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World Cup: Canada-Russia semifinal pre game talk

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The game is definitely not a forgone conclusion. Anything is possible in a single elimination format. It's not too hard to see a scenario where Russia comes out of the gates with a fire under them, get a good bounce and go up 1-0 early. Bobrovsky makes a few saves, and suddenly Russia is looking good.
 
sdf said:
Which canada is stronger 2004, 2010, 2014 or this team, just wonder?
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2014 was the strongest.

The 2014 Team Canada allowed only 3 goals against in 6 games. That was the fewest goals against since the 1928 Olympics (which was done in 3 games vs. 6 in Sochi).
 
Canada is the clear favourite but Russia certainly has a chance. They have been coming on since their opening game loss to Sweden. And as many posters have said, anything can happen in a single game.
 
This is the same team that went to OT against Canada? The arrogance from some Canadian fans is a bit undeserved.
 
Frank Drebin said:
This is the same team that went to OT against Canada? The arrogance from some Canadian fans is a bit undeserved.
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In a meaningless game. This is also a team that "lost" to the usa also. But like most team canada tournaments they take a few games to get rolling and once they do it takes everything including the kitchen sink thrown at them to knock them down.
 
Dris said:
This is the strongest, better assembled russian team in a best on best tournament since 1998
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The 2006 olympic Russian team is better I think than this present edition. Much stronger on defense with a 28 yo Andrei Markov, Sergei Gonchar, Darius Kasparsitis, Anton Volchenkov, Danny Markov, etc.
The offense was strong too : Datsyuk, Kovalev, Yashin, Kovalchuk, Ovechkin, Malkin, etc. Nabokov was the goaltender.
 
will be very hard for russia's top forward to play well when they gotta face the Weber-Vlasic pairing. They better be ready to show up.
 
Barrie22 said:
In a meaningless game. This is also a team that "lost" to the usa also. But like most team canada tournaments they take a few games to get rolling and once they do it takes everything including the kitchen sink thrown at them to knock them down.
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Yes, but Canada got extremely lucky vs USA with 3 fluke bounce goals
 
xIsle said:
The 2006 olympic Russian team is better I think than this present edition. Much stronger on defense with a 28 yo Andrei Markov, Sergei Gonchar, Darius Kasparsitis, Anton Volchenkov, Danny Markov, etc.
The offense was strong too : Datsyuk, Kovalev, Yashin, Kovalchuk, Ovechkin, Malkin, etc. Nabokov was the goaltender.
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This was a very good and balanced Russian team that destroyed the future Olympic champions, the Swedes, 5-0 in a group match. Unfortunately, we lost Korolyuk and Frolov before the playoffs (they were a part of the Korolyuk-Kozlov-Frolov line). Then after the game with Canada we also lost Malkin due to a disqualification. We just didn't have the depth to replenish these losses.
 
If the Russians had a good NHL coach, I think they would be a lot better than they have showed. That said, anything can happen in a single game elimination. In a weird way, I'm almost cheering for them. This dominance by Canadian teams has gotten boring. A little adversity would sure help the entertainment factor.
Just hope it's a close game.
 
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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Not sure why you included 2004 WC. Russia didn't play its best players in that tournament. In fact, Russia/USSR didn't play its best players in the 1976 and 1991 WCs as well.
 
Canada is the stronger team and are the clear favorites, but given the amount of talent Russia has they are easily capable of beating Canada in a single game if the bounces go their way or Canada does not come out at 100%.

Not saying Russia will win, but they have a chance. Russia also seems to have the uncanny ability to pull off results despite getting outplayed.

In many ways that's the funnest part of single game elimination tournaments, more upsets and surprises.
 
Any team with Ovechkin and Malkin on it have a chance of winning any game. Though I think Canada will win, people are sleeping on Russia.
 
Ovechkin and Malkin are obviously world-class players, but as a Canadian, the two guys who scare me the most on Team Russia are Tarasenko and Kucherov because they have shown just how clutch they can be in recent seasons.
 
Frank Drebin said:
This is the same team that went to OT against Canada? The arrogance from some Canadian fans is a bit undeserved.
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Exhibition games mean nothing. The U.S. also beat Canada and they never looked like winning the tournament game outside of a brief lead.
 
cbzblaze said:
If the Russians had a good NHL coach, I think they would be a lot better than they have showed. That said, anything can happen in a single game elimination. In a weird way, I'm almost cheering for them. This dominance by Canadian teams has gotten boring. A little adversity would sure help the entertainment factor.
Just hope it's a close game.
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Considering their federation has all but banned the idea of a foreign coach going forward, that 's not likely to happen, and Znarok is a lot more accomplished than most NHL coaches (gold, silver and bronze at the Worlds with Russia, two KHL Championships and tree time KHL coach of the year) - plus I've heard that it's his long-time assistants that do most of the work, he's just there for the intimidation factor. The Russians have been getting steadily stronger with each game, they just need to get more from guys like Malkin, who even in a game where he scored was completely invisible for the most part. It's not easy to get riled up immediately for a half-assed tournament, but seeing as they're up against Canada and in the semis, they'll surely be looking for blood.
 
Russia's D is surprisingly underwhelming, but their forwards are terrifying and Bobrovsky has looked great to me.

Canada's national team definitely has a beautiful 200 foot cohesion and nothing but success lately and their on home ice. They're the favorite, I'm pretty surprised with how large of a favorite they are (gambling wise). I guess that's in large part due to home ice and all of these over-confident Canadians.

Anything can happen in 1 game between these two great hockey nations. Canada scoring first would be huge, this team lately seems impossible to come back on. They just play such a safe, smart, smothering team defense. However if Russia scores first then look out
 
Frank Drebin said:
This is the same team that went to OT against Canada? The arrogance from some Canadian fans is a bit undeserved.
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I do agree, but Canada is so locked in to a system that makes them almost invincible right now, as this tournament (so far) and the past Olympics have demonstrated. They had every player to a man buying into the system, and playing a role. I think they have that over Russia, and for me it's one of the biggest things heading into a game that is best-on-best. Will Russia play like a well-oiled machine together? When the going gets tough, they tend to differ to being individuals.

They can certainly win though, they have a hell of an amount of skill. I'm nervous.
 
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