Russian Olympic Team to be Half NHLers, Half KHLers
The general manager of the Russian Olympic hockey team, Vladislav Tretiak, is on his first scouting trip ahead of the 2010 event and is stating that he predicts the Russian squad will be comprised of half NHLers and half players from the KHL or Kontinental Hockey League.
Tretiak was in Montreal to watch Alex Ovechkin and his Capitals take on the Habs. He was checking out Capitals goalie Semyon Varlamov, too, and also met with Andrei Markov for dinner. Markov is expected to be returning to Montreal’s line-up ahead of schedule in early January.
The Russian Olympic team will have the expected suspects, including Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Ilya Kovalchuk, but Tretiak says that there’ll be a good amount of fresh and unfamiliar faces on the squad as well.
“The KHL is a good league, the hockey is very tough. We have maybe 10 or 12 good players. It’s going to be very tough for the coaches to make the team because there are so many good players; there are good players in the NHL and good players in the KHL. Everybody has a shot to play for Russia,” he said.
When talking to the press, Tretiak eventually addressed the issue of what could occur if the NHL elects to pull out of the Olympics in Sochi in 2014. Part of the strategy in selecting a fair amount of KHL players appears to be forward thinking, of course, even with Ovechkin, Malkin and Kovalchuk all committing to playing on home soil regardless of NHL participation.
“It’s special because the best players in the world are playing in the Olympic Games,” said Tretiak. “It’s a special time for each hockey player, it doesn’t matter (if they are) Canadian, American or Russian, because it’s a special competition. An Olympic medal is different than a world championship (medal). I hope everybody comes to Sochi.”
For the time being, however, Tretiak is optimistic about the 2010 Olympics and is especially excited about Alexander the Great. “Every time I watch him (Ovechkin) I enjoy it, I would like to watch him all day,” Tretiak said. “He has so much energy. He plays a little bit different than Soviet Union hockey players. He looks like he is half Canadian and half Russian.”
As for Varlamov, Tretiak said that it will be a tough decision. He also must consider fellow Russians Evgeni Nabokov and Ilya Bryzgalov, along with Nikolai Khabibulin.
In the end, the Russian team will be a tough one to beat. They’ll be named on Christmas Day, giving Tretiak a few more chances to check out some key players before penning the final roster and marching on to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
Posted by Jordan Richardson.
Tags: hockey players, russian players, Russians, Team Russia, Vladislav Tretiak