Alexander Ovechkin news, rumors, video, interviews

The 2010 Olympic Hockey Tournament has probably been the biggest disappointing ever for Team Russia. The early quarterfinal elimination against Team Canada was the worst result ever.

As soon as the tournament was over for Russia, we published the Top 5 reasons for this fail, now RussianHockeyFans.com judged all the players on the roster.

After the 4-2 victory against Czech Republic many players agreed that the Ovechkin hit on Jagr turned the momentum in Russia's favor. Team Russia players felt that this was the key event of the game and it helped their team getting the edge over Czech Republic.

RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation of short quotes taken right after the game from Sergei Gonchar, Ilya Kovalchuk, Evgeny Nabokov, Alexander Ovechkin and Anton Volchenkov.

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.

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.

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.

Team Russia has chosen its captain and alternates at the Olympic Games 2010.

According to Russian newspaper Sovetskiy Sport, Alexei Morozov will be the captain, Alexander Ovechkin and Ilya Kovalchuk will be the alternates.

Alexei Morozov was the captain of the Russian team on two latest World Championships.

The Russian team practiced for the second time in Vancouver.

According to the Russian channel "Russia 2" the lines were:

Ovechkin - Datsyuk - Semin, Grebeshkov - Korneev.
Kovalchuk - Malkin - Afinogenov, Gonchar - Tyutin.
Zaripov - Zinoviev - Morozov, Markov - Nikulin.
Radulov - Fedorov - Kozlov, Kalinin - Volchenkov.

"I was sure that our line would look like that", said Evgeni Malkin to Russia 2. "I agree with the coaches, it's an optimal combination".

"I supposed that our line would look like that because we played together during the Olympic camp", Ilya Kovalcuk told Russia 2. "It is a good, interesting and dynamic line. I think if we try hard we can be very useful to the team."

Translation by RussianHockeyFans.com

Team Russia's coach Igor Zakharkin gave a few interviews where he stated that Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) and Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins) might play on the same line, and that goalkeepers Evgeny Nabokov (San Jose Sharks) and Ilya Bryzgalov (Phoenix Coyotes) will both play during the robin-round at the Olympic Games in Vancouver.

Zakharkin on Ovechkin-Malkin to olympics10.ru

- Is there a chance to see Ovechkin and Malkin playing on the same line?
Zakharkin: "Maybe not since the very beginning but somewhere in the middle of the game or during power plays. We will think about it. We are also taking into account the fact that quite often Ovechkin plays on the left wing for the Capitals."

Zakharkin on Nabokov-Bryzgalov to sport-express.ru

- How are you going to share ice time between Nabokov and Bryzgalov?
Zakharkin: "We are going to use both Nabokov and Bryzgalov during the round-robin. But I can't say who's going to play in certain games."

Translation by RussianHockeyFans.com

Russian superstar Alexander Ovechkin was really close to battle in another NHL fight, but Matt Bradley stole him the scene and fought instead of him during the third period of the Tuesday's match between the Washington Capitals and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The first brawl was started by Stewe Downie after a clean hit by Ovechkin, but it was quickly stopped by the refs, who gave the two players a minor penalty. When they got out of the penalty box Ovechkin was ready to go as he dropped the gloves and the helmet too, but when he and Downie were approaching each other, Matt Bradley intervened and started fighting Downie himself, not allowing his captain to fight.

"I didn't see him actually," said Ovechkin after the match to the Washington Post. "So I dropped my helmet, dropped my gloves, ready to fight, and Brads jumped in the fight for me. He do a great job."

"We had a guy like that going after our best player, obviously we can't let that happen," Bradley stated to the Washington Post. "I'll bet they would do the exact same thing if someone was squaring off with Stamkos. I mean, you don't let guys like that go after your best players, and he's our best player. And no matter who it is, we're not gonna allow someone like Downie to go after him."

Below is the video of the fight.

Russian NHL superstar Alexander Ovechkin was named Washington Capitals' captain on Tuesday. The position was vacant after the former captain Chris Clark has been traded with defenseman Milan Jurcina for Columbus Blue Jackets' Jason Chimera.

"If I need to say something, I will say something," Ovechkin told the Washington Post. "But I will show what I can do on the ice. It's a big honor for me. I'm going to do my best, but I don't want to concentrate on having a 'C' on my heart. I'm just going to play the same."

The Capitals won the match 4-2, but Ovechkin has been left out of the score sheet. Alexander Semin scored two goals, including the game winning one.

"I had talked to a lot of [players] the last couple of days and they said Alex is the only choice," said Bodreau to the Washington Post. "He's our leader, he's our guy. What shows he was ready was when I talked to him two or three days ago, he said he would accept the responsibility but 'only if my teammates want it.' He was already thinking about the team instead of himself, which is what captains do."

Ovechkin is the fourteenth captain in the Capitals' history and the sixth Russian player who to have the same honor. He succeeds Pavel Bure (Florida Panthers), Alexander Mogilny (Buffalo Sabres), Alexei Yashin (Ottawa Senators and New York Islanders), Alexei Zhamnov (Chicago Blackhawks) and Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta Thrashers).