Team Russia (rumoured)

[JiriHrdina]

Wow. Were they drunk when they picked this roster?

[habernac]

Originally Posted by moon

That defense is awful.

Who do they play against top lines? Markov-Emelin?

They better hope that Bobrovsky is last years 40 game guy and not the guy he has been every other year.

Emelin has not looked sharp this year. He was playing so poorly, they scratched him in favour of Francis Bouillion last week.

[19Yzerman19]

Okay so that blue line is actually hilarious.

[Stay Golden]

This D line is scaring no one.
Markov
Belov
Emelin
Medvedev
Nikitin
Nikulin
Tyutin
Voynov

[vilzeh]

Nikulin though, I like him, he could be a top-2 guy in NHL also.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Stay Golden

This D line is scaring no one.
Markov
Belov
Emelin
Medvedev
Nikitin
Nikulin
Tyutin
Voynov

I'm sure it's scaring Russian hockey fans.

Also, lol Kuznetsov.

edit: apparently Kuznetsov is injured.

[Locke]

Wow. That blueline. Wow.

Andre Markov might come down 'sick' before he has to hit the ice with that bunch.

Anton Belov? Isnt he yo-yoing between the worst team in the league and the AHL?

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Stay Golden

This D line is scaring no one.
Markov
Belov
Emelin
Medvedev
Nikitin
Nikulin
Tyutin
Voynov

wow.

i'll make two first round predictions. The Americans will run all over that Russian defense and Sweden might beat the Czechs by more than 5.

[CaptainYooh]

One should never underestimate the huge boosting power of the home ice. Especially, in Russia.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

One should never underestimate the huge boosting power of the home ice poisoning the other teams' meals. Especially, in Russia.

fyp

[Knut]

@SportsnetSpec: Anton Belov makes Russian Olympic team, but is healthy-scratched by Oilers tonight.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

One should never underestimate the Russian penchant for bribing officials on home ice. Especially, in Russia.

Fyp. Its practically tradition!

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Hesla

@SportsnetSpec: Anton Belov makes Russian Olympic team, but is healthy-scratched by Oilers tonight.

He must know where the bodies are buried.

The Russians have a great attacking forward group, and Bobrovsky can be amazing. However, Bobrovsky is going to have to be amazing because that defence corps is atrocious. If that was a top 6 in the NHL that team wouldnt be in a playoff spot.

And Bob's not going to be getting too much help. The best defensive player on that team is Pavel Datsyuk, and while hes good hes also going to be all by himself.

[Tinordi]

The top pairing of Markov and Voynov is actually quite good. Tyutin and Emelin make a solid second pairing. And yes, they'll need a couple guys to play above their heads on the bottom pairing. But this is hardly a tournament ruining defensive unit especially on home ice.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Wow. Were they drunk when they picked this roster?

Come on. That goes without saying.

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by Locke

Fyp. Its practically tradition!

Oh, well. That'll make it even more interesting, I guess.

With Russian defense being so shallow and weak, logically, they should not even be in the run for a medal, any medal this time. Canada, US, Sweden and Finland are all better teams at present. But then again, there is that huge "Mother Russia's Watching You" factor.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Handsome B. Wonderful

Would these obvious political reasons be "They don't have a deep enough talent pool to put together a team made from only NHL players?"

I could see a conscious decision to put more KHL players on the roster to show that their league is just as good as the NHL. The Russians are like that.

I don't think it's a terrible roster, but that dcore looks pretty weak. Belov in the Oympics? Yikes.

[getbak]

I had no idea the Blue Jackets had that many Russians.

[T@T]

Where is Ruslan Zainullin?

[BloodFetish]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Official link:

http://fhr.ru/main/news/card/?id_4=8617

	Sergey A. Bobrowski	20.09.1988	COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS	182	77	 
 	 	Varlamov Semen Aleksandrovich	27.04.1988	COLORADO EVALANSH	184	88	 
 	 	Alexander Eremenko	10.04.1980	DYNAMO MOSCOW	179	75	 
 	 	




 
DEFENDERS
 	 	Anton Belov	29.07.1986	EDMONTON OILERS	193	89	 
 	 	Vyacheslav Voinov Leonidovich	15.01.1990	LOS ANGELES KINGS	180	83	 
 	 	Alexei Emelin V.	25.04.1986	MONTREAL CANADIENS	187	97	 
 	 	Andrey Markov	20.12.1978	MONTREAL CANADIENS	183	92	 
 	 	Evgeny Medvedev	27.08.1982	AK BARS	189	87	 
 	 	Nikita Nikitin	16.06.1986	COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS	191	92	 
 	 	Ilya Nikulin	12.03.1982	AK BARS	190	99	 
 	 	Fedor Tyutin A.	19.07.1983	COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS	182	94	 
FORWARDS
 	 	Artyom Anisimov	24.05.1988	COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS	190	80	 
 	 	Datsyuk Pavel V.	20.07.1978	DETROIT RED WINGS	179	95	 
 	 	Kovalchuk Ilya V.	15.04.1983	SKA	187	96	 
 	 	Kokarev Denis S.	17.06.1985	DYNAMO MOSCOW	178	80	 
 	 	Kulemin Nikolay Vladimirovich	14.07.1986	TORONTNO MAPLE LEAFS	185	96	 
 	 	Evgeny Malkin	31.07.1986	PITTSBURGH PENGUINS	191	91	 
 	 	Nichushkin Valery	04.03.1995	DALLAS STARS	194	89	 
 	 	Alexander Ovechkin	17.09.1985	WASHINGTON CAPITALS	188	99	 
 	 	Alexander Popov	08/31/1980	VANGUARD	178	82	 
 	 	Radulov, Alexander V.	05.07.1986	CSKA	186	84	 
 	 	Soin Sergei Viktorovich	31.03.1982	 DYNAMO MOSCOW	182	92	 
 	 	Vladimir A. Tarasenko	13.12.1991	SAINT LOUIS BLUES	178	77	 
 	 	Alexey Tereshchenko	16.12.1980	AK BARS	180	78	 
 	 	Viktor Tikhonov	12.05.1988	SKA	185	75

I like the look of that second goaltender. He's got spunk!