thanks slitty for your response.
some/questions comments
1. im dont think the dec 22 deadline is just an nhl imposed deadline. the iihf site itself says that rosters can only be changed now in case of injury or exceptional reasons. i think den is right about this. why do you guys think that federov and samsonov would were asked to say that they were pulling out. i dont see how this could make any sense. why would kirkunov and bure not want these players there? they would both really help the team. i was assuming that federov didnt want to play for bure after bure stole his girl, and i have no idea what samsonov's deal is, but i dont see why kirkunov wouldnt want him on the team. he's having a great year, has great offensive skils.
2. i have been watching some of last years world championship games, and i am really unimpressed w kharitonov. he did nothing playing w kovalev and datsyuk, he leaves the zone early looking for the breakaway pass, and seems weak in the corners and in the front of the net. he appears to be similar to samsonov, but not as skilled offensively. i cannot understand how they could rather have kharitonov than samsonov.
3. i was watching the quarterfinal game against finland. kovalev did not make it on to the ice during the 10 min ot period. can anybody explain that?
4. i am assuming malkin will play w sushinksy and kharitonov. i think this is a terrible mistake. malkin and sushinksy are more playmakers than scorers. kharitonov is not a sniper, not someone who will dominate in front to get rebounds or garbage goals, or someone who get the puck out of the corner. this seems like a waste of malkin's talents to play w kharitonov.
5. what do you expect the lines to be? i am hoping that ovechkin - datsyuk - kovalev will be the top line. i think their talents will complement each other well. ovechkin was born to play with players like this. he will get the puck out of the corner, drive hard to the net, and will open up a lot of space for the other two to dance.
6. ovechkin's goal in the bronze medal game walking around mattias nortstrom was spectacular.
7. i agree russia needs some penalty kill specialists. there could be a ton of penalties called and games could come down to speacial teams. i am just worried that kharitonov is not good enough to do the job; he is very small, does not a have a great reach, and seems weak on the puck. against nhlers like heatley and nash i dont think he'll fair well. succeeding at the rosno cup and against nhlers in turin are very different things. who else do you see doing the penalty killing? datsyuk? kovalev? zhamnov? i'm very concerned about their pk forwards. it would be nice to see brylin and federov here.
8. explain the bykov decision. what's he doing on this team ahead of tverdovsky, kalinin, or even the other rsl dmen who were at the world's, or a young kid w much better numbers like kulyash.
9. who are going to play the points on the pp? gonchar, zhitnik, and markov are three spots, whose the other dman? or do you think they will use a forward back there? i think kovalev is more effective on the point on the pp. it seems kirkunov and russian coaches in general dont like to do this.
thanks in advance for any help with this.