this was the greatest hockey tournament ever and that the NHL should do whatever it can to make sure its players are even more available for 2006.

I think that 2006 (and beyond) is only going to be a disappointment. The Russians in particular will never be this good again. Although the entire Russian team plays in the NHL now, most of these guys played together for years, and many of them were part of the great Unified Team in '92. One of the things that always made the Olympics and the World Championships so tough, was that the teams from Russia and Czechoslavakia had played together for many, many years, both within their countries and on the world stage. Although it remains to be seen whether these countries can continue to develop numerous top hockey players (I hope so), never again will they have a cohesiveness that comes from having played together for many years. Next time, they will be just like the Canadians -- a group of all-stars learning how to play together.

The Swedes are a good hybrid between the old Soviet teams and the Canadian and American teams. Coming up, the players often play together and Sweden puts a lot of emphasis on international competition so the best players usually try to make it to those events. Then some go the NHL (and lose some cohesiveness) but other top players stay in Sweden, or eventually come back home to play. I think that's why they looked so impressive (until not showing up against Belarus) and will continue to be a gold-medal contender every year.

For the US, I'm a little concerned for 2006. The core group of players on this team has been together since '96. How many of them will be around or playing at the required level for 2006?

> Next time, they will be just like the Canadians -- a group of all-stars learning how to play together.

Then again, the Canadians did win it all.

It was great hockey, no question. I am still opposed to professionals in the Olympics, especially in hockey. It would have been far more meaningful to me if it had been US and Canadian teams composed of college and major junior talent. I hope they go back to a full professional ban across all sports.

Which they may. I don't think the flagfest and silly additional events endeared us to the rest of the world, and although we have the dollars, they have the IOC votes to do whatever they want.

Either way, hockey fans win. Even if they keep the mercs, it was a very entertaining tourny.

I agree with having pros in the Olympics. The original olympics were about the greatest athletes coming to compete. If you rule out the best athletes in the sport (ie, the pros), then you certainly don't get the best athletes competing. If I win a gold medal, I want to know it's because I beat the best of the best...not the best of a subset of the sport playing population.

actually the olympics have been about the greatest amateur athletes in each sport coming together. i loved the hockey, but i would rather it be nhl-less.