KHL, NHL, Russian Prospects and Team Russia

"The Russians will enter the tournament with the two best players in the world (or two of the top three, at worst, if you wish to include Sidney Crosby in the mix with Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin). And it's a known fact that Ovechkin jersey brings luck to team Russia.

In addition to Alex the Great and Geno, Team Russia also features two other all-world goal-scorers in Ilya Kovalchuk and Alexander Semin. Both are a danger to find the back of the net every shift and are superior to any one pure-sniper option Canada has to offer.

It’s not as though the Russian squad will be top heavy, either. Beyond the aforementioned four, there are plenty of players both in the NHL (Alexei Kovalev, Alexander Frolov, Slava Kozlov, Maxim Afinogenov, Sergei Samsonov) and Kontinental League (Alexei Yashin, Alexei Morozov, Sergei Fedorov, Alexander Radulov, Maxim Sushinskiy, Nikolai Zherdev) to fill out the other nine forward spots.

The ‘D’ is nothing to sneeze at, either.

Last time I checked, the team that scores the most goals still wins the game and, for my money, that team will be Russia" - said The Hockey News' editor Edward Fraser in his own blog.

Nikita Filatov, who was loaned to CSKA by Columbus Blue Jackets, scored game-winning goal and added 2 assists to help his CSKA defeat Traktor 4-1 in his first game in the KHL.

Filatov got team's second best time on ice among forwards - 16:40 (Denis Parshin was first with 18:27).

CSKA's head coach Sergei Nemchinov noticed that Filatov is a bit out of condition but added that he would get accustomed soon and start playing even better.

Ak Bars Kazan captain Alexei Morozov scored his 500th point in Russian championships on 20 November in the game against Lada Togliatti where he registered two assists.

Morozov scored 232 goals and 268 assists in 514 games. Most of the points he got while playing for Ak Bars (412).

During the second game of the Subway SuperSeries where U-20 Team Russia faced QMJHL selects, Russian coach Vladimir Plyuschev lost his temper and ended up with giving the finger to a fan sitting behind. Here is a video from sportsnet.ca (click here if the video below doesn't work). Watch from the 0:45 mark.

"I'm here to fulfil my aim - to play in the NHL. The trainings here are shorter than the ones I used to have in Russia, but richer. I still have tough time with English, but I try hard. I’m happy to be here in Chicago. All is going well; the league is high level.

I would be happy to play for my country [at the WJC], of course, but unfortunately it’s not up to me.

Vityaz let me go, I'm playing in Chicago on a loan deal. My dream is to play in the NHL. This is why I’m here. In Russia it’s not easy to get a true chance, there is the foreigners fashion now" - said Andrei Kuchin at Hockey's Future.

Russian player Nikita Pivtsakin might strengthen the Drummondville’s defense already after the Subway Superseries. This at least according to the Voltigeurs’ plans, who are trying to convince the 18 years old guy moving to Canada.
Selected in the Import Draft’s first round (49th overall pick), by the Cap Breton Screaming Eagles, Pivtsaking didn’t show up in their pre season camp in Sidney. The Omsk, Russia, native defenseman instead deciding taking the first steps in his pro career in the KHL playing for Jaromir Jagr’s Avangard Omsk.

SKA St. Petersburg's president Alexander Medvedev declared that his team is interested in signing team Russia's superstar Ilya Kovalchuk, whose contract with the Atlanta Thrashers will run out at the end of this season.

"Yes, Kovalchuk is really in the short list of players we are interested in", said Medvedev in an interview to SportsDaily.ru

In spite of his healthy economical situation, the Gazprom tycoon will have hard time in getting Kovalchuk's signature under a contract, especially considering that it's rumored that he has been offered 100 million dollars for his next contract.

The winner of two World Championships and one Maurice Richard trophy still hasn't decided on his future, most likely waiting for the evidence that Atlanta became the winning team he's asking for in order to remain into the A-town.