Alexander Radulov: “I never regretted my choice” (Photo © Le Soleil)

After his move from Nashville to Russia, Alexander Radulov has been very discreet with the media. But he decided to give an exclusive interview to Mikaël Lalancette of Le Soleil, in which he talked about his controversial move, about his future and about Quebec City.

RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation.

Early Years

Alexander Radulov moved from Russia to North America in 2004, when he was picked up by the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL. “At this point we can say that it was the first betrayal of my career. The Remparts drafted me and so I decided to come and play in Quebec. Back at home my relatives and my friends didn’t understand me. They told me that I could keep on playing in Russia and still dreaming about the NHL.”

So Radulov packed his things and moved to Quebec, a francophone city in which he was very comfortable. “People were great. The two years I spent in Quebec were among the best in my life.”

Back in Russia

After stealing the show in the QMJHL, Radulov graduated in the NHL. “My dream came true. Scoring my first NHL goal in my second game was just great. But in my head I always had a call from home…”

But despite the growing interest the NHL had toward Radulov, he decided to slam the door and announce that he was going to play in Russia. And this was another betrayal. The fans which idolized him for moving from Russia to America now labeled him as traitor.

“I can understand their disappointment, but getting back home was good for me. I had good reasons. I wanted to be closer to my family and keep on doing my favorite thing.” Now Radulov lives near St. Petersburg with his family. Maybe he’s annoyed with North America? “Yes and no. It’s so different. Yes, I miss a few people with whom I’m close to, but I’m okay with myself. And I’m at home.”

The future

Recently Radulov ensured that David Pole, Predators’ GM, knows his chances to get back to the USA for the next season and that he accepted the fact that he wants to honor his 3-yr deal with Salavat Yulaev Ufa. But Radulov believes that no links were broken and that he’s ready to welcome Radulov back in the NHL.

“People were nice to me there, they have good fans and I liked the organization. My agent actually talked to them during these years. But I don’t want to play the speculation game. For now I’m a KHL player.”

Even if he refuses to officially state a return, Radulov also said that he was always honest about his desire to play in the NHL. After his departure many pointed the finger at him for having left the Predators just for money.

“People said and written many things about me after my departure from Nashville, but I never lied about my intention to play in the world’s best league. The KHL is a good league, but the NHL is still the best.”

In the 2009-2010, Radulov was his team’s top scorer with 24 goals, 39 assists and 63 points in 54 games. Even if he is satisfied with his personal season, his team’s failure in the playoffs left him disappointed. “My goal has always been to win and we didn’t win the cup this year. For Alexander Radulov this is not satisfactory!”

In spite of such a loud move two years ago, Radulov never crossed out a potential return in the NHL. “I’m going to take the best decision for the moment. I don’t want to say ‘no’ to anyone, but as expected I’ll honor the final year of my contract.”

After his return in Russia many rumors stated that he regretted his decision to leave Nashville, but as he said, many untrue things were said about the process. “I never regretted my choice, but I have to say that at first it wasn’t easy. After my first depart, four years before, many things changed. And I had to deal with some details. The NHL has 100 years of history, the KHL is still at the start and so there were some problems. I was a bit discouraged, but I’ve never regretted being away from Nashville. My goal was to play hockey at home. And I took my decision.”

Radulov also explained once again that the NHL is still on the top. “The KHL has improved a lot, now many cities have modern arenas. But even if the league’s level grow a lot, also due to the North Americans playing there, it’s still not comparable to the NHL.”

The former Rempart also indicated that the NHL should consider returning back to Quebec City, mostly for its supporters. “I’ve spent two fantastic years with them. I’ve never seen a better place to play than the Coliseum. The supporters were truly great when we won the Memorial Cup. Quebec is the best place of the world for hockey. The supporters are unique. Promise me to write this!”

Original articles by Mikaël Lalancette of Le Soleil

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 was really disappointing.

Defencemen

Andrei Markov: C+
Unfortunately he wasn’t in his best shape. He tried hard being useful for his team but he didn’t play his best and also he didn’t get enough ice time.

Anton Volchenkov: C+
One of the best blueliners for this team. He always tried hard, blocked a lot of shots, played physically. But against Canada he didn’t particularly stand out .

Dmitriy Kalinin: C
He didn’t look out of place. He wasn’t team Russia’s best blueliner but he did his job.

Sergei Gonchar: C
Just like Markov he didn’t get too much ice time. And he appeared in the score sheet only once.

Fedor Tyutin: C-
He didn’t do anything special. As a NHL player he should have bring more to the team.

Ilya Nikulin: C-
He didn’t make disasters, but it showed that he’s not used to face elite level competition and he faced some hard time in the own zone.

Denis Grebeshkov: C-
He didn’t impress, even in the round robin games. He still has a lot of room for improvements, but he has to deliver better performances.

Konstantin Korneev: C-
He didn’t look bad, but he was the only pointless player on the roster. The CSKA captain didn’t look out of place in the round robin, even if he has been played most of times in an unusual and unexpected role. His ice time has been limited in the game against Canada.

Forwards

Sergei Fedorov: C+
The proof that you can be a good player even at 40. Even if he looked a bit slow, he played well throughout the whole tournament and despite the infamous quarterfinal game he was one of the best players in Team Russia jersey.

Evgeni Malkin: C
Malkin, just like most of the forwards, played fairly well in the round robin matches, but he didn’t show up when it mattered more.

Pavel Datsyuk: C
Maybe he didn’t gel with his linemates, but Datsyuk didn’t really impress during these Olympic games, he didn’t look the key player he is for the Red Wings, just think about the shoot out attempt against Slovakia.

Alexei Morozov: C
Team Russia’s captain tried hard, but didn’t impress too much. He scored an important goal against the Slovaks, but that’s pretty much all.

Maxim Afinogenov: C
He went unpleasantly unnoticed in the first couple of games, then he improved a bit and scored a nice, yet unuseful, goal against the Canadians.

Danis Zaripov: C-
The ZZM line has always had good chemistry, too bad in Vancouver they played on small ice…He did fairly well in the first couple of games, then he slept away.

Viktor Kozlov: C-
His call was questionable, and he didn’t do too much to make people change idea. That being said, he could have get a chance in the shootouts against Slovakia.

Alexander Radulov: C-
Radulov didn’t play bad, but not great either. He almost spoiled the party against the Slovaks when he missed a chance, got a penalty and then injured Zinoviev, but he probably deserved more ice time.

Sergei Zinoviev: C-
Kudos for playing in the quarterfinals on one leg, but he should have sat on the bench, especially after that terrible turnover in the neutral zone that led Canadians to a goal.

Alexander Ovechkin: D
Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the tournament as he was the most awaited player. He was a no factor against Canada and overall lost the phenom fight against Crosby.

Ilya Kovalchuk: D
What a difference between the Kovalchuk we admired at the last two WC in Quebec and Switzerland. He looked more the player on ice at the Turin Olympics. One goal is definitely not enough for a player of his caliber.

Alexander Semin: D
Just like other Russian superstar forwards, he didn’t show up.

Ovechkin-Datsyuk-Semin, Kovalchuk-Malkin-Afinogenov and other lines at Team Russia practice (Photo © Reuters)

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

All-Star Game rosters released (Photo © khlallstar.ru)

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)

Read also:
Fedorov, Babchuk, Kalinin, Simon added to All-Star Game roster
KHL All Star Game’s starting lineup announced

KHL individual stats: goals, assists, points (Photo © khl.ru)

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.

KHL Top Goal Scorers

1. Marcel Hossa, Dinamo Riga, 24 goals in 37 games.
2. Alexei Morozov, Ak Bars, 20 in 34.
3. Maxim Spiridonov, Barys, 20 in 40.
4. Maxim Sushinskiy, SKA, 18 in 39.
5. Alexander Radulov, Salavat Yulaev, 18 in 36.

KHL Assists Leaders

1. Alexei Yashin, SKA, 32 assists in 39 games.
2. Sushinskiy Maxim, SKA, 29 in 33.
3. Sergei Zinoviev, Salavat Yulaev, 28 in 42.
4. Sergei Mozyakin, Atlant, 26 in 36.
5. Patrick Thoresen, Salavat Yulaev, 26 in 38.

KHL Points Leaders

1. Maxim Sushinskiy, SKA, 47 points in 39 games.
2. Alexei Yashin, SKA, 44 in 39.
3. Alexander Radulov, Salavat Yulaev, 43 in 36.
4. Sergei Zinoviev, Salavat Yulaev, 42 in 37.
5. Sergei Mozyakin, Atlant, 41 in 36.

KHL Plus/Minus Leaders

1. Patrick Thoresen, Salavat Yulaev, +25.
2. Raymond Giroux, SKA, +25.
3. Sergei Fedorov, Metallurg Mg, +22.
4. Vitaliy Vishnevskiy, Lokomotiv, +22.
5. Miroslav Blatak, Salavat Yulaev, +22.

Here are some useful links with complete lists:
Top Goal Scorers
Assists Leaders
Points Leaders
Plus/Minus Leaders

Russian Olympics roster released (Photo © vancouver2010.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.