After game 2 some of my observations:
Shenfeild: Absolutely useless at this level, too soft, not enough skill, keep him home
Kapustin: Also not good enough for this level, has done nothing on the top line but make too many mistakes.
Nesterov: Wow was he bad. He got beat on the same pinch play 3 times, coughed up the puck a number of times and got beat several other times, ouch.
Kokhlachev: Has been a ghost, him and Yakupov looked terrible together, the line needs to be broken up, Koko should have been sent to the VHL to regain his scoring confidence.
Yakupov: Did not look good in game 2, too many try to do it yourself plays.. He didn't utilize his teamates well at all, that may be because the line has horrible chemistry all together... I fear that Yak is no Kuznetsov, who was able to pull out a great play out of nowhere to put his team back in the game. From what I seen of Yakupov when the going gets tough he struggles a bit. I hope he proves what I say wrong.
Dyakov: Biggest surprise for me, very strong back there, physical, limited errors, good offensive touch.
Tkachev: Looks like he will make a useful role player, showed terrific skill on his goal.
Shalunov: Has shown well in the summer and now, a very creative player.
Nicushkin: Didn't think he would be physically mature enough to play at this level, but he definitely is, was barrowling through checks.
Kucherov: He is badly needed, at least on the powerplay. Get him and Grigo together, maybe Grigo will wake up.
Slepyshev: Need him too.
Although what you say is true, I don't agree with judging players based on playing in an undersized rink (even for NA standards) during acclimatization! This whole SSS is very very subjective. Even players that are good here, like Shalunov for example, he maybe less effective this WJC on big rinks- and what then?
A much bigger concern right now- as a team, we can't even stay in the zone on the PP! With all of that skill, we can't even enter the zone properly! That is a coaching issue, NOT a player issue. QMJHL KNOWS that Yakupov will bring it in through the center- he's done EVERY OTHER TIME, so they'll be waiting and it's not going to work. And so on and so forth...
The one thing we CAN learn about this group is their Character and Coaching. Are they going to fold and play weak for the rest of the series (like they did on Wednesday)? Or are they going to battle through this and break the momentum to win the SSS? We'll see which way it goes from here. I believe this is very important.
A much bigger concern right now- as a team, we can't even stay in the zone on the PP! With all of that skill, we can't even enter the zone properly! That is a coaching issue, NOT a player issue. QMJHL KNOWS that Yakupov will bring it in through the center- he's done EVERY OTHER TIME, so they'll be waiting and it's not going to work. And so on and so forth...
The one thing we CAN learn about this group is their Character and Coaching. Are they going to fold and play weak for the rest of the series (like they did on Wednesday)? Or are they going to battle through this and break the momentum to win the SSS? We'll see which way it goes from here. I believe this is very important.
The powerplay is plain awful. I am worried a little about the character. Comparing to past 2 years of SS rosters I think past years had (will have) more success than this years, and those teams didn't even bring the top guns (Tarasenko, Kuznetsov)..
In past years we seen some guys really establish themselves at this tournament (Bocharov, Sobchenko, Urychev, Sergeev, Gusev-Kucherov combo, probably more that I am forgetting) this year seems like the reverse is happening (Koko took 2 steps backwards etc..)... I hope I am wrong, I just have a pessimistic feel after watching game 2 (I know I know only 1 game).
The powerplay is plain awful. I am worried a little about the character. Comparing to past 2 years of SS rosters I think past years had (will have) more success than this years, and those teams didn't even bring the top guns (Tarasenko, Kuznetsov)..
In past years we seen some guys really establish themselves at this tournament (Bocharov, Sobchenko, Urychev, Sergeev, Gusev-Kucherov combo, probably more that I am forgetting) this year seems like the reverse is happening (Koko took 2 steps backwards etc..)... I hope I am wrong, I just have a pessimistic feel after watching game 2 (I know I know only 1 game).
Just wait until the series is finished. It's too early to tell. As a minimum Russia has to win at least 2 more games, and preferably 1 against OHL. Anything below that is a failure, esp. with this kind of roster. Anything above is good.
The good news is that this is adversity that the team needs. Sometimes a loss is important in turning the team around. The question is - can they make the right conclusions and become better from it? Bragin's team answered- yes they can.
We all know that the class of the team is good, but the character is still questionable.
Anyone know why Osnovin or Barabanov weren't invited? Barabanov looked like a high end prospect when I saw him play (correct me if I'm wrong).
first of all Osnovin/Filippov/Barabanov are 94 born players, they are doing very good in the mhl and Osnovin already scored some points in the VHL, the are way to many comparable players in the 93/94. I am worried about these two generations though, they were not doing too good in the junior tournaments, there's plenty of skill but not enough of character. 93 was coached by a pathetic Rumyantsev (who for whatever mirculou$$$ reason is coaching the u16 again...)
Lol Shenfeild just made me look bad... At least I was right with Shalunov, he's been the most consistant forward for Russia so far, and was good in the summer series as well.
Lol Shenfeild just made me look bad... At least I was right with Shalunov, he's been the most consistant forward for Russia so far, and was good in the summer series as well.
Agree i think that line has been really great so far. Good to see Nichushkin play, he has alot of skills.
Varnakov is garbage. I have little hope for the team he will assemble. Played Grigorenko 12 and 8 minutes respectively when Russia faced Quebec.
Absolutely pathetic.
I am not impressed with him either, but may be he's sure in Grigorenko and wanted to see more of who he's not sure about? WJC will show his true self. Also, he just doesn't know the players playing outside of Russia all that well it seems. His surprise with Zadorov's play just proves my line of thought.
What does everyone think of Shalunov? Hes almost invisible here or no one has much opinion of him. Currently he is your leading scorer in the subway series and has been posting consistantly strong offensive numbers besides having very good size.
I am not impressed with him either, but may be he's sure in Grigorenko and wanted to see more of who he's not sure about? WJC will show his true self. Also, he just doesn't know the players playing outside of Russia all that well it seems. His surprise with Zadorov's play just proves my line of thought.
I really hope this is the case.
Btw is there post game interviews with Varnakov? If there is could you link me please.
I am not impressed with him either, but may be he's sure in Grigorenko and wanted to see more of who he's not sure about? WJC will show his true self. Also, he just doesn't know the players playing outside of Russia all that well it seems. His surprise with Zadorov's play just proves my line of thought.
Prokhorkin was always a marginal 93 NT player, and his team didn't let him play in SSS,that pretty much makes for 90% probability of him not being there.
Grigorenko (who played very little at SSS has a 4 goal night) and Kucherov (who by Varnakov's POV has little chance to make it to the WJC) has 2 assists and a game winning penalty shot.
Grigorenko (who played very little at SSS has a 4 goal night) and Kucherov (who by Varnakov's POV has little chance to make it to the WJC) has 2 assists and a game winning penalty shot.
My only hope, and it's a slight chance, is that Varnakov used those words and that strategy to get Kucherov to try really hard to rip up the Q and that he plans on inviting him all along. But it's a very slight chance.
The other hope is that Kucherov does rip the Q apart so that Varnakov invites him, but the "rip it" part oh so subjective.
My reaction would be a simple gift basket (trojan horse) to Varnakov with a very explicit "s kakogo huia" letter about Kucherov next time I'm in Moscow, if he doesn't make the team.
Apparently the average Russian man is 1.76 m yet the teams they send out are much much bigger these days. Can someone explain this? Is it the large pool of players they have to choose from?
Apparently the average Russian man is 1.76 m yet the teams they send out are much much bigger these days. Can someone explain this? Is it the large pool of players they have to choose from?
Definitely bigger pool to choose from than before, and more players are in view thanks to MHL, VHL and KHL.
But I think with the increasing popularity of Hockey in Russia, and a winter geocentric country- Hockey gets the prime athletes of the age groups in recent years. (taller, stronger, faster)
Other factors like nutrition have improved significantly since the 90's, helping with heights and weights. A lot of hockey players in the 90's had really poor nutritional knowledge and virtually no supplements, which sounds crazy for modern day athletes.
Apparently the average Russian man is 1.76 m yet the teams they send out are much much bigger these days. Can someone explain this? Is it the large pool of players they have to choose from?
Fulcrum is right that improvements in nutritional standards based on increased wealth and access to plentiful and nutritious food (going back as recently as the 1950's, famines occurred in some parts of the country) have increased human growth and health, so that more taller and heavier people will emerge, but also, the average is what falls into the middle range of the population. There are always taller and shorter people as a significant part of the population when you move away from the median. Also, Russia is a country of 140 million, so population genetics dictates that there will be many thousands or millions of young men at or about 185 centimeters.
