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.

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] Perry slashed Sasha [Ovechkin] from behind. That was really dirty. I’m sure that Perry did want to injure him.”

Why?

Semyon Varlamov: “So that he couldn’t play again in the tournament.”

That’s mean.

Semyon Varlamov: “Agreed. But in Team Canada there are two players like that. Perry and [Steve] Downie. And the second one really confirms his surname. You know what I mean. He behaved shamefully.”

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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 Alexander Ovechkin to Alexander Semin to Sergei Fedorov and went in after the veteran’s easy touch.

In the second period Russia started pushing a bit more and midway through the game they had a great chance when Evgeni Malkin and Kovalchuk exchanged the puck while on a 2-on-0, but Vehanen robbed Malkin of a goal with a fantastic save on the forward’s one timer.

At the 33rd minute, with the man advantage, a good rush put Russia up by two goals. Ilya Kovalchuk got the puck deep in the slot, but instead of shooting he nicely served Evgeny Malkin, who one timed the puck between Vehanen’s legs.

The consequent face off was won by Rangers’ Artem Anisimov. Maxim Afinogenov rushed fast on the right and shot, Nikolai Kulemin picked up the rebound and put it in the back of the net.

The thid period started well for Russia as they managed to quickly score twice. First Alexei Emelin scored with a great slap shot from the blue line, then Maxim Afinogenov spoiled a wrong change by Finland to get in front of Vehanen and make it a 5-0 goal with a quick wrist shot. After this goal team Finland benched Vehanen and brought in Predators’ Pekka Rinne.

The rest of the game was considerably slower and the Russians could celebrate a deserved win. Semyon Varlamov started between the pipes and finished the game with a 36-save shutout.

Team Russia’s next game will be the quarterfinal game against Canada, scheduled for Tuesday, May 20th.

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 Emelin (Ak Bars Kazan)
Denis Grebeshkov (Nashville Predators)
Dmitry Kulikov (Florida Panthers)

Forwards:
Maxim Afinogenov (Atlanta Thrashers)
Evgeny Artyukhin (Atlanta Thrashers)
Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals)
Alexander Semin (Washington Capitals)
Alexei Tereschenko (Ak Bars Kazan)
Artem Anisimov (New York Rangers)
Ilya Kovalchuk (New Jersey Devils)
Nikolai Kulemin (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Maxim Sushinsky (SKA St. Petersburg)
Sergei Mozyakin (Atlant Mytischi)
Sergei Fedorov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk)
Viktor Kozlov (Salavat Yulaev Ufa)
Alexander Frolov (Los Angeles Kings)
Alexander Svitov (Avangard Omsk)

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.

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.

Igor Zakharkin: “Starting goalie will be known only in February” (Photo © Sportdaily.ru)

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.

– The other morning i turned on the computer and I got shocked when I read the news about Ovechkin’s injury. We are already thinking seriously about the Olympics. At any moment an injury can arrive.
I don’t know which diagnosis Sasha got, but you can’t joke with knees. This is already Ovechkin’s second injury of the season. I understand that it’s related whit his aggressive style. We are anxious for that. We hope in Washington doctors’ professionalism. And we’ll ask the national team’s doctors to get in touch with Ovechkin. We’ll help as much as possible.

– A common opinion is that Ovechkin should play more cautiously. And stay off his risky style not to get the same fate as Eric Lindros…
You can’t say for sure. Alexander plays power hockey and he’s comfortable with that. On ice he acts he follows his feelings, he plays like he’s used to and like he can. If he’ll change, then he wouldn’t be Ovechkin anymore. And also other players might get injuries.
Do you remember what Porthos says in “The three musketeers”? “I am going to fight – because I am going to fight”. He can’t be any different. And there is nothing to fear about his style. Especially considering that fans love his style.

– Getting back to the Olympics, during a radio interview with “Komsomolskaya Pravda” you said that you see Evgeny Nabokov as the first goalie. And what about Ilya Bryzgalov?
– Firstly, I wasn’t asked about Bryzgalov. Secondly, I put the stress on the fact that we a good set of players and a good interchangeability within the roster. But we can’t anticipate in November what is going to happen in February. The core of my speech was that we have a very good group of goalies.
Ilya Bryzgalov has a non-ordinary personality, he’s having a great season. He can play important matches at a very high level, like he showed in the 2009 WC finals against Canada.
Semen Varlamov is a young guy whit a big potential. He plays in Washington with confidence. He’s the future of Russian hockey. Nikolay Khabibulin – unfortunately I don’t know him in person and I only lie on information that they give us from overseas. Alexander Eremenko – you can rely on him, he will make a save when it’s needed the most.
All the named goalies, included Vasily Koshechkin, will skate in the Olympic training camp. Anyone of them has chances to go to Vancouver. And the starter will be known not now, but on mid February. We don’t want to rush on this theme. Let us work quietly.

– Did you already decide what kind of roster you’ll declare on December 25th?
So far we haven’t had a final information from the IIHF. I hope that the Russian Hockey Federation would get a stronger position in negotiations with the people from international federation responsible of the Olympic games’ organization. We are thinking about two solutions. The first one would be forming a list around the New Year with NHL players only. The second solution – claiming NHL players and an expanded list of candidates from the KHL. But they didn’t give us a final response yet.

By wearing good quality goalie masks you can be sure that you’d hit the goal.