Your Expectations for 2015 WC

[kp61c]

Tretiak's recent comment about 'any medal would be a success' is startling - what kind of attitude is that? It's gold or nothing, it's the WC. You can't go into tournaments with such a view of things.

he's a mere bureaucrat, the more years go by the more cautious and slippery he becomes. hockey for him is not the main task which is to keep his post at any cost.

 

[Atas2000]

he's a mere bureaucrat, the more years go by the more cautious and slippery he becomes. hockey for him is not the main task which is to keep his post at any cost.

Please stop spreading this!

 

[kp61c]

Please stop spreading this!

stop telling me what to do, pretty please.

 

[Atas2000]

stop telling me what to do, pretty please.

I really doubt you know Tretiak personally so you prtending to know what his intentions are is pretty much just borderline defamation. So wtf, pretty please?

You follow the trend? Yeah, you will find a lot of supporters on that "Tretiak is the reason" campaign. Know what? You hurt russian hockey more with this kind of attitude than Tratiak ever could.



So you may go sing "Tretiak must go!" or do something useful instead. It's up to you.

 

[kp61c]

I really doubt you know Tretiak personally so you prtending to know what his intentions are is pretty much just borderline defamation. So wtf, pretty please?

i don't pretend nothing. you are misleading here. you seem to think i'm some infallible thing that knows it all. while i'm flattered, hardly it's the case. while you might not agree with my opinion, to go on a holy crusade against it looks a bit gratuitous to me.

You follow the trend? Yeah, you will find a lot of supporters on that "Tretiak is the reason" campaign. Know what? You hurt russian hockey more with this kind of attitude than Tratiak ever could.

you got me here, me speaking the truth against corrupt bureaucrats hurt it so much, there's no chance of recovery. again, i'm flattered, but, sadly, your getting your panties in a twist over nothing, the russian hockey doesn't give a damn, i'm sure

So you may go sing "Tretiak must go!" or do something useful instead. It's up to you.

i have to choose here? Why oh why? Life is so cruel!

 

[S Bah]

What's the point on posting then
Jokes a part, how many time is Kovalchuk world champion? Radulov? Medvedev? Ovechkin? Two times? Three times? I frankly don't get the point to get another gold medal for them and "stealing" place to youngsters who would need some good experience much more than them.

This is sound thinking IMHO, being a hockey fan of 60 yrs. experience, always a Hab fan & Team Canada, gaining experience for your younger talents will pay off in the future immensely.

Buchnevich, Slepyshev, Zadorov, Gusev. I'd like to see these guys at the World Championships.

Not so much the others. Nichushkin because he's hurt. Otherwise I would like to see him on the team.

Grigorenko and Tolchinsky aren't ready.

Buchnevich, Gusev, Slepyshev and Nichushkin, along with forwards Namestnikov, Kucherov, Yakupov, Defencemen Gavrikov, Marchenko, Nikitkin, Zadorov are others that I would suggest.

Ok, sorry, I lost my cool and you should accept my apologies. However, I wouldn't call Nichushkin, Zadorov or Yakupov "of not so great talent". We need this kind of players gathering experience, if needed we can even lose a couple of WCs, it isn't really important, it's a second-rate tournament

While the WHC's are treated by NA's as consolation tournaments for the talented players that miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the WHC's should be the training grounds for all available young Russian players. Having Datsyuk, Malkin or Ovechkin can surely benefit these young players, the problem they bring is the incredible amount of icetime these players command, mostly due to monetary gains the IIHF is always concerned with, Star players are huge draws for the paying customers. The future of the hockey team and their young players, should remain of paramount concern to all countries, despite the gains financially IMHO.

no need to apologize, i just don't share your opinion on inviting players simply because they are young. they have a 82 game season year in and year out to gather experience in the nhl. a couple of games in the wc won't make a lot of difference regarding our chances in olympics. and we are not some swedes or canadians, the wc is the main tourney of the year in russia, nobody in their sound mind will be sacrificing it for some dubious gains in the future

As Alessandro is suggesting, changing priorities in the selection of players, should at the very least bring in 2-3 of the best young talents, as is the practise for Team Canada for the very talented one player, like McDavid or in the past Tavares or Crosby while still 18 or 19 yr. olds. My thought is too much emphasis on winning every year, instead of breaking in a few choice players would better serve their programs, just my opinion though.

Tretiak's recent comment about 'any medal would be a success' is startling - what kind of attitude is that? It's gold or nothing, it's the WC. You can't go into tournaments with such a view of things.

Every country & team should have at least that goal in mind, Tretiak knows his way around the hockey world better than most people in hockey, especially in regards to International Tournaments.

On another more personal question for myself, can anyone give a description of how Artur Boltanov(C/LW) Magnitogorsk is playing/developing. He has impressed with his work ethic and talent the few times I have seen him. He wasn't drafted last year in the NHL draft, I thought he was really good enough despite the NHL's "Russian Factor fear of signing in the KHL" to be picked in the 2nd or 3rd rounds. Thanks ahead of time for any information about Boltanov that anyone can share.

 

[Raptor1990]

I think that we should stop caring about WC, at least for a few years. We should have done it last year too. Having Ovechkin, Malkin and a gold medal was nice, but also too easy. We should really send an all under 25 team or something like that, maybe with some veteran like Kovalchuk or Radulov or so, but sincerly, what is the point of winning another gold medal? It would be much better to have young players working hard. Canada and USA will invite McDavid and Eichel, why we can't invite Buchnevich, Slepyshev, Nichushkin (ok we did), Zadorov, Grigorenko (not that I think he has much upside), Tolchinsky, Gusev?

Seconded. Sometimes russian offense seams desperate even againts weaker teams.

Plotnikov: 8 games 2 points
Shirokov: 7 games 2 points
Tikhonov: 7 games also 2 points

These 3 players are absolute waste of space on roster list in Russian NT.
And also some offense minded D-men like Provorov or Zadorov could be useful.

 

[ozo]

Plotnikov: 8 games 2 points
Shirokov: 7 games 2 points
Tikhonov: 7 games also 2 points

These 3 players are absolute waste of space on roster list in Russian NT.

Waste of space... Are you aware how many points there were between Plotnikov and Tikhonov last year? I'll remind you - 28. They are really good players, who for some reason isn't playing up to the best of their ability.

But whatever, WC can't simulate or prepare anyone to the hockey that is played in Olympics anyway. USA for most part doesn't bother with picking their best and most promising kids, but we all know how they perform when it matters every four years.

 

[Zine]

Seconded. Sometimes russian offense seams desperate even againts weaker teams.

Plotnikov: 8 games 2 points
Shirokov: 7 games 2 points
Tikhonov: 7 games also 2 points

These 3 players are absolute waste of space on roster list in Russian NT.
And also some offense minded D-men like Provorov or Zadorov could be useful.

Plotnikov and Tikhonov are valuable NT role player types. Just because they're not scoring doesn't mean they're not effective. They add some size and grit to what is normally a 1 dimensional offensive team......same with Kulemin if he's used right.

 

[Fantomas]

Glad to see these guys in contention for the gold once again. I don't think I am prepared to think about the WC as some kind of warm-up tournament for Olympics/World Cups. This kind of thinking is very typical for many Canadian fans, but is not normally embraced by European fans.

So why buy into it? So the Stanley Cup playoffs are happening in parallel, but do we need to care? One can make the argument that this is still the biggest international hockey event in the world.

 

[Fantomas]

I have to add that I am somewhat saddened to hear that Panarin, Dadonov and Plotnikov are expected to leave for the NHL next season. I really enjoy reading of the comraderie and chemistry between players and lines - which is really only possible by maintaining combinations from the KHL.

 

[Yakushev72]

I have to add that I am somewhat saddened to hear that Panarin, Dadonov and Plotnikov are expected to leave for the NHL next season. I really enjoy reading of the comraderie and chemistry between players and lines - which is really only possible by maintaining combinations from the KHL.

You wonder how long the KHL can survive putting 3rd rate talent on the ice? As soon as any of these guys has a good year, they're on the phone with their agent getting them on the first flight to NA. How long can the KHL brass generate interest in their game when the best you could say of any of the players is "he'll be here unless someone thinks he's good enough to play in the NHL?" How long can they can continue to pay high salaries and operating expenses to exhibit the skills of guys that no one else wants? Today's GMG was a real embarrassment for the KHL, and I'm seriously wondering how much longer the league will be in business?

 

[Yakushev72]

We don't know to what degree the Russian Federation will participate in the World Cup, and we don't know if the NHL will be making the trip to Korea for the Olympics in 2018. Gary Bettman hinted that the NHL might direct its international focus on the World Cup, given the fact that coming to the Far East for two Olympics in succession seems very unlikely. So, for better or worse, the World Championships might be all there is left.

After watching today's game, I would like to amend this statement to say that if they are going to continue to invite NHL players to the World Championships, they should only invite genuine superstars. Only the Malkins and Ovechkins. No Anisimov and Kulemin. Better to give the experience to a promising player in the KHL than a marginal NHL player who will contribute nothing.

 

[kp61c]

gimaev sums it up.

 

[Raptor1990]

gimaev sums it up.

What does he say ?

Its like: Yeah we won against weaker A-/B/Junior teams so good, but against comparable team to us like Canada we fail hard ?

 

[kp61c]

What does he say ?
Its like: Yeah we won against weaker A-/B/Junior teams so good, but against comparable team to us like Canada we fail hard ?

yep, they were head and shoulders above us, with our defense as it were, there're no chances in the final. then about the next year, nobody thinks about the wc the main tourney'll be the world championship in moscow and then spoke about the youth development which is obviously far from ideal.

 

[Alessandro Seren Rosso]

then spoke about the youth development which is obviously far from ideal.

But ok, inviting younger players to WC is a mistake...

 

[Alessandro Seren Rosso]

You follow the trend? Yeah, you will find a lot of supporters on that "Tretiak is the reason" campaign. Know what? You hurt russian hockey more with this kind of attitude than Tratiak ever could.

Agreeeeeed. You guys read too much crap internet sites and watch not enough games.

 

[cska78]

After watching today's game, I would like to amend this statement to say that if they are going to continue to invite NHL players to the World Championships, they should only invite genuine superstars. Only the Malkins and Ovechkins. No Anisimov and Kulemin. Better to give the experience to a promising player in the KHL than a marginal NHL player who will contribute nothing.

Anisimov is a great workhorse who played hurt. Kulemin was VERY useful, just about the only one winning draws, playing pk.

Kulikov has disappointed a bit, I'd expect him being the leader of that d-crop.

 

[combine81]

Anisimov is a great workhorse who played hurt. Kulemin was VERY useful, just about the only one winning draws, playing pk.

Kulikov has disappointed a bit, I'd expect him being the leader of that d-crop.

A great workhorse is useless if you try to play offensive hockey
Finally you score not much but your defense is not good enough either
As a result, 1-6 against Canada when youare really bad on the both sides

 

[Alessandro Seren Rosso]

Kulikov has disappointed a bit, I'd expect him being the leader of that d-crop.

He was never good for the national team

 

[cska78]

A great workhorse is useless if you try to play offensive hockey
Finally you score not much but your defense is not good enough either
As a result, 1-6 against Canada when youare really bad on the both sides

Ok, you probably think, that Fetisov-Kasatonov and the KLM line are still playing for us then...let me break it to you - they are not and we don't have the players to play offensive hockey vs. this Canada team. We don't even have the players capable of playing systematic hockey any more. So yes, we need Anisimov's and Kulemin's of the world.

 

[BlitzSnipe]

Anisimov is a great workhorse who played hurt. Kulemin was VERY useful, just about the only one winning draws, playing pk.

Kulikov has disappointed a bit, I'd expect him being the leader of that d-crop.

I also liked Anisimov in this tournament - the guy played with grit, heart and passion. I never had the sense that he wasn't giving 100%. I was also impressed with Plotnikov, Tikhonov and Shirokov - they might have not contributed so much, but you could tell they wanted to fight for the puck and create chances. The best players should be in the NT - but something makes me think that 'less superstars' would make a really good team out of our 'not quite superstar' but still very good players, plus some young players. Then everyone will know that there's no Ovechkin and Malkin to make up for your own Errors - the responsibility will be distributed more evenly across our players. I think one of the reasons Ovechkin often underperforms in the WC is because of the high expectations on him.

Maybe that could be a strategy? Look at the US Team - they had no superstars at all, and got bronze.

 

[BlitzSnipe]

What does he say ?

Its like: Yeah we won against weaker A-/B/Junior teams so good, but against comparable team to us like Canada we fail hard ?

Just wondering - did you learn Russian in school, or can you just understand most of it when you hear it?

 

[BlitzSnipe]

I also have to add - Zaripov might have made a big difference this year had he not been injured. Him and Mozyakin are just masters together. I wish him a speedy recovery.