KHL, NHL, Russian Prospects and Team Russia

Team Russia forward Alexander Ovechkin commented on his hit on Jaromir Jagr of the Czech Republic in a game between Russia and Czech Republic at the Olympic Games 2010 in Vancouver.

"I see him coming and my first reaction was to play the puck," Ovechkin said to NHL.com . "He made a move to my side and I just hit him."

Alexander Ovechkin switched the moment in favor of Russia with a bone crushing, open ice hit on Jaromir Jagr in the first few minutes of the final stanza. The puck then ended up on Alexander Semin's stick, who served Evgeni Malkin with a great cross ice pass. Malkin one-timed the puck in for the game winning goal in Russia's 4-2 win over Czech Republic.

Ovechkin told Russian site sports.ru, "I hit Jagr automatically. I'm happy that we managed to score a few seconds later. We hugged each other after the game. Jagr bears no grudge at me. This is hockey, this is the Olympics, anything can happen here."

After the game Jagr told SovSport, "I wish I had a concussion, I would forget Ovechkin sooner. I don't think the hit was legal."

Jagr, quoted by Craig Custance of SportingNews.com, acted like a true teamplayer, not looking for excuses after losing the puck to Russia in the neutral zone. "The hit I don't really care, the mistake, the turnover I made...that hurts. That hurt me the most."

Kovalchuk, quoted by Craig Custance, added: "That's a great hit. It's a clean hit... It was a big moment for us."

Video of Ovechkin's hit on Jagr.

In the round robin's last game Team Russia defeated Team Czech Republic 4-2 and got a bye to the quarterfinals as they finished the Group B on the top of the standings with seven points against Czech Republic's six, Slovakia's five and Latvia's zero. Team Russia's first game of the medal round is scheduled for wednesday.

During the first period of the game the teams are still 0-0. Alexander Ovechkin had a couple of good chances, but Tomas Vokoun saved both attempts. Later on the Russians wasted a powerplay opportunity.

At the fifteenth minute Evgeni Malkin scored the 1-0 goal for Russia tapping in a rebound after a shot from the point by Sergei Gonchar.

At the end of the first period the Czechs tied it up with Tomas Plekanec taking full advantage of a double powerplay.

Team Russia's opponent in the third round robin match of the 2010 Olympic Tournament will be team Czech Republic. The Czechs, lead by the evergreen Jaromir Jagr, feature a very good lineup with plenty of NHL caliber players.

Russia has to skate past Czech Republic in order to secure the first seed in the Group B and get a bye into the quarterfinals. The Czechs are on the top of the standings with six points in two games. The Slovaks follow with five points, but they played three games.

Team Russia will try hard to put the 1-2 defeat against Slovakia in the past. "It's always tough to lose, but it's good to have it happen now in the tournament," Alexander Ovechkin told espn.com.

Most likely team Russia's lineup will undergo many changes. Vyacheslav Bykov will swap Evgeni Malkin and Pavel Datsyuk. "We try different combinations", said Bykov to sportbox.ru, "so that it would be possible to vary the lines if necessary."

With this changes Ovechkin and Malkin will be paired together. "I think that now in our line there will be more speed and physical play", Ovechkin told Sovietskiy Sport. "We have to play our game and try not to do too much, or we won't be successfull."

Evgeny Nabokov is going to get another start after the first win over Latvia, while Sergei Fedorov is going to play after missing a practice.

The puck is going to be dropped at the local 12 AM.

Ilya Kovalchuk talked about the bad powerplay of team Russia in the 2010 Olympic Hockey Tournament, the changes that the team will undergo for the next game against Czech Republic and his ice time in an interview to the Russian newspaper Sovietskiy Sport.

RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation.

Here is the latest news from the Russian team at the Olympic Games 2010 in Vancouver.

Evgeny Nabokov will start in the game against the Czech Republic
Igor Zakharkin, Russian coach to Pavel Lysenkov of SovSport: "We think that with Nabokov in the net our players feel more confident."

Sergei Fedorov missed a practice
Zakharkin: "Fedorov has an individual program. But he's alright, there is no injury."

New lines in the game against the Czech Republic
Zakharkin: "Maybe we are going to switch the center forwards. We think that Kovalchuk's efficiency should be higher. We remember what chemistry Malkin and Kovalchuk had at the World Championship 2008, but two years have passed and they are different players now, their styles changed too. There is a bit of imbalance on the Kovalchuk-Malkin-Afinogenov line. We hope to fix it."

Russian coach Vyacheslav Bykov talked about the reasons of the loss to Slovakia, stated that not all players had passion, explained why Alexander Ovechkin had three shootout attempts and talked about power play units in an interview to the Russian site gazeta.ru.

RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation.

- Do you agree that only the Zaripov-Zinoviev-Morozov line displayed some teamwork?
Bykov: "You are not far from being right. We will try and find out why it happened. I don't think that our players didn't want it. It's just that the opponent didn't give us many opportunities. But I also should notice that a lot of players lacked passion and thirst for game. At the same time I agree that it wasn't our day."

A shootout goal by Pavol Demitra gave Slovakia the edge over Team Russia in the Olympic Hockey tournament's round robin. In the Group B standings Russia retains the lead with 4 points, but with one game more than Czech Republic, who beaten team Slovakia yesterday.

Bykov's team had some chances at the start, especially with a shot from the high slot by Alexander Ovechkin, but Jaroslav Halak saved all the 10 opponents' attempts. 8 saves so far for Ilya Bryzgalov.

In the second period Alexei Morozov scored the 1-0 goal with a good one time from the right circle after another bad powerplay show by Team Russia. Bykov's team controlled most of the play in the middle stanza and got twice near to the second goalie, first with Maxim Afinogenov, then with a great rush by Evgeni Malkin, but Halak was ready in both plays. Team Slovakia had some chances too, but Bryzgalov has been steady and kept Russia up by one goal.

On Tuesday night Team Russia will play its second match in the 2010 Olympic Hockey Tournament. After the 8-2 win over Latvia in the inaugural match, Team Russia's opponents will be Team Slovakia.

Team Russia's starter is going to be Ilya Bryzgalov.

Slovakia's goaltender will be Montreal Canadiens' Jaroslav Halak. "He is a very technique sound goaltender", said Evgeni Malkin. "He also has a good stickhandling. You need to shot a lot against him. We have to take the initiative and concede no rooms to our opponents."

Vyacheslav Bykov has also decided to try powerplay special team and in the latest practice he iced Alexander Ovechkin, Malkin, Alexander Semin, Ilya Kovalchuk and Sergei Gonchar in the same unit.

Pavel Datsyuk didn't train with the team, spent time in the gym instead.

"Team Russia is one of the best teams in this tournament", Slovak superstar Marian Gaborik declared. "Its lineup has plenty of stars. We will need to stay focus on defense and stay off bad penalties."

The puck is going to be dropped at the local 9PM.

It seems like the food they serve in the Olympic village in Vancouver is really bad.

First it were Alexei Morozov and Semyon Varlamov who complained about the food in the village. According to Morozov the players had to eat in McDonald's. He also said that with food like this they would "turn up their toes".

Then it was Ilya Bryzgalov who called the food "terrible".

Now it's Team Russia coach Igor Zakharkin who calls Russian officials for help.

"We can't stand it anymore. It is time for our officials to step in. Our players can't recover eating the food they serve in the village. It's not tasty and low in calories. It's some semi prepared foods! We don't want it to have an impact on our team", said Zakharkin to Vitaliy Slavin of Sovetskiy Sport.

Russia got an easy win in the first game of the 2010 Olympics against Latvia. Team Russia didn't look overly impressive, most likely saving some energy for the games against better opponents. Alexander Ovechkin and Danis Zaripov scored two goals each in team Russia's 8-2 win.

KHL players got the first two goals of the match. Danis Zaripov opened the score after a couple of minutes thanks a great pass by Sergei Fedorov, while Alexander Radulov made it a 2-0 game at 7:46. Alexander Ovechkin scored the third goal for Russia with only thirty seconds to go in the first period.

In the second period Russia relaxed and left little room to Lavtia. They scored only one goal, with Evgeni Malkin.

The third stanza has been more frenetic, at least on its start. Latvia stripped out Evgeny Nabokov of the shut out with a goal by Herberts Vasiljevs. After this goal Russia pushed the gas and got three quick goals, with Ovechkin, Zaripov and Ilya Kovalchuk. A quick shot by Gints Ankipans surprised Nabokov for the 7-2. Alexei Morozov scored the eight goal for Russia with just about one minute to play.

Evgeni Nabokov stopped 18 shots for Russia.

Team Russia's next match will be on February 18th against Team Slovakia.

Russian TV channel "Russia 2" is reporting that Evgeny Nabokov will be the starting goalie for Russia in tonight's game against Latvia at the Olympics.

Also it is said that Nabokov and Ilya Bryzgalov will be rotated after each game. It means that very likely Bryzgalov will start in the game against Slovakia on Feb. 18.

Semyon Varlamov is reported to sit in reserve and be the 3rd goalie.

Denis Chaltsev and Timofey Tankeev might be two names that we will hear again in the future. The two guys from Moscow are posting impressive stats for the St. Louis Jr. Blues of the Central States Hockey League, as reported in my article appeared on the St. Louis Globe Democrat.

Denis Chaltsev has posted a 17-1 record with four shutouts, a 1.50 goals against average and a .944 save percentage. Timofey Tankeev has had a terrific offensive season. In 43 games, Tankeev has scored 25 goals and added 43 assists for 68 points.

Denis Chaltsev: "Due to the different rink size the play here is faster and tougher. There are many dangerous shots and lots of bounces. In Russia there is more emphasis on passing play and players' technique. Now I try to combine Russian hockey school with American speed."

Tankeev's position is similar.

Timofey Tankeev: "Hockey here is a bit faster and tougher," he said. "You have to take a decision twice as fast as in Russia. You can't get your head down even for one second, or someone will give you a good lesson."

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