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Why are so many trying to make Russia look like an equal to Canada?

Eye of Ra

Eye of Ra

Grandmaster General of the International boards
Nov 15, 2008
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5,870
Malmö, Sweden
Whats up with that? I cant be the only one annoyed by it?

Last time Russia won a best on best tournament: 1981

Last time Russia won u20: 2011

Last time Russia won Wc: 2014

Last time Russia won u18, 2007

So in what way are they equal to Canada? Russia rarely wins. In no way are Russia Better than even Usa, Czechs, Finland and Sweden.
 
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Ra woke up pissed off today lol.

I've certainly had this fight before. Including showing that their biggest best on best playoff wins were against Belarus. They took us out in quarters. They do have an amazing elimination of Canada ar one.

I will say that they could have had a banger of a world championship team.. a lot of their best players are available... Demidov, michkov, mint, kucherov, shesterkin, sorokin, kaprizov, Malkin, panarin, Marchenko, provorov, zubb, sergachaev etc.

Note: some may be Ufa or RFA.
 
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Eye of Ra said:
Whats up with that? I cant be the only one annoyed by it?

Last time Russia won a best on best tournament: 1981

Last time Russia won u20: 2011

Last time Russia won Wc: 2014

Last time Russia won u18, 2007

So in what way are they equal to Canada? Russia rarely wins. In no way are Russia Better than even Usa, Czechs, Finland and Sweden.
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Russa has never win a beat on best. Soviet Union won in 1981.
 
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I'm from Russia, but I never thought that Russia was on the level of Canada. We have excellent players and therefore we are considered favorites in various tournaments, but unfortunately recently we have failed almost all major tournaments with the participation of the best.
 
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The Russian national team for the 2025 World Championships could look like this:

Panarin (37+52) - Malkin (16+34) - Kucherov (37+88)

Kaprizov (30+35) - Voronkov (23+24) - Marchenko (31+43)

Buchnevich (23+42) - Khusnutdinov (5+7) - Michkov (26+37)

Demidov (1+3) - Svechkov (8+9) - Mikheev (20+14)


Sergachev - Zub

Provorov - Zadorov

Mintyukov - Romanov

Sorokin, Vasilevsky, Shesterkin
 
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Eye of Ra said:
Whats up with that? I cant be the only one annoyed by it?

Last time Russia won a best on best tournament: 1981

Last time Russia won u20: 2011

Last time Russia won Wc: 2014

Last time Russia won u18, 2007

So in what way are they equal to Canada? Russia rarely wins. In no way are Russia Better than even Usa, Czechs, Finland and Sweden.
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Yes, I always really find that annoying as well. All their fans on here saying constantly that all tournaments without them are practically worthless, as if they won it every year when they participate.

They do have incredible individual players, as we could see and admire again this season in the NHL. But since the breakup of the Soviet Union, the sum of their parts seems to result in a lot less than the individual parts taken together should in theory. Given the quality of players, Russia should have won a lot more, but didn't. They don't seem to play as a team, particularly at the knockout stages when it matters. Canada is leagues above them.
 
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Old Man Jags said:
Yes, I always really find that annoying as well. All their fans on here saying constantly that all tournaments without them are practically worthless, as if they won it every year when they participate.

They do have incredible individual players, as we could see and admire again this season in the NHL. But since the breakup of the Soviet Union, the sum of their parts seems to result in a lot less than the individual parts taken together should in theory. Given the quality of players, Russia should have won a lot more, but didn't. They don't seem to play as a team, particularly at the knockout stages when it matters. Canada is leagues above them.
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Unfortunately, you can't argue with that. The Russian national team, with all its great potential, still did not win anything and shamefully lost at its last World Championships in 2021. The main problem of the Russian national team is the lack of a good coach.
 
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It depends on the period you are considering. This can be traced back to the Olympics. For example, in the 90s, Russia was slightly better than Canada, or even equal. However, in the 2000s and especially the 2010s, Canada was noticeably stronger. Now the Russians have a good generation, but how it will be in fact is unknown. There has not been a best-versus-best tournament since 2014. Except for the 2016 World Cup (but it cannot be considered a full-fledged tournament).
 
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MatBarzal said:
The Russian national team for the 2025 World Championships could look like this:

Panarin (37+52) - Malkin (16+34) - Kucherov (37+88)

Kaprizov (30+35) - Voronkov (23+24) - Marchenko (31+43)

Buchnevich (23+42) - Khusnutdinov (5+7) - Michkov (26+37)

Demidov (1+3) - Svechkov (8+9) - Mikheev (20+14)


Sergachev - Zub

Provorov - Zadorov

Mintyukov - Romanov

Sorokin, Vasilevsky, Shesterkin
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I think Barbashev from Vegas could play center and Dadonov from Dallas (he had that experience). Your candidates for the center of the 3-4 lines are too weak. Plus there is Kuznetsov, who, although not as good as before, looked decent at the NHL level.

P.S. Sorry, I didn't immediately realize that we were talking about the World Cup. realized it only when I didn't see Ovechkin, Svechnikov, Orlov. But it's incorrect to determine the strength of the national team based on the World Championship. Since most of the best Canadian players are busy. And the Russians, by the way, too.
 
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mel13666 said:
It depends on the period you are considering. This can be traced back to the Olympics. For example, in the 90s, Russia was slightly better than Canada, or even equal. However, in the 2000s and especially the 2010s, Canada was noticeably stronger. Now the Russians have a good generation, but how it will be in fact is unknown. There has not been a best-versus-best tournament since 2014. Except for the 2016 World Cup (but it cannot be considered a full-fledged tournament).
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The Russians weren't "slightly better" than Canada in the 1990s either. Best-on-best: 1991 CANADA CUP (Canada Gold -- Russia 5th or 6th), 1996 WORLD CUP (Canada Silver -- Russia 3rd or 4th) 1998 OLYMPICS (Russia Silver --- Canada 4th). The non-NHL Olympics of '92 and '94: Unified Team (1 Gold)/Russia (4th) and Canada two Silvers). A slight edge to Canada, in fact. And why isn't the 2016 World Cup a full-fledged tournament -- because Canada won? :-)
 
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MatBarzal said:
Unfortunately, you can't argue with that. The Russian national team, with all its great potential, still did not win anything and shamefully lost at its last World Championships in 2021. The main problem of the Russian national team is the lack of a good coach.
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Indeed. The individuals are simply world class, nobody could argue with that. But the results? Remember for example the world championship final in 2010 against the Czechs. Look at the Russian roster. they had NO business losing that, but they did. Their individual players were so much better, and this was not the first or last time. Maybe a systemic issue, maybe a coach issue. Or maybe cultural? Often Russian players seem to play more like a team of individuals trying to decide through individual actions. The Czechs play more like a team. But the polar opposite are not the Czechs but the Finns. They have won so many things playing as a team when the individuals would have suggested that they should be nowhere near gold.
 
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I don’t think anyone in Russia currently claims we’re on par with Canada given the latest results.

But anyone would be foolish to think that Russia can’t compete with Canada at any level
 
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ViD said:
I don’t think anyone in Russia currently claims we’re on par with Canada given the latest results.

But anyone would be foolish to think that Russia can’t compete with Canada at any level
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Not just currently. Since 1992 Russia have less golds than even Sweden, Finland and Czechs.
 
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