FROLOV and more

[Evgeny Oliker]

FROLOV is one of my favorite russian players. however, you guys are making too much of a big deal about him not being taken. he is not a star yet, he is still young and inexperienced. they have enough youth on the team and he would not change the outcome of the WC on his own. the rest:
1. ZUBOV - so overrated it makes me laugh. he sucks on defense and only looked ok on D cause he had HATCHER by his side. he struggles now that there is no HATCHER. plus he didnt want to play in WC
2. Mogilny - refused to play and they have enough talent
3. Malakhov - refused to play but they'll be ok without him

Click to read more...

 

[wilka91*]

I see you're very active today. You posted the same thing in 3 different places :lol

Take it easy, I'm just kidding.

Frolov should have been on the team. Mogilny too, but he would never accept to play anyway ...

 

[Evgeny Oliker]

lol

well, i am taking it easy. i understand why u guys want FROLOV on the team. but i think some of you make too much of a fuss about SUPERSTARS being put on the team. so what if MOGILNY is not on the team? or ZUBOV? to me what really matters is not how big of a STAR a player is, but what he can contribute to the team and how he is playing now. i think GONCHAR and A.MARKOV are younger, faster, and better on defense than ZUBOV is right now. and i would take a young and tough VOLCHENKOV over an inconsistent ZHITNIK any day. as for MOGILNY, he is getting old and he has a lot of injury problems...plus we have enough stars...CALGARY is in the finals with one star!

 

[RoyIsALegend*]

1. ZUBOV - so overrated it makes me laugh. he sucks on defense and only looked ok on D cause he had HATCHER by his side. he struggles now that there is no HATCHER. plus he didnt want to play in WC

Yeah, and Santa Claus is my uncle.

Sergei Zubov is a top 15 defenseman in the world, make no mistake about it.

 

[Evgeny Oliker]

lol

Yeah, and Santa Claus is my uncle.

Sergei Zubov is a top 15 defenseman in the world, make no mistake about it.

of course, here we go again with this " TOP 15" , "TOP 10" ********. top 15 in what? in offensive ability? MAYBE. on defense? maybe top 500???? i'd say in terms of playing defense he's about #200 in the world

 

[wilka91*]

It has nothing to do with stars.

The Russian hockey federation clearly said that this World Cup would serve as a preparation for the 2006 Olympic Games.
And I remember that a couple of weeks ago Slava Fetisov said that we want to see what young players can do, especially Kovalchuk, Frolov, Ovechkin, Volchenkov and Kondratiev.
Well it was obvious that Kondratiev wouldn't make the team, but it was obvious that Frolov would be there!

Frolov, Kovalchuk, Ovechkin : they are our future!!!
That's why I think the federation will make some last minute changes, and they'll add Frolov to the team, unless he's injured or something.
By the way he couldn't play at the World Championship because of a foot injury, so maybe that's what kept him off this list.

 

[RoyIsALegend*]

of course, here we go again with this " TOP 15" , "TOP 10" ********. top 15 in what? in offensive ability? MAYBE. on defense? maybe top 500???? i'd say in terms of playing defense he's about #200 in the world

I think you underrate him drastically.

First and foremost, the Derian Hatcher blanket you alluded to does not hold merit because they rarely played together. Richard Matvichuk was Hatcher's partner for almost every season with the Stars, and if anything, comment on Matvichuk's regression once Hatcher left.

While he is not the most physical player, Zubov reads the game exceptionally well, rarely makes a bad pass, and positions himself well enough that he doesn't need to go hitting everything that moves(example: Alexander Volchenkov).

 

[Ajacied]

I am not even bothering commenting on the Zubov statement. Every individual, from Mike Modano to Zubov or even Jere Lehtinen enjoyed career low seasons. You can't single out anyone. Pretty pathetic..

 

[wilka91*]

As good as Zubov is, this team has already 2 PP quarterbacks who, right now, are playing way better than Zubov.

I'm talking about Gonchar and Tverdovsky.

I know some people will say that Tverdovsky sucks, that he even couldn't play in the NHL : all I can say is that in his 3 best seasons in the NHL he recorded 55, 53 and 50 points. This season he's had the best year of his career.

 

[future consideration]

How in the hell did Kalinin not make it? He's the best young Russian d-man in the league IMO.

Also Zhitnik is better then Volchenkov everyday of the week.

 

[wilka91*]

Actually Dmitri Kalinin was supposed to be on the team too. I have no idea why they didn't make it.

I'll try to find out more later tonight when the new edition of Sovetsky Sport will become available.

 

[future consideration]

Actually Dmitri Kalinin was supposed to be on the team too. I have no idea why they didn't make it.

I'll try to find out more later tonight when the new edition of Sovetsky Sport will become available.

Thanks man. You've been alot of help and source for info for the Russian team. I'm a American but a big fan of team Russia.

Planned to order a WC jersey of Kalinin, but now...

 

[wilka91*]

I live for this team!!!

If I had an exam at the same time as a hockey game involving the Russian team, I'd watch the game!!!

 

[Mizral]

I have a feeling that much politicizing was done here, and players who recently left for too quickly for North America recently were left off on for that very reason.

It's clear the Russian Hockey Federation hasn't learned their lesson though. This team will be beaten badly, and it'll be back to the drawing board.

Here's a hint, Ruskies: Stop bringing Yashin and guys like him.

 

[Evgeny Oliker]

no offense, but zubov sucks with or without HATCHER. if any of you saw how zubov played against ANAHEIM in last year's playoffs, you would have noticed just how many turnovers he made. this playoffs, against colorado, he was also caught out of position a few times and made a few turnovers to finish with a pretty -5 in just 5 games!

 

[wilka91*]

Forget about Zubov people!

He's a very good offensive defenseman, but he won't be really missed.

 

[Evgeny Oliker]

and

oh,and not all of DALLAS sucked this season. P.Boucher finished with a -1 for playoffs, sweeney was a -2. zubov managed a -5. lets just say that gonchar and a.markov and even khavanov play better defensively than this guy. and i'm sure they can do without zubov's offense when his defense leads to -5 efforts

 

[Evgeny Oliker]

k

agree with WILKA95, team russia needs zubov about as much as they need pavel bure on one leg

 

[BruinsGirl]

I have a feeling that much politicizing was done here, and players who recently left for too quickly for North America recently were left off on for that very reason.

It's clear the Russian Hockey Federation hasn't learned their lesson though. This team will be beaten badly, and it'll be back to the drawing board.

Here's a hint, Ruskies: Stop bringing Yashin and guys like him.

It's Ruskije (not Ruskies) ...


I hope Gonchar's shoulder (separated since game #1 of playoffs) will heal in time.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

I think the real issue is being overlooked here, and that is the roster would likely look differant if several of the "high profile" Russian players would have accepted their invitations. They didn't, so this is the roster the Russian Federation was able to come up with. It's a very good team, and I wouldn't be surprised if they won it all, but it's not the BEST team they could have iced.

 

[wilka91*]

That's for sure. But on paper only.

Still they have to add Frolov somehow. I don't understand why he's missing?

 

[Rabid Ranger]

That's for sure. But on paper only.

Still they have to add Frolov somehow. I don't understand why he's missing?

True enough. The best roster on paper isn't always the best team.

 

[Frolov 6'3]

Frolov has an ankle injury, that's why he didn't make team, he can't play.

 

[417]

As good as Zubov is, this team has already 2 PP quarterbacks who, right now, are playing way better than Zubov.

I'm talking about Gonchar and Tverdovsky.

I know some people will say that Tverdovsky sucks, that he even couldn't play in the NHL : all I can say is that in his 3 best seasons in the NHL he recorded 55, 53 and 50 points. This season he's had the best year of his career.

Actually the Russians have 3 PP quaterbacks... Sergei Gonchar, Andrei Markov and Oleg Tverdovsky...

 

[wilka91*]

Frolov has an ankle injury, that's why he didn't make team, he can't play.

Wait a minute he got injured before the World Championships and papers said the injury wasn't so bad.