Evgeni Malkin News and Interviews

Russian star Evgeni Malkin gave an interview to Vasili Osipov of Sport-Express after the game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Rangers at the Madison Square Garden.
In this interview Evgeni talked about the reasons of Team Russia's defeat to Canada at the latest Olympic Tournament, examined the differences between the management of the two national teams and tried to suggest some changes to get the revenge in Sochi.

RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation of the interview.

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.

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.

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."

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

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.