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.
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.
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.
After stating that the Olympic starter should be Evgeny Nabokov, team Russia assistant coach Igor Zakharkin makes an u-turn and says that the first goalie will be known in February only.
Russian Hockey Fans offers you a translation of an interview with Sovietskiy Sport interview in with Zakharkin speaks about goalies' chances and about Ovechkin's need not to change his style.
