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 period Team Russia pushed the gas trying to tie it up, but without much luck. At the eighteenth minute Ovechkin and Fedorov collided deep in the zone, Karel Rachunek got the puck and brought it up, then centering for the rushing Tomas Rolinek, who deflected the puck in with the skates, but the refs ruled the goal valid.

In the final stanza the Czechs controlled the game and kept playing a slow tempo hockey. Team Russia looked tired and couldn’t build good offensive rushes until a late goal by Pavel Datsyuk with the man advantage and Varlamov sitting on the bench. Bykov’s team kept on pushing, but the clock ran out, gifting Czech Republic a well deserved win.

Semyon Varlamov had a good game between the pipes, with 23 players. But his good performance and a roster with 13 Olympians wasn’t enough to get past a well organized Team Czech Republic.

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

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.