QUEBEC - Let the countdown to the Games begin.

The dry run ended in disappointing fashion with Canada's loss in the gold medal final at the IIHF World Hockey Championship, but there's plenty to be taken from here and applied to preparation for the Olympic hockey tournament in Vancouver two years down the road.

In the wake of Sunday's 5-4 overtime loss to Russia, Canadian coach Ken Hitchcock was asked by a foreign reporter if the defeat signalled a changing of the guard in international hockey.

"No," Hitchcock replied flatly, pausing for effect. "Because we've got good players. We've got good players on the horizon.

"We all know that the Olympics are the measuring stick. We all know that. If you're talking about world power, you're talking about supremacy in hockey, you talk about the Olympics."

To that end, this Canadian team did the Olympic squad a favour by regaining top spot in the world