Well since 20 years yes easily. Bure Fedorov Mogilny Kovalev Kovalchuk Malkin Ovechkin Datsyuk no equal in terms of pure skills. Now they have Crosby but that's about it in terms of pure skills and spectacular...Yes 2 years away and anything can happen we saw how Belarus got to a 1/2 and Finland to a final. Yes everything can happen. But one thing is for sure if Russia wins it will be a spectacle people will remember forever.
Yes 2 years away and anything can happen we saw how Belarus got to a 1/2 and Finland to a final. Yes everything can happen. But one thing is for sure if Russia wins it will be a spectacle people will remember forever.
I wouldn't compare Finland's play to Belarus, but otherwise you are correct. I do agree it will be most likely nice show. The question obviously will remain, will it be more than show. Team show, effective, etc. But that we'll see. I do really hope they will play as team, since I have always enjoeyd to see, play against and play with russian players.
I don't compare Finland's play to Belarus I've compared the two in terms of upsets at the Olympics and how it can happen again...Yeah team play should be there but this time we need an intelligent coach. In Turin we played as a team except the 1/2 when the chemistry was gone with the loss of Malkin Frolov Korolyuk. Anyhow we will see how Bykov will do in Quebec.
I don't compare Finland's play to Belarus I've compared the two in terms of upsets at the Olympics and how it can happen again...Yeah team play should be there but this time we need an intelligent coach. In Turin we played as a team except the 1/2 when the chemistry was gone with the loss of Malkin Frolov Korolyuk. Anyhow we will see how Bykov will do in Quebec.
Yeah. It's coachs job to be at wake and make team to play as it's best for team. Human nature is that kind that if there isn't good coaching it's hard if not impossible to play as well as team without good coaching.
It says enough when you didn't know Ottawa tried to trade Redden all year
im in toronto, of course i know they tried to trade him
nevertheless, a downswining Redden is still better than most of our guys
Like Dima said, canada plays hard D and dirty, and with guys like: an old zubov, old gonchar, markov, and 2 rookies (atm) how can we match the physicality of pronger/phaneuf/redden/bouwmeester/burns, etc.?
i give the nod to volchenkov in this respect, but every single potential canadian defenseman is more physical and better at defense than our guys. every one.
I was talking to Edmonton fans, they see him as a good 3rd pairing d-man (Grebeshkov that is). I was hoping for more, we'll see, last game he played 23 minutes and change, while for the most of the season 12 or so minutes.
Guys let's not get carried away. Belarus made a 1/2 Finland a final we blanked Canada with a mediocre defense as you said so no need to discuss it. The only thing we know is that we are going to have an explosive offense like never seen before in the history of the sport and many non-hockey fans might watch ice hockey just to see our forwards skate and play. 4Russians in top 7 now. That's incredible knowing we are what 2-3% of the players in the league?and we have 4/7 and 2/3 at D + Nabokov still #1 in wins. That's a season to remember and it will be capped by Gold in Quebec.
We'' see how the Canadians conduct themselves. They played clean in 2006 but on home ice I'm afraid they'll go back to their old ways of playing real dirty, we'll see.
Well we have more like 20-25 players who play regularly in the league this year /600...And we have 4/7 on forward 2/3 on D and the leading goalie it's incredible.
Canada 600 000 hockey players for Russia's 75 000 hockey players and don't forget playing overseas in a foreign league. We've seen many great Football players not making it despite much talent in foreign leagues for different reasons.
The disaster is USA with 350 000 hockey players and their best guy Gomez is #29 in scoring with only 16 goals...
If we were a Hockey playing country only(Canada) we would have 11/10 scorers!!!!
This is incredible season for our guys. I hope to see the Caps make the playoffs cuz they actually could go to the finals but if not well that's 4 great players for the Worlds!
Dima87 this will depend on the refs and if they still get their home refs for their games.This is one reason by the way why hockey is seen as a minor uncredible sport. There's worrying sign in the nhl now the refs are getting worst and worst game by game it seems they are already in the playoffs.But please let us stop talk about 2010 now because Canada might lose to Slovakia in the 1/4 for all we know...On small ice especially on a single game anything can happen. Hot goalie odd PP goal-s and the best team could lose 1-2 to about any team in the top 10 including Germans Swiss Belarus...As for people not sure if we have the most spectacular players in the game well let them alone it's been that way forever so if they can't recognize that then nothing to do with them...Even Canadians recognize that now and did before. " We have to stop the skill russians" was heard before every Canada-Russia game in history but only in 2006 did the refs have the right to call the game according to the rules. Ovechkin now 102pts !!!
??? This is pretty much accepted fact. Russia plays the mot exciting hockey with the most skillful players. Don't know what you're so shocked about.
you said russia ALWAYS has the most skillful and creative players
always? i mean put this proposed russian squad up against a line of lecavalier/crosby/heatley for example and i think its a prettey even match of pure skill and creativity on the ice
75 000 for a country 5-6 times bigger that Canada. Russia is #1 in Tennis #1 in Figure Skating(Olympics) Great in Football decent team in Basketball great in hockey and great in many Olympic sports. In terms of sports we are the best nation in the world. Usa sometimes get more medals in summer olympics but that's just because of their black athletes in athletics. If you put them aside or if we would have some to win medals in track and field then we would always come up #1. But I hope the success of Malkin Ovechkin Datsyuk Kovalchuk to name a few will lead some more youngsters to play hockey.
This guy is pathetic. Lecavalier is like a modern Jean Beliveau tall commanding forward with good speed but nothing close on the speed and pure skills and explosion of the 3 guys i've named....In the near future he's gonna name Shayne Corson and compare him to Alex Kovalev.
you said russia ALWAYS has the most skillful and creative players
always? i mean put this proposed russian squad up against a line of lecavalier/crosby/heatley for example and i think its a prettey even match of pure skill and creativity on the ice
Yes, Russia always has the most skillful players....always.
Heatley and Lecavalier are excellent players but in the skill department they're nothing to Russia's players. For example, Vinney Lecav is a better player than Zherdev, Zherdev is the more skillful of the two.
Yes, Russia always has the most skillful players....always.
Heatley and Lecavalier are excellent players but in the skill department they're nothing to Russia's players. For example, Vinney Lecav is a better player than Zherdev, Zherdev is the more skillful of the two.
more skillful? not by a long shot
maybe you mean more of a finesse player? honestly i cant even wrap my head around that comment. lecavalier is head and shoulders a better skill player than Z
Ratllehead you know nothing about hockey or your just trying to talk nonsence here for fun.
Lecavalier is tough to judge because he had some many up and downs and he's just starting to fulfill his potential altough he was probably the worst Canadian in Torino.
Zherdev might handle the puck better in practice but overall he is not in Lecavalier's class that was farfetched...
Rattlehead soon is gonna compare Adam Foote's skills to Sergei Zubov's skills watch out guys it's coming.
One thing I would agree though is that since 5 years or so Hockey Canada started to teach skills at the youth level. Since they went 7 years without Gold in JR and the humiliation of Nagano(and the numbers of youth hockey players decline rapidly cuz it was only teaching systems) they started to change a bit the way they teach youngsters. That's why now you see guys like Towes coming up very skillfull. But it's still never gonna catch Russians in many decades in terms of pure skills as a whole for the majority of their players.
Over the time when they brought guys like Corson Linden at the Olympics of well they did bring Bertuzzi Draper at the last one but maybe in 2010 they would have clean up their act. But then again it's small ice. I applaud them in teaching a bit more skills now and less systems in the youths but It's not gonna change the overall picture overnight.
for the guy. he'll be pretty good, but nothing near volchenkov defensively
