Even Lebron James, Christiano Ronaldo, Ovechkin might not show their best in 1-2 games. Hard to evaluate someone just based on this.
Agreed, but that is the current situation, and it doesn't look like it will change anytime soon. These guys are across the ocean on another continent, and there is just no contact between the continents. And the Russian coaches are Russians, who are tied to domestic hockey in Russia. Of course they want to support local hockey over foreign hockey, which means that, in the case of 2 candidates who are not markedly different, preference will go to the guy who plays in Russia. They would be shooting themselves in the foot by relying on guys who are in NA.
If the guy playing in NA is clearly better than competitors, such as Guryanov and Sergachyov, of course they will be on the roster. But a draw is resolved in favor of the guy in Russia. I believe they will inevitably move toward a national team concept, which could have the effect of excluding the NA players altogether. Too hard to fit them into the system, with all its differences. You see the same dilemma at the senior team level, where they have to fit together a roster that is half NHL and half KHL.
