Team Russia announced!!!

[wilka91*]

What's wrong with being on the 3rd line?

I think we have three "first lines" that can score, so if you want you can put Kovalchuk on the top line with Datsyuk, no problem.

But to be honest I don't like Afinogenov on this team. He was a great junior, but he's not strong enough. That's why I want Frolov with Datsyuk and Kovalchuk.

 

[Simagin]

Samonov - Fedorov - V. Bure
Kovalchuk- Datsyuk - Zubrus
V. Kozlov - Zhamnov - Kovalev
Kvasha - Yashin - Afinogenov

(Ovechkin - Chubarov - Sushinski)

Gonchar - Kasparaitis
Tverdovsky - D. Markov
A. Markov - Volchenkov

Khavanov - Vishnevski

Khabibulin
Nabokov
Sokolov

 

[helicecopter]

Samsonov-Fedorov-Kovalev
Zubrus-Datsyuk-Kovalchuk
V.Kozlov-Zhamnov-V.Bure
Kvasha-Yashin-Ovechkin
Sushinsky-Chubarov-Afinogenov

These are the combinations i see as more suitable for the players, but if (like in reality) i have to go with three lines plus sparingly the fourth i would try this way:

Samsonov-Fedorov-Kovalev
Zubrus-Datsyuk-Kovalchuk
Ovechkin-Zhamnov-Yashin
V.Kozlov-Chubarov-V.Bure


as for defense:

Gonchar-D.Markov
A.Markov-Kasparaitis
Tverdovsky-Volchenkov
(Vishnevsky-Khavanov)

 

[wilka91*]

Samonov - Fedorov - V. Bure
Kovalchuk- Datsyuk - Zubrus
V. Kozlov - Zhamnov - Kovalev
Kvasha - Yashin - Afinogenov

(Ovechkin - Chubarov - Sushinski)

Gonchar - Kasparaitis
Tverdovsky - D. Markov
A. Markov - Volchenkov

Khavanov - Vishnevski

Khabibulin
Nabokov
Sokolov

I really like this lineup because it's more balanced than the one I posted above. There are good "offensive pairs", Samsonov-Fedorov, Kovalchuk-Datsyuk, Zhamnov-Kovalev, Yashin-Kvasha.
This is exactly the system that Scotty Bowman used in 2001-2002 : the Red Wings had Fedorov-Shanahan, Hull-Yzerman, and Robitaille-Larionov.

 

[Simagin]

I really like this lineup because it's more balanced than the one I posted above. There are good "offensive pairs", Samsonov-Fedorov, Kovalchuk-Datsyuk, Zhamnov-Kovalev, Yashin-Kvasha.
This is exactly the system that Scotty Bowman used in 2001-2002 : the Red Wings had Fedorov-Shanahan, Hull-Yzerman, and Robitaille-Larionov.

 

[CSKA]

Samsonov-Fedorov-Kovalev
Zubrus-Datsyuk-Kovalchuk
V.Kozlov-Zhamnov-V.Bure
Kvasha-Yashin-Ovechkin
Sushinsky-Chubarov-Afinogenov

These are the combinations i see as more suitable for the players, but if (like in reality) i have to go with three lines plus sparingly the fourth i would try this way:

Samsonov-Fedorov-Kovalev
Zubrus-Datsyuk-Kovalchuk
Ovechkin-Zhamnov-Yashin
V.Kozlov-Chubarov-V.Bure


as for defense:

Gonchar-D.Markov
A.Markov-Kasparaitis
Tverdovsky-Volchenkov
(Vishnevsky-Khavanov)

Hmm i like that ! Very good combination between ofence and defence !

And by the way i think Ovechkin is more NHL ready than Afinogenov ever was !

 

[Jussi]

My fear is: what happens if because of lock-out all the Russian NHLers sign with hometowns' teams before the world cup??

I read somewhere that if there is a lock-out, NHL won't announce it until after the World Cup. Perhaps to stop players from signing with European clubs.

 

[Raimo Sillanpää]

What's Ovechkin doing on the 3rd line let alone a line at all?

We saw him at the World Championships, he was out of his league on the top line. Take the kid for experience, injury backup yeah, but don't put him on the ice from the word go. He will be outmuscled, outgunned and frightened by the opposition.

He was good enouhg in Prague for a 3rd line role there, in the World Cup? 4th line at most, if need be, injury cover if a plague strikes..
But on a top line he will be Russia's weakest link and it will show.

 

[wilka91*]

Well you know Kovalchuk didn't look too intimidated at Salt Lake in 2002, and he was only 18. And Ovechkin is so much smarter with the puck than Kovy, that he can play much better on the top line than Kovy in the Olympics.

 

[BAuldie]

I read somewhere that if there is a lock-out, NHL won't announce it until after the World Cup. Perhaps to stop players from signing with European clubs.

The deadline to get a new CBA isn't until September 15th anyways so they wouldn't announce anything before that.

 

[Bill McNeal]

Wow. Awesome roster. Looks like Canada and Russia have to be considered faves here. Of course, paper and ice are two different playing fields

A Canada-Russia final would be awesome with these two rosters.

 

[Slick Nick]

I'm really not sure about the 3rd and 4th lines...

Samsonov-Fedorov-Kovalchuk
Ovechkin-Yashin-Kovalev
Kozlov-Zhamnov-Bure
Zubrus-Datsyuk-Kvasha

Gonchar-D.Markov
A.Markov-Volchenkov
Tverdovski-Kasparaitis

Dunno..

 

[wilka91*]

In my opinion the defense won't change much from the 2002 Olympics.

Kasparaitis should play with Gonchar again, which will give this pair a good balance of grit (Kasper) and skill (Gonchar).

Danny Markov will be probably teamed up with Tverdovsky again : they were Russia's best pair at the last Olympics, and they felt very comfortable with the Fedorov line up front.

Andrei Markov and Khavanov have played together in the past, so that could be the 3rd pair. But I'm not sure if Khavanov is up to the task. Volchenkov or Vishnevski could prove to be a great asset for this team. Vish can hit, but needs a good partner to cover his probable mistakes.

 

[joe_shannon_1983*]

Well you know Kovalchuk didn't look too intimidated at Salt Lake in 2002, and he was only 18. And Ovechkin is so much smarter with the puck than Kovy, that he can play much better on the top line than Kovy in the Olympics.

Kovalchuk already had NHL experience by that time.

50 games of NHL experience can do wonders for a rookie.

Ovechkin will have 0 games of big league experience, and could look overwhelmed.

 

[joe_shannon_1983*]

I am also surprised that ?Yushkevich didn't make this team.

In his final NHL season (2002-2003), he was a better defenseman than half of the defenseman picked.

He couldn't have fallen off that much in 1 year of Russian League Hockey.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Nice team. The only potential problem spot I can see is on defense. A fairly average group IMO. Great goaltending and some talented forwards though. If properly motivated should be a definate contender.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Wow. Awesome roster. Looks like Canada and Russia have to be considered faves here. Of course, paper and ice are two different playing fields

A Canada-Russia final would be awesome with these two rosters.

I wouldn't call it an awesome roster by any stretch. Goaltending is the only area I would consider top-notch. The forwards and defense both have some question marks.

 

[RoyIsALegend*]

Nice team. The only potential problem spot I can see is on defense. A fairly average group IMO. Great goaltending and some talented forwards though. If properly motivated should be a definate contender.

Who has a better D corps on paper?

Team U.S.A. or Russia?

 

[wilka91*]

Who has a better D corps on paper?

Team U.S.A. or Russia?

With all the Russians who didn't make this team (Zhitnik, Kalinin, Zubov, Malakhov), the USA has a clear edge.

 

[CSKA]

With all the Russians who didn't make this team (Zhitnik, Kalinin, Zubov, Malakhov), the USA has a clear edge.

dont think so

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Who has a better D corps on paper?

Team U.S.A. or Russia?

Oleg Tverdovsky
Sergei Gonchar
Daniil Markov
Alexander Khavanov
Darius Kasparaitis
Anton Volchenkov
Vitaly Vishnevski
Andrei Markov


Brian Leetch
Aaron Miller
Jordan Leopold
Chris Chelios
Brian Rafalski
Ken Klee
Derian Hatcher
Mathieu Schneider


Personally, I'd take the U.S. defense. The Russian group is much more suspect defensively IMO. I'm sure you'll disagree.

 

[TWS]

I thought that Nabokov couldn't play for Russia because he has previously played for Kazakhstan. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[wilka91*]

dont think so

Hey I was talking about the paper again. Just remember how the US did at Nagano with a great group of D-men.

 

[CSKA]

I thought that Nabokov couldn't play for Russia because he has previously played for Kazakhstan. Correct me if I'm wrong.

HE CAN.

 

[wilka91*]

I thought that Nabokov couldn't play for Russia because he has previously played for Kazakhstan. Correct me if I'm wrong.

If I received a dollar every time I repeated this, I'd be a rich man.

So, for the second time today :

Nabokov can play for Russia at any event, be it an IIHF tournament or the World Cup. Why? That's what the IIHF ruled on March 24th following last summer's rule change : a player can switch countries once in his career (if he played at least 4 years in the country he wants to change for).