Tag: Alexander Ovechkin News and Interviews

Jul302010 by Gary LawsNo Comments

Alexander Ovechkin gets Kharlamov Trophy

Alexander Ovechkin gets Kharlamov Trophy (Photo © Getty Images) Alexander Ovechkin won the Valeri Kharlamov Trophy awarded by Sovietskiy Sport to the best Russian player in the NHL. It's the fifth consecutive win for the Washington Capitals' superstar. "I'm very happy to get the trophy named after Kharlamov for the fifth time. Deserved or not deserved, I've got it and I'm glad that the NHL guys voted for me. Now I've got to try to win it for the sixth time", said Ovechkin after the ceremony. "It's great that Alexander won the award for the fifth time", added Ovechkin's mom Tatiana. "Valeri Kharlamov was a great player and it's great that Ovechkin won the trophy named after him. It's sad that Kharlamov's father passed away, we miss him."

May232010 by Gary LawsNo Comments

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...

May62010 by Gary LawsNo Comments

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 ...

Mar32010 by Gary LawsNo Comments

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...

Feb222010 by Gary LawsNo Comments

Ovechkin, Gonchar, Kovalchuk, Volchenkov talk about Czech Republic, hit on Jagr

Russian National Hockey Team News

Ovechkin, Gonchar, Kovalchuk, Volchenkov talk about Czech Republic, hit on Jagr (Photo © Alex Livesey/Getty Images) 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. "Ovechkin has a very good physical play, that's why he always tries to pressure the opponents", Sergei Gonchar told Sport-Express. "Successful actions are always reflected to the team's morale. This was the case of today's game. I think ...

Feb212010 by Gary LawsNo Comments

Alexander Ovechkin: “Jagr made a move to my side and I just hit him”

Russian National Hockey Team News

Alexander Ovechkin: "Jagr made a move to my side and I just hit him" (Photo © Gene J. Puskar, AP) 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 R...

Feb212010 by Gary Laws12 Comments

Russia defeats Czech Republic 4-2

Russian National Hockey Team News

Russia defeats Czech Republic 4-2 (Photo © REUTERS/ Scott Audette) 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 Plekan...

Feb212010 by Gary LawsNo Comments

2010 Olympics: Russia – Czech Republic preview

Russian National Hockey Team News

2010 Olympics: Russia - Czech Republic preview (Photo © Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) 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 li...

Feb192010 by Gary Laws11 Comments

World Championship – Russia loses to Slovakia in shootout, 1-2

Russian National Hockey Team News

Russia loses to Slovakia in shootout, 1-2 (Photo © AP Photo) 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 Afin...

Feb172010 by Gary Laws5 Comments

Russia gets the first Olympic win over Latvia

Russian National Hockey Team News

Russia gets the first Olympic win over Latvia (Photo © Getty Images) 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 frene...