"Team North America isn't going to be destroyed by every single team"
Yes they are. Russia is the only team in that group that might score less than 5.
"they have SO MUCH skill."
Their group opponents (Finland, Sweden, and Russia) don't? Besides they're more experienced and have much better technical and mental skills, and unless there's a player who's VERY old (like over 36) they have better physical skill too.
"I mean I used to think there goaltending was a problem"
The only team with even a slight goaltending problem is the Czech Republic and even they have a good starter in Petr Mrázek. North America has undoubtably the worst goalies in their group.
"but with having a Stanley cup winning goalie, you have a chance"
Under that logic, Antti Niemi is going to carry Team Finland because he won the Stanley Cup after taking over the Chicago starer spot in his rookie year. He didn't even make Team Finland's roster and was passed over for a KHL goalie. Besides, I'd much rather start John Gibson than Matt Murray.
"defense could be a problem but I still think it can be improved"
Outside of Ekblad, Gostisbehere, and maybe Murray and Trouba if you're generous, Team NA's defense is incredibly inconsistent. Ekblad is the only one who can really effectively shut anyone down and Gostisbehere is an offensive defenseman, so don't expect him to be the big star on actual defense.
"and in all honestly winning is all about speed nowadays"
Speed is extremely overrated and the two biggest keys to winning are, in order, defense and shooting accuracy. The best defense in North America's group belongs to Sweden and the best shooting accuracy to Finland. Not to mention that Russia rivals North America for speed and is also better on defense.
"and they have a lot of that and it's going to catch on with those other older aged players like having Mcdavid who is already one of the fastest skaters in the league if not the fastest so."
You're forgetting Dylan Larkin. As an Oilers fan I can confirm that McDavid is fast, but he also has the puck skills and physical endurance to keep him from getting burned. Larkin's physical ability on the other hand is a glaring weakness and if he's not careful he could get seriously injured, especially if he has to attack against borderline dirty defensemen like Kronwall and Nesterov. |