WJC: 2021 Russia Roster Talk

[Yakushev72]

If the Professor is carrying out a master conspiracy to seize the Gold Medal, he certainly chose a more difficult path by allowing Sweden to tie the game late in the 3rd. Even with an overtime win, they get fewer points (8 overall), which the USA could surpass with a win in regulation time, or Sweden could surpass even with an overtime win. If they had won in regulation time, they could have locked up 1st place in the Group based on head-to-head wins over the USA and Sweden. There is a big difference between playing Switzerland and Germany, despite yesterday's surprise upset.

At the risk of sounding pessimistic, and I always hope they prove me wrong, I don't have a vision of these guys wearing Gold Medals. In comparison to the 2019 and 2020 teams, it seems that there is a lack of talent and depth, and only against Sweden did they show a willingness to contest the play in front of the opposing goal. The defense is slow, non-physical, and overall, they don't handle the puck well enough to clear the defensive zone. The only performance that could be considered dominant was against Austria, but that was to be expected. A Bronze Medal would be a good showing for this team.

 

[57special]

It wasn't just Broberg. Johansson, Andrae and even Soderstrom all were beaten on simple line rushes. Seems like I might have overestimated the Swedish defence, or underestimated the Russian forwards.

Canada is stacked this year, even without Dach. To criticize Larionov if he can't win a Gold this year seems unfair.

 

[MuckOG]

Very good game last night by Russia. The Professor had his team prepared from the first puck drop.

I'm also liking that Marat Khusnutdinov kid. One hell of a motor on that guy. It's a shame he got drafted by the Wild.

Yeah, what a shame.

 

[NyQuil]

If the Professor is carrying out a master conspiracy to seize the Gold Medal, he certainly chose a more difficult path by allowing Sweden to tie the game late in the 3rd.

I didn't know that he was still playing. He's looking pretty young for his age I'll grant you.

 

[Yakushev72]

I didn't know that he was still playing. He's looking pretty young for his age I'll grant you.

I think you missed the point! Re-read the thread and reconsider the question.

 

[NyQuil]

I think you missed the point! Re-read the thread and reconsider the question.

I think you missed my joke.

 

[Yakushev72]

It wasn't just Broberg. Johansson, Andrae and even Soderstrom all were beaten on simple line rushes. Seems like I might have overestimated the Swedish defence, or underestimated the Russian forwards.

Canada is stacked this year, even without Dach. To criticize Larionov if he can't win a Gold this year seems unfair.

I agree. You can criticize him for failing to give his team a way to succeed, and I have, but it would be unfair to criticize him for failing to achieve a certain outcome. However, I also suspect that his strategy and tactics may actively prevent his players from showing how talented they really are. Instead of attacking with speed, they are "building" from behind, and playing on the periphery in the opposing zone. That has had the effect of reducing the amount of scoring that they have done, and making them more vulnerable to a number of teams in the tournament, including Canada.

 

[Yakushev72]

I think you missed my joke.

That I did!

 

[TheGoldenJet]

It wasn't just Broberg. Johansson, Andrae and even Soderstrom all were beaten on simple line rushes. Seems like I might have overestimated the Swedish defence, or underestimated the Russian forwards.

Canada is stacked this year, even without Dach. To criticize Larionov if he can't win a Gold this year seems unfair.

I agree. Soderstrom was beaten multiple times, he should be dominating at his age at this tournament, but defensively he was not good. At least Broberg has the injury excuse. Disappointing game from Soderstrom to say the least.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

I agree. Soderstrom was beaten multiple times, he should be dominating at his age at this tournament, but defensively he was not good. At least Broberg has the injury excuse. Disappointing game from Soderstrom to say the least.

Soderstrom has been very disappointing to me, he looked better last year. This leads me to believe that losing Morten may have had a bigger impact than we think.

 

[57special]

@Yakushev72 But the Russians did play with speed against the Swedes, who are usually a fast team themselves? They looked significantly faster.

 

[The don godfather]

This Roman bychov kid on russia looks good.

 

[Yakushev72]

@Yakushev72 But the Russians did play with speed against the Swedes, who are usually a fast team themselves? They looked significantly faster.

They have good speed on the forward lines. I was looking more at the defense, where speed has been an issue over the years. They need to either be fast or physical to keep teams from setting up and controlling the puck in their defensive zone.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

It wasn't just Broberg. Johansson, Andrae and even Soderstrom all were beaten on simple line rushes. Seems like I might have overestimated the Swedish defence, or underestimated the Russian forwards.

Canada is stacked this year, even without Dach. To criticize Larionov if he can't win a Gold this year seems unfair.

Sweden underestimated the Russians and didn't bring their A game in the first period. Sweden is arguably the best skating team in the tournament and didn't show that last night. I think the easy games against teams like Austria and Czech republic didn't prepare them enough. Also looking at the total lack of adjustments to the powerplay and penalty kill I think that this Sweden team is undercoached. Or maybe they have a helicoptor coach doing the job from overseas?

 

[WetcoastOrca]

This Roman bychov kid on russia looks good.

Shocked that you’d plug a Boston pick!

 

[Atas2000]

If the Professor is carrying out a master conspiracy to seize the Gold Medal, he certainly chose a more difficult path by allowing Sweden to tie the game late in the 3rd. Even with an overtime win, they get fewer points (8 overall), which the USA could surpass with a win in regulation time, or Sweden could surpass even with an overtime win. If they had won in regulation time, they could have locked up 1st place in the Group based on head-to-head wins over the USA and Sweden. There is a big difference between playing Switzerland and Germany, despite yesterday's surprise upset.

At the risk of sounding pessimistic, and I always hope they prove me wrong, I don't have a vision of these guys wearing Gold Medals. In comparison to the 2019 and 2020 teams, it seems that there is a lack of talent and depth, and only against Sweden did they show a willingness to contest the play in front of the opposing goal. The defense is slow, non-physical, and overall, they don't handle the puck well enough to clear the defensive zone. The only performance that could be considered dominant was against Austria, but that was to be expected. A Bronze Medal would be a good showing for this team.

Waking up to 2021 and looking at the grid...

We have Germany and then the winner of Sweden-Finnland in our half.

 

[Yakushev72]

Waking up to 2021 and looking at the grid...

We have Germany and then the winner of Sweden-Finnland in our half.

It appears that they have caught a really good break in the seeding. I was surprised to see that the IIHF website projects that, if both teams win in the QF, then two No. 1 ranked teams, Canada and the United States, would play each other in the Semi-Final round, while No. 2 Group rank Russia would play No.3 Group rank Sweden in the other Semi-Final. I never paid close attention, but I thought, in theory, that they would always try to reward the higher ranked team by seeding them against a lower-ranked crossover team. I believe that Sweden's loss yesterday was largely owing to fatigue from back-to-back games against top teams, but if we had the choice, we would probably rather go up against Sweden or Finland than against Canada.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

It appears that they have caught a really good break in the seeding. I was surprised to see that the IIHF website projects that, if both teams win in the QF, then two No. 1 ranked teams, Canada and the United States, would play each other in the Semi-Final round, while No. 2 Group rank Russia would play No.3 Group rank Sweden in the other Semi-Final. I never paid close attention, but I thought, in theory, that they would always try to reward the higher ranked team by seeding them against a lower-ranked crossover team. I believe that Sweden's loss yesterday was largely owing to fatigue from back-to-back games against top teams, but if we had the choice, we would probably rather go up against Sweden or Finland than against Canada.

That is not the way it will work. The teams are reseeded after the QF. So if Canada,USA,Russia and Sweden win the semi's are Canada-Sweden and USA Russia. A Finnish win and it is Canada-Russia and USA-Finland.

 

[Yakushev72]

That is not the way it will work. The teams are reseeded after the QF. So if Canada,USA,Russia and Sweden win the semi's are Canada-Sweden and USA Russia. A Finnish win and it is Canada-Russia and USA-Finland.

That sounds more like what I thought it would be. The IIHF website appears to show that if Canada and the USA win the QF round, they would meet in the Semis, while Sweden and Russia would meet in the other Semi. That didn't sound right, but that is what it appeared to project.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

That sounds more like what I thought it would be. The IIHF website appears to show that if Canada and the USA win the QF round, they would meet in the Semis, while Sweden and Russia would meet in the other Semi. That didn't sound right, but that is what it appeared to project.

Yeah they have it bracketed on the website but the bracket isn't being followed right to the final.

In the semi-finals the best-ranked team - criteria: 1) placement in the group, 2) points in the preliminary round, 3) goal difference in the preliminary round, 4) goals scored in the preliminary round, 5) seeding coming into the tournament - will play against the lowest-ranked semi-finalist. The 2nd-best ranked semi-finalist will play the 3rd-best ranked semi-finalist. The host if qualified, or otherwise the best-ranked semi-finalist according to beforementioned criteria, shall play the early game. The time slots will officially be determined after the quarter-final games.

Off the IIHF website on how the Semi's work this year. Essentially all 8 teams have been seeded and the top seed that wins will play the lowest seed that wins a quarter.

 

[VVP]

Looks like Abramov will be suspended for one game.

 

[c9gunner]

Looks like Abramov will be suspended for one game.

Hopefully he will learn his lesson. That was a very stupid penalty. He is a good player but he has to control himself if he wants to succeed.

 

[BlitzSnipe]

Ok, so assuming that Russia will beat Germany (even though I believe they have to be careful, especially about Germany's top line), a Finnish victory over Sweden is more favourable to Russia, because they seem to fall short vs. Canada in the finals but have shown to do better vs. Canada in round robin or QF/SF games.

 

[TheDoldrums]

Hopefully Chinakhov can return. Offense starts to look thin without him and now Abramov, putting a lot of pressure on that top line to produce.

 

[cska78]

I thought Abramov was one of the best players vs Sweden, if not the best player. He will be missed. If we are forward short, may be Chayka can play forward for one game.