Men's Olympic hockey is very competitive, and it's only truly been "best on best" since 1998. Prior to that the best North American players never participated. Canada, USA, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic could all win any given year. Past that yes, the competition gets thin. But that level of competition far surpasses what you see in baseball. In the four Olympics with "best on best", three different countries have won gold. Canada x2, Sweden, and Czech. Even the Fins, who are arguably the weakest of the "Big 6" have two bronzes and a silver. Despite not having a gold, they have the most medals, no one else has more than 2.