Egil said:Wether the Russian or US defense better is moot. The Russian will have a FAR superior goalie sitting on the bench than ANYTHING the US has to offer, and that will make all the difference.
LaVal575 said:Chubarov
if there was one guy who really deserved some recognition... it's him. in the 3 and a half years i've seen him with the Canucks, i don't think i've EVER seen him make a mistake.
wilka91 said:Russia's head coach said they took Chubarov over Nikolishin because the no. 5 center wouldn't see a lot of action, and wouldn't make any sense to sit such a talented player as Nikolishin.
Sorry but this is just typical crap to justify choices without saying what they truly think; If he thinks Nikolishin is such a talented player then take him and put Yashin on the wing.wilka91 said:Russia's head coach said they took Chubarov over Nikolishin because the no. 5 center wouldn't see a lot of action, and wouldn't make any sense to sit such a talented player as Nikolishin.
Well, if true this sounds encouraging. Last time i read talks about chances to see NHLers in Torino2006 there was pessimism; Now i wonder how they could consider the WC a try for the Olympics without expecting NHLers to be there in 2006 (since almost the whole roster for the WC is made up with NHLers)wilka91 said:... They clearly said they wanted to see young talent on the team, because they consider this tournament is a preparation for the 2006 Olympics!!!
LaVal575 said:and
playing time or not, i'm happy he's there. and since when is Nikolishin such a talent that he's left off the team because it would be wrong to sit him? he's not exactly much different from Chubarov in terms of skill.
Khabibulin's the man, I'd think that's pretty obvious.Burke's Evil Spirit said:I wonder who will end up with the starting job?
RoyIsALegend said:Valeri Bure is a brutal pick and nobody can sugercoat that.
M=G, what are you talking about him being a pleasant surprise for the Stars? He was *BRUTAL* in the playoffs. *BRUTAL*. He was literally scared every single time he enters the Avs zone and was absolutely attrocious playing defense on the powerplay for them. Colorado scored two short-handed goals as a direct result of Bure's pathetic efforts on the blueline.
Valeri Bure has _0_ playoff goals in his career. Not a single goal scored in 22 NHL playoff games, and this is supposed to be a good player?
When the going gets tough, Bure get's going... going away and hiding under a rock, that is.
Awful hockey player.
Slick Nick said:Samsonov-Fedorov-Kovalchuk
wilka91 said:In today's (online) edition of Sport Express, coach Bill (Bilyaletdinov) says that of the 26 players that were selected, 2 were not yet contacted ... they are Nikolai Khabibulin and Sergei Fedorov.
I think there's no doubts that Khabibulin will accept to play, but how about Fedorov?
helicecopter said:This is the LAST line i want to see in the WC.
This line was used in SLC and Samsonov was just useless there because Kovi never gave him the puck. I guess Kovi will try to overdue once again in WC no matter which linesmate he gets so i would put a more defensive or physical player on the other wing of his line; who cares if that player won't keep Kovi's pace on transitions:
Kovi will get the puck just to go to the other side of the rink and shoot it in every case.
wilka91 said:In today's (online) edition of Sport Express, coach Bill (Bilyaletdinov) says that of the 26 players that were selected, 2 were not yet contacted ... they are Nikolai Khabibulin and Sergei Fedorov.
I think there's no doubts that Khabibulin will accept to play, but how about Fedorov?