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.
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.
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
The captain of the Russian national team, Alexei Morozov, playing for Ak Bars Kazan in the KHL, will carry the Russian flag at the Olympics opening ceremony, says the official Russian Hockey Federation site.
"I'm very pleased to be entrusted with such an honor", said Morozov to Russian site sportbox.ru (translation by RussianHockeyFans.com). "Hundreds of sportsmen will represent Russia at the Olympics and I was entrusted with the flag, which increases responsibility. I won't say that I was shocked by this news but rather pleasantly surprised."
Morozov became the second KHL player to carry his national flag at the Olympics' opening ceremony after Avangard Omsk's Jaromir Jagr, who will be the standard-bearer for the Czech Republic.
The ceremony will take place on February 12.
The complete KHL All-Star Game rosters have been released today. The event will be held in Minsk, Belarus, on January 30th.
This is how the rosters look like:
Team Yashin (Russian stars)
Goalkeepers: Georgy Gelashvili (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl); Andrei Mezin (Dynamo Minsk)
Defenders: Sergei Zubov (SKA St. Petersburg); Ilya Nikulin (Ak Bars Kazan); Dmitriy Kalinin (Salavat Yulaev Ufa); Anton Babchuk (Avangard Omsk); Konstantin Korneev (CSKA Moscow); Vitaly Atyushov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk)
Forwards: Alexei Yashin (SKA St. Petersburg); Alexander Radulov (Salavat Yulaev Ufa); Alexei Morozov (Ak Bars Kazan); Danis Zaripov (Ak Bars Kazan); Sergei Fedorov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk); Sergei Mozyakin (Atlant Mytischi); Alexei Tereschenko (Ak Bars Kazan); Sergei Zinoviev (Salavat Yulaev Ufa); Denis Parshin (CSKA Moscow)
Team Jagr (International Stars)
Goalkeepers: Karri Ramo (Avangard Omsk); Michael Garnett (HC MVD)
Defenders: Kevin Dallman (Barys Astana); Sandis Ozolinsh (Dinamo Riga);Martin Strbak (HC MVD); Lasse Kukkonen (Avangard Omsk); Karel Rachunek (Dynamo Moscow); Jaroslav Obsut (Spartak Moscow)
Forwards: Jaromir Jagr (Avangard Omsk); Marcel Hossa (Dinamo Riga); Mattias Weinhandl (Dynamo Moscow); Patrick Thoresen (Salavat Yulaev Ufa); Josef Vasicek (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl); Chris Simon (Vityaz Chekhov); Jiri Hudler (Dynamo Moscow); Ville Peltonen (Dinamo Minsk); Jozef Stumpel (Barys Astana)
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Fedorov, Babchuk, Kalinin, Simon added to All-Star Game roster
KHL All Star Game's starting lineup announced
The starting lineup for KHL All Star Game has been announced today as the fan voting has been closed today.
The most voted player has been Kevin Dallman of Barys Astana, with 114,957 votes. Dallman will play for Team Jagr, the International Stars team that will face Team Yashin, Russian Stars.
The second most voted player was Team Jagr's Sandis Ozolinsh, with 113,167 votes, while Alexei Morozov has been Team Yashin's fan favorite, with 105,433 fans' selections.
This is how the lineups look like:
Team Yashin (Russian stars)
Goalkeepers: Georgy Gelashvili (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl) – 55,048 votes
Defenders: Sergei Zubov (SKA St. Petersburg) – 103,136; Ilya Nikulin (Ak Bars Kazan) – 101,261
Forwards: Alexei Morozov (Ak Bars Kazan) – 105,433; Alexander Radulov ( Salavat Yulayev Ufa) – 104,004; Maxim Sushinsky (SKA St. Petersburg) – 99,344
Team Jagr (International Stars)
Goaltender: Karri Ramo (Avangard Omsk) – 104,649 votes
Defenders: Kevin Dallman (Barys Astana) – 114,957; Sandis Ozolinsh (Dinamo Riga) – 113,167
Forwards: Marcel Hossa (Dinamo Riga) – 112,681; Mattias Weinhandl (Dynamo Moscow) – 105,000; Branko Radivojevic (Spartak Moscow) – 98,949
The rest of the lineup will be voted by hockey journalists. The KHL All-Star game is scheduled for January 30th in the brand new Minsk-Arena.
The Vice President of the Russian Olympic Committee, Vladimir Vasin in an interview to Russian newspaper Sovetskiy Sport claimed that a KHL player will most likely carry the Russian flag at the Vancouver Olympics' opening ceremony.
Vasin: "The opening ceremony will take place on the 12th of February. Our hockey players will arrive in Vancouver one day before and will play only on the 16th, so it is quite logical to choose the standard-bearer from the hockey players. This player will be from the KHL."
Q. Maybe you should choose Sergei Fedorov, the most experienced player?
Vasin: "Why not."
9 out of 23 players in the Russian Team will represent the KHL, they are: defencemen Ilya Nikulin, Dmitriy Kalinin, Konstantin Korneev, forwards Sergei Fedorov, Danis Zaripov, Sergei Zinoviev, Alexander Radulov, Viktor Kozlov and Alexei Morozov.
Who do you think will carry the Russian flag?
More than half of a season has passed in the KHL and it is time to tally up an interim total.
Below are Top 5 lists of goal scorers, assists, points and plus/minus leaders. Among the highlights are Marcel Hossa of Dinamo Riga topping the scorers rating, Maxim Spiridonov proving his worth after a few bad seasons with 20 goals in 40 games, SKA linemates Maxim Sushinskiy and Alexei Yashin being assists leaders and Sergei Fedorov being the 3rd in plus/minus rating.
The official Russian Hockey Federation site has released Team Russia's roster for the Olympics in Vancouver.
Goalkeepers
Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose Sharks, NHL
Ilya Bryzgalov, Phoenix Coyotes, NHL
Semyon Varlamov, Washington Capitals, NHL
Defencemen
Andrei Markov, Montreal Canadiens, NHL
Ilya Nikulin, Ak Bars, KHL,
Dmitriy Kalinin, Salavat Yulaev, KHL
Konstantin Korneev, CSKA, KHL,
Denis Grebeshkov, Edmonton Oilers, NHL
Fedor Tyutin, Columbus Blue Jackets, NHL
Sergei Gonchar, Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL
Anton Volchenkov, Ottawa Senators, NHL
Forwards
Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings, NHL
Sergei Fedorov, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, KHL
Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL
Ilya Kovalchuk, Atlanta Thrashers, NHL
Maxim Afinogenov, Atlanta Thrashers, NHL
Danis Zaripov, Ak Bars, KHL
Alexander Semin, Washington Capitals, NHL
Sergei Zinoviev, Salavat Yulaev, KHL
Alexander Radulov, Salavat Yulaev, KHL
Viktor Kozlov, Salavat Yulaev, KHL
Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals, NHL
Alexei Morozov, Ak Bars, KHL
Russia's coaches Vyacheslav Bykov and Igor Zakharkin call this roster 'preliminary' and say that the final roster will be known on the 15th of February.
9 out of 23 players represent the KHL which makes its slightly less than 40%.
4 players come from Salavat Yulaev of the KHL, the team coached by Bykov and Zakharkin.
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).
Kuznetsov: "If we had won, it would have been unfair"