Best player on team Russia?

[Ovechkin_mvp]

Andrei played poorly IMO. Maybe because Russian forwards weren't covering their defensemen in general, but he made one big mistake on opponents blueline leading to a breakaway. Outside one or two accurate long passes he didn't show anything offensively. Again, he was shaky IMO especially when you compare to his Montreal games.

Andrei and Volchenkov were the only +1 d-man at the end.

 

[Slitty]

quintet, quintet.

Markov was impressive, the Russian D looks very solid, but again as seems to be the problem with Russian National teams I thought they were lacking chemistry. Also, don't know what street corner they found this guy on, but the Russian coach doesn't seem to know what he is doing at all. Didn't pull the goalie in the final minute, put his 4th line on the PP in a key situation. Ovechkin was all over the ice, but seeemed a bit reluctant to take control of games as he usually does. I wish they would use Kovalchuk on the point on the powerplay, having Markov or Gonchar feed him would be an instant recipe for success.

Marian Gaborik was just fantastic, wow, what burners he has. With Meszaros, Visnovsky and Chara the Slovaks definitely look scary if their goaltending can hold up.

C'mon.. are you going to be a parrot and regurgitate the stupid comment of the unknowledgeable commentator?

First of the Kharitonov-Malkin-Suhsinsky line is not the 4th line. Russia dosen't have line numbers, but if we were looking at it from an NHL perspective they are probably the 3rd best line on team Russia. However, they have established chemistry as they have played all Eurotour and the Olympic test matches together as the 1st line. Kharitonov and Sushinsky have been playing together for Dynamo all season long. Which other Russian line is not playing together for the first time in a long time? They are ALL well rested, which other Russian line can you say that about? They looked like one of the better, if not the best Russian lines today with Malkin or with Yashin centering them... it made perfect sense for them to play on the powerplay. Its not like they are an NHL 4th line of scrubs as it is.

The goalie is usually not pulled in Europe in the last minute... and some Russian hockey fans might be wondering what street corner Canada found their coach on if Canada was losing in the final minute and pulled their goalie today.

The only gripe I have with Krikunov at this point is not using Kovalchuk on the point on the powerplay... someone should tell him.
I thought the defence looked slow. Both Gonchar and Markov were blown by and couldn't catchup. I was most impressed with D. Markov today.

 

[roccol]

Anyone who doesn't think Pavel Datsyuk was Russia's best player is kidding themselves. He killed a 5 on 3 by himself, was excellent offensively and more importantly defensively. He is one of the few Russian forwards with a concept of playing D. That clown of a coach should have had Datsyuk on every power play opportunity. I love AO and Malkin, but their youth showed today. Coach needs to keep them together as they will be much better the next game. This is probably why Malkin was taken off the second line.

Maxim Afinogenov is the Russian Kris Draper. He is extremely frustrating to watch when presented with scoring opportunities.

 

[Archijerej]

Andrei and Volchenkov were the only +1 d-man at the end.

I don't care about the stats, especially a +/- stat. I'm basing my opinion on what I saw and while Anton was indeed solid, Markov was a shadow of himself. Untypically unreliable.

 

[Ovechkin_mvp]

I don't care about the stats, especially a +/- stat. I'm basing my opinion on what I saw and while Anton was indeed solid, Markov was a shadow of himself. Untypically unreliable.

True when it comes to stats.
I on the other hand, didn't find Andrei's play that bad.

 

[NashisCash]

C'mon.. are you going to be a parrot and regurgitate the stupid comment of the unknowledgeable commentator?

First of the Kharitonov-Malkin-Suhsinsky line is not the 4th line. Russia dosen't have line numbers, but if we were looking at it from an NHL perspective they are probably the 3rd best line on team Russia. However, they have established chemistry as they have played all Eurotour and the Olympic test matches together as the 1st line. Kharitonov and Sushinsky have been playing together for Dynamo all season long. Which other Russian line is not playing together for the first time in a long time? They are ALL well rested, which other Russian line can you say that about? They looked like one of the better, if not the best Russian lines today with Malkin or with Yashin centering them... it made perfect sense for them to play on the powerplay. Its not like they are an NHL 4th line of scrubs as it is.

The goalie is usually not pulled in Europe in the last minute... and some Russian hockey fans might be wondering what street corner Canada found their coach on if Canada was losing in the final minute and pulled their goalie today.

The only gripe I have with Krikunov at this point is not using Kovalchuk on the point on the powerplay... someone should tell him.
I thought the defence looked slow. Both Gonchar and Markov were blown by and couldn't catchup. I was most impressed with D. Markov today.

Who really cares what you call your lines, 1, 2, 3, 4, that line was clearly not one of the best on the ice today, i don't know what game you were watching. Secondly, the Russian coach showed his ineptitude in a number of ways today. Talk about chemistry, Malkin and Ovechkin have shown good chemistry before, and who does he put on a line with Ovechkin? super floater Alexei Yashin.

Also, who really cares what the custom in Europe is, maybe this coach of yours should watch some North American hockey. Not pulling the goalie in the final minute, especially when points at this juncture are crucial, was a glaring error.

Kovalchuk played with absolutely no heart today, as did a number of Russian players, many of whom floated around the ice.

Regurgitating valid points is IMO much better than making up your own lousy ones.

 

[Higgy4]

Datsyuk played well defensively...

He had more PK time in this game today than he has all year for the Wings. I was impressed by that.

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

I thought Datsyuk and Malkin, although he didn't generate much offense, played very well Datsyuk being the better of the two. I just liked how Malkin played well in all situations. And yes, Ovechkin played well too. No way is he their best player though and Kovalchuk is better so just stop it. He's more experienced, faster and still more of a game breaker.

 

[vitogor]

The only gripe I have with Krikunov at this point is not using Kovalchuk on the point on the powerplay... someone should tell him.

Maybe I was watching a different game today, but I did see Kovalchuk on the point a couple of times.

 

[vitogor]

The funniest thing in the game was when Vishnevsky went for a hit on Chara... and ended up bouncing off like a tennis ball

 

[Slitty]

Who really cares what you call your lines, 1, 2, 3, 4, that line was clearly not one of the best on the ice today, i don't know what game you were watching. Secondly, the Russian coach showed his ineptitude in a number of ways today. Talk about chemistry, Malkin and Ovechkin have shown good chemistry before, and who does he put on a line with Ovechkin? super floater Alexei Yashin.

Also, who really cares what the custom in Europe is, maybe this coach of yours should watch some North American hockey. Not pulling the goalie in the final minute, especially when points at this juncture are crucial, was a glaring error.

Kovalchuk played with absolutely no heart today, as did a number of Russian players, many of whom floated around the ice.

Regurgitating valid points is IMO much better than making up your own lousy ones.

You said it yourself... guys like Kovalchuk, Yashin, and many others played with no heart or passion today. Why? Perhaps because they havent gotten any sleep the past 24 or more hours and arent used to playing with the players they were playing with.

So I will repeat my valid points again, Kharitonov and Sushsinsky were well rested. I dont know what game you were watching, but they had several scoring opportunities each... especially Sushinsky who had a couple of very good ones. They circled the puck in the offensive zone and got shots on net like no other Russian offensive line, especially toward the begining of the game when they played with Yashin. I really am not sure what game you were watching, perhaps you're just a little biased because you didn't know much about these players and thus dont think they are very good?

Also, the Ovechkin-Malkin-Afinogenov line wasn't working... so Krikunov switched Malkin to a more firmiliar line of Kharitonov-Malkin-Sushinsky, doesn't sound like a crime to me. Also, just because something is done a different way doesn't mean its bad. One can just as valianlty argue that pulling a goalie and risking getting another goal against is maniacal in a tournament in which goal difference is the primary tiebreaker and decides home/away seeding in the final game.

 

[Quiet Robert]

Russia's best player this year? or in the tournament so far?

Overall I love Datsyuk, he's been awesome this year and had a good game. Kovalchuck and Ovechkin have been dynamite offensively and Kovalev is still the best stickhandler of the bunch. I think Datsyuk is brilliant though. For all the press Kovy and AO get, Datsyuk is just as great. Great passer, excellent puck handler, very good defensively zone and a good scoring touch as well.

 

[jcpenny]

True when it comes to stats.
I on the other hand, didn't find Andrei's play that bad.

He actually played well, the guy obviously exagerates what happened in the game. Markov was the ONLY Russian D able the create something from his own end, he made great passes and played well defensively, he got caught pinching once so i dont qualify this a bad game. even the announcers noticed how well he played.

 

[absolutic]

Frolov is great if they give him more than 2 min a game to play

 

[The Kingslayer]

Kharatinov.

 

[TOPGUN]

He had more PK time in this game today than he has all year for the Wings. I was impressed by that.

I agree, he was even on the 5on3 PK witch surprised me. I think that he really played well and scored a nice goal. The Dutch commentators were really exciting about his goal and the overall game (the commentators thought that every goal was great)

That shows you how little ice hockey here is on TV, because they thought that Bryzgalov played very well

 

[Kaizer]

From game vs. Slovakia :
1. Datsyuk
2. Ovechkin
3. Zednik

 

[Archijerej]

I on the other hand, didn't find Andrei's play that bad.

That's fine with me . I'm just used to a higher level of play when it comes to Markov. I remember I said to my dad before the game to pay attention on Markov (who I thought would be playing with #79) and I was dissapointed. Questionable pinches, losing the puck on the opponents blueline. When a defenseman allows a one on one on his goalie and some odd man rushes on couple occasions he rarely gets the "very well" grade from me, especially when it comes to a guy who usually is a stud. And calling him the best Russian defenseman in the last game is just an absurd ( I know you didn't call him the best, some of my fellow Habs fans did), especially when Volchenkov was clearly better. To be honest I was feeling much more safer when Zhukov was on the ice (who I thought had a decent game and was a non factor in Russia's lost).

Kaizer, good choice with Zednik!
Malkin will be !

 

[CSKA]

Kovalchuk played with absolutely no heart today, as did a number of Russian players, many of whom floated around the ice.

Yeah he just made a beauty pass to Kovalev and had a couple of best scoring chances for russia ! Did you even watched that game ?