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World Cup: Canada-Russia semifinal pre game talk

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Canada vs Russia is my favourite rivalry in hockey.

Russia's best hope will be Bobrovsky -- who has been looking very good this tournament.
 
Stat of the tournament:

OV is only 4th (!) on the team in shots.

Now I know that Russia has other talented offensive players, but two of the players that have more shots are Orlov and Kulikov (seriously?).

This also shows OV's commitment to team's play. Personally, I think he has been far less selfish then in previous tournaments.
 
1996 WC Canada-Russia 5-3
2004 WC Canada-Russia 3-1
2006 OG Canada-Russia 0-2
2010 OG Canada-Russia 7-3

So far Russia has only won one game against Canada in best on best tournaments. Canada will win but it won't be a 6-0 type of game.

Prediction 4-2 Canada.
 
Only way Russia wins this is if Bob goes full Hasek. Don't see it happening 4-2 Canada.
 
garbageteam said:
Canada-Russia will always have historic and cultural significance that transcends the sport, and frankly these two teams haven't been playing against each other with their full rosters that often. Their A teams haven't played each other in over 6 years. And you want to sacrifice that for some gimmick B team?
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Good point. We don't see these games as often as we would have liked.

In 1998 I was really hoping to see Canada-Russia final but Hasek was there to stop Canada. In 2006 and 2010 they met in the quarterfinal, too early. No games between these two great hockey nations in 2002 and 2014. Now it will be a nice one for sure. Our media always talks about previous games versus Russians and in case Canada gets a nice win here, we will be seeing highlights of the game for many years to come :yo:
 
WMT said:
1996 WC Canada-Russia 5-3
2004 WC Canada-Russia 3-1
2006 OG Canada-Russia 0-2
2010 OG Canada-Russia 7-3

So far Russia has only won one game against Canada in best on best tournaments. Canada will win but it won't be a 6-0 type of game.

Prediction 4-2 Canada.
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I'm sorry but 2004 can't be qualified as best on best considering that several Russian players boycotted the event including their best goaltender, Khabibulin, best defenseman, Zubov, and top 2 centers, Zhamnov & Fedorov. Viktor freaking Kozlov ended up playing 1C. :laugh:

Similar situation to the 91 Canada Cup.

Also, it must be noted that Canada was on home ice for 3 of those 4 games. All wins.
 
Paxton Fettel said:
I'm sorry but 2004 can't be qualified as best on best considering that several Russian players boycotted the event including their best goaltender, Khabibulin, best defenseman, Zubov, and top 2 centers, Zhamnov & Fedorov. Viktor freaking Kozlov ended up playing 1C. :laugh:
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But Ovechkin was there :naughty:

Ok, ok, 2004 removed from the list :nod:
 
MaxV said:
Stat of the tournament:

OV is only 4th (!) on the team in shots.

Now I know that Russia has other talented offensive players, but two of the players that have more shots are Orlov and Kulikov (seriously?).

This also shows OV's commitment to team's play. Personally, I think he has been far less selfish then in previous tournaments.
Click to expand...

One other fact : Ovy made a sucessful pass today. And it turned out to be the GW assist. Incredible. :laugh::popcorn:
 
MaxV said:
Stat of the tournament:

OV is only 4th (!) on the team in shots.

Now I know that Russia has other talented offensive players, but two of the players that have more shots are Orlov and Kulikov (seriously?).

This also shows OV's commitment to team's play. Personally, I think he has been far less selfish then in previous tournaments.
Click to expand...

And he has quietly collected three points as well. I agree that he has committed more to defense, but one of the main reason that he doesn't have many shots is that we suck on power play.
 
Team Russia defense is not strong. Canada needs to play the game in Russia's end.
 
Firsov99 said:
And he has quietly collected three points as well. I agree that he has committed more to defense, but one of the main reason that he doesn't have many shots is that we suck on power play.
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Plus he keeps missing the net.
 
I've got a gut feeling one of two things will happen

1. Russia beats Canada in a classic and then loses to Sweden in the final
2. Canada blows out Russia in rout to winning the whole tournament
 
Regarding the Russia vs. Canada semin-final - not liking Russia's chances too much, but Russia does have certain factors working for them:

1) Offensive firepower - granted, many have been underperforming, but with snipers like Tarasenko or Ovechkin, the puck can find twine in a flash.
2) If Russia scores a goal, they usually follow it up with more, i.e. they gain a lot of momentum from each goal and improve their game.
3) Bob - he's been impeccable so far, saving the team heroically in many cases.
4) The defense has been improving - they still have problems with speed and organization, but they've shown that they're quite good at blocking shots and their 1 on 1 skills
have been improving throughout the tournament.
5) Potential - Team Russia's still not playing the hockey they could be playing. Maybe it will take a very tough opponent like Team Canada to realize that potential.

So, I think Russia could pull off the upset if they manage to score and then follow up their goals with more pressure, ensuing in more goals - which happened in their last two games.
At any rate, I hope we'll witness an entertaining and highly competitive, skilled game.
 
Not buying into the hype here: Canada is going to obliterate Russia.

They simply don't have any defense and they are going to get eaten by a comically talented offensive group.
 
I really believe this might be close...Canada sure has steamrolled all so far and Russia has been Meh...but I think and hope this will be a great rivalry.
 
Canada deserves to be heavily favored for obvious reasons, but there are two things that Russia has going for them: (1) Russia has nothing to lose, and (2) Canada will be very overconfident. Their coaches will them not to be overconfident, but in order to be mentally and emotionally prepared to win a game, you have to be able to create a mental picture of the other team beating you. All of these guys have had previous success against the Russians, and they just have no fear of losing at all!
 
Robban7 said:
Is it still possible to buy tickets for Russia - Canada and/or the finals?
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Yes, plenty of tickets are available right now. 4500 tickets available for the semifinal on StubHub. 5000 tickets available for the final. Ticketmaster has some nice center ice reds for the final.
 
Russia is is gonna get bent. Wish we were getting Canada-North America but whatever. Russia took advantage of weak goaltending at the right time so they get to advance.
 
Would love for this to be a classic Canada/Russia battle, with all the big stars firing on all cylinders, but I have a feeling Canada is going to put on a clinic, as they usually do. Borderline-boring domination. Hopefully, Bob stands on his head and keeps it close.
 
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