A lot of Yakupov's mediocre play in my opinion has to do with the system he is made to be playing.
People getting mad at him for floating and always looking for the big pass and such, but really thats is the Russian calling card. That isn't yak being stupid and making dumb plays, its him doing what he is told.
You see the same thing with guys liek Kovi, Ovechkin, Datsyuk etc every time they put on a russian sweater.
Agree. It's the system this Russia team plays.
Here's what I saw after watching them 3 games in this tourney:
- Forward carries puck in with speed and gain blue line as much as possible, do not pass once getting to red line(probably not wanting neutral zone turnovers, and believe they've enough skill/speed to gain zone most of time on big ice)
- If puck carrier has no speed or boxed in, then make short pass for give n go between red line and blue line to gain zone
- Never shoot the puck in, unless going for line change
- Once gaining zone, try beat d 1 on 1 and get to the net (if no open teammate available for a pass), if not able to, plan B is to use the opposing Dman as screen for screen shot
- Plan C is to carry it deep then make a play (even if they lose puck, it's deep in opponent zone and limits the opponent chances of a quick counter attack)
Every Russian forward follows that, not just Yakupov, so they are all prone to losing puck deep in the opponent zone if the opponent plays sound defense. And if you are Yakupov, you are dealing with the opponent's top defensive fwd/d unit, which means it's going to be tough go for Yakupov's line during even strength most of the game.