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Russian National Hockey Team News

Vyacheslav Bykov will remain head coach of Team Russia

Vyacheslav Bykov will remain head coach of Team Russia

Russian National Hockey Team News
Vyacheslav Bykov will remain head coach of Team Russia (Photo © Associated Press) Today the Russian Hockey Federation announced that the team coaches Vyacheslav Bykov and Igor Zakharkin will continue working with the Russian National team. "Their work with the team was found to be satisfactory," said Vladislav Tretiak to Sovetskiy Sport. "Soon we will meet to discuss the details of the new contract." This season was very unsuccessful for Russia as it suffered two major losses: in the Olympics' quarterfinal against Canada (3:7) and in the World Championship final against the Czech Republic (1:2). Like Russian hockey? Join our forum and get involved!
Vyacheslav Bykov: “Sixty percent of today’s roster will play in Sochi”

Vyacheslav Bykov: “Sixty percent of today’s roster will play in Sochi”

Russian National Hockey Team News
Vyacheslav Bykov: "Sixty percent of today's roster will play in Sochi" (Photo © RIA Novosti/Vladimir Fedorenko) After the 2-1 loss to Czech Republic in the 2010 World Championship in Germany, Vyacheslav Bykov gave an interview to the popular Russian website Sovietsky Sport. Bykov stated that the sixty percent of today's roster will be playin in the 2014 Olympics, talked about his future with the Russian national team, tried to analyze the reasons of the defeat and also talked about the foreigners policy within the KHL. Bykov: "This was a dramatic game for us, since the first seconds of it. We allowed such an early goal. Fortune smiled our opponents when they needed it more. It took us a lot of time to get a chance to beat the Czech defense. And it wasn't easy at all. Their goalkeeper [Tom...
2010 WC: Czech Republic gets the Gold

2010 WC: Czech Republic gets the Gold

Russian National Hockey Team News
2010 WC: Czech Republic gets the Gold (Photo © REUTERS/Grigory Dukor) Team Czech Republic won the Gold Medal in the 2010 WC Finals. The Czechs prevailed 2-1 after an early goal by Jakub Klepis assisted by Jaromir Jagr and a marker from Tomas Rolinek late in the second period. Pavel Datsyuk cut down the Czech advantage with a third period goal, but Bykov's team didn't manage to revert the score. Surely this wasn't the best season for Team Russia. Ovechkin and other Russian players didn't manage to tie it up despite a couple of powerplay chances in the second half of the first period as Tomas Vokoun played solidly between the pipes. Pavel Datsyuk managed to put the puck in the back of the net during a last second rush, but the clock hit the zero before the puck went in. During the second pe...
World Championship – Semyon Varlamov: “Perry wanted to injure Ovechkin”

World Championship – Semyon Varlamov: “Perry wanted to injure Ovechkin”

Russian National Hockey Team News
Semyon Varlamov: "Perry wanted to injure Ovechkin" (Photo © Sovsport.ru) After the 5-2 win in the 2010 World Championship's quarterfinals, goalie Semyon Varlamov gave an interview to Russian sport website Sovietskiy Sport. Semyon Varlamov: "In the first ten minutes Team Canada always plays very actively. They created some moments. But they didn't manage to score, I don't know why." Don't be so modest! Semyon Varlamov: "In a couple of chances they simply didn't have room. I'm not saying that they brought a bad team here. Canada can beat anyone with any roster. But this time we were better." Did you see that in the second period Brooks Laich slashed Ovechkin from behind? And he's a Caps player too! Semyon Varlamov: "In general Team Canada played very roughly. When the score was 3-0 [Corey] ...
2010 WC: Russia trumps Finland 5-0

2010 WC: Russia trumps Finland 5-0

Russian National Hockey Team News
2010 WC: Russia trumps Finland 5-0 (Photo © REUTERS/Grigory Dukor) Team Russia defeated team Finland 5-0 in the last Qualification Group game of the 2010 World Championship. Alexander Ovechkin ended his goal streak. Team Finland started well the first period, putting a lot of pressure over Varlamov. But despite a long 5-on-3 chance with Alexei Emelin and Dmitry Kulikov in the penalty box, the Finns didn't manage to score. With the teams back on even strength Kulikov had a good chance getting out of the sin bin, but he was hooked down by a defenceman, thus drawing a penalty for Bykov's team. On the consequent man advantage team Russia cycled well the puck, but couldn't get it into Vehanen's net. At the sixteenth minute team Russia scored the first goal of the game: the puck moved fast from...
2010 WC: Russian preliminary roster is out

2010 WC: Russian preliminary roster is out

Russian National Hockey Team News
2010 WC: Russian preliminary roster is out (Photo © Sport-Express) Team Russia released the preliminary roster for the upcoming 2010 World Championship, that will be played in Germany from May 7th to 23rd.. Bykov and Zakharkin made some changes from the LG Hockey Games line-up. The roster is made up of 11 NHL players and 12 KHL players. The team's captain isn't decided yet. Most likely the starting goaltender duties will be shared between Eremenko and Varlamov, with Koshechkin acting as third goalie. Goalkeepers: Alexander Eremenko (Salavat Yulaev Ufa) Vasily Koshechkin (Metallurg Magnitogorsk) Semyon Varlamov (Washington Capitals) Defencemen: Konstantin Korneev (CSKA Moscow) Vitaly Atyushov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk) Dmitriy Kalinin (Salavat Yulaev Ufa) Ilya Nikulin (Ak Bars Kazan) Alexei ...
World Championship – Ilya Kovalchuk: “We need to win now like never before”

World Championship – Ilya Kovalchuk: “We need to win now like never before”

Russian National Hockey Team News
Ilya Kovalchuk: "We need to win now like never before" (Photo © Bruce Bennet/Getty Images) Ilya Kovalchuk gave an interview to Russian newspaper Sovetskiy Sport where he talked about going to the World Championship without a contract in the NHL, his favorites to win the Stanley Cup, what Russian players agreed to do after failing at the Olympics. RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation. Many thought that you won't play for the national team. It is very risky as you don't have a contract for the next season in the NHL. Besides your wife gave a birth to your son in March. Was this decision hard to take? Kovalchuk: "After failing in Vancouver all guys agreed to go to the World Championship if there is a chance. We must win and make this season end well. My wife Nicole understood me at...
Ilya Kovalchuk, Denis Grebeshkov and Alexander Frolov added to Team Russia

Ilya Kovalchuk, Denis Grebeshkov and Alexander Frolov added to Team Russia

Russian National Hockey Team News
Ilya Kovalchuk, Denis Grebeshkov and Alexander Frolov added to Team Russia (Photo © RIA Novosti) As reported by the official site of the Russian Hockey Federation, forwards Ilya Kovalchuk (New Jersey Devils) and Alexander Frolov (Los Angeles Kings), as well as blue liner Denis Grebeshkov (Nashville Predators) have been added to team Russia's roster for the upcoming 2010 IIHF World Championship in Germany as their NHL teams were excluded from the Stanley Cup run. This is surely a boost for team Russia, who will miss Anton Volchenkov and Igor Grigorenko due to injuries. Bykov and Zakharkin will be also without Alexei Morozov, Danis Zaripov and Sergei Zinoviev, all sidelined with injuries. Salavat Yulaev's Alexander Radulov got a mild injury too and will miss the upcoming LG Hockey games in ...
Anton Volchenkov: “I’m not planning a trip to Germany”

Anton Volchenkov: “I’m not planning a trip to Germany”

Russian National Hockey Team News
Anton Volchenkov: "I'm not planning a trip to Germany" (Photo © Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images) During an interview with Russian popular newspaper Sovietskiy Sport, Ottawa Senators' defenseman Anton Volchenkov won't go to the upcoming 2010 World Championship in Germany. The 28 years old would be free as his Senators just lost the first round NHL playoffs series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Anton Volchenkov: "Now I'm not planning of doing the trip to Germany to play on the World Championship. I need some rehabilitation. There are some problems with my health. I will discuss about this with National Team's head coach Vyacheslav Bykov." CSKA Moscow forward Denis Parshin has been cut from the National Team camp for the upcoming LG Hockey Games in Sweden, Euro Hockey Tour.
2010 Olympics: Team Russia aftermath

2010 Olympics: Team Russia aftermath

Russian National Hockey Team News
2010 Olympics: Team Russia aftermath (Photo © sovsport.ru) 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. Goalkeepers Ilya Bryzgalov: B+ He played a good game against Slovakia, but he got a L and thus he got benched in the following matches. He should have get more chances. Evgeny Nabokov: D In the first match against Latvia he didn't look too good, but it was an easy game. Against the Czechs he did his job, but in the quarterfinals he had just a terrible night. He should have been benched earlier. He...