World Cup of Hockey Preview: Team Russia

After covering Team North America and Team Europe, the next team on the docket is Team Russia.

Russia has fallen a bit when it comes on the international stage. In terms of the Olympics, the Russians have not placed in the medals since 2002. In international tournaments, it has faired better by winning gold in the 2014 World Championship.

However, it’s a valid argument that the success in the World Championships are not exactly against the greatest quality of opposition. Sure, you have some bigger names who missed the playoffs in the NHL, but it’s not the same as in the Olympics.

Team Russia has some amazing firepower. They probably have one of the deepest forward units in the tournament that can rival Canada. However, it’s the other areas where the Russians are going to have problems.

Team Russia Projected Line Up

Ovechkin-Datsyuk-Tarasenko

Panarin-Malkin-Kucherov

Dadonov-Kutznetsov-Telegin

Kulemin-Shipachyov-Namestnikov

Markov-Marchenko

Emelin-Kulikov

Orlov-Zaitsev

Extra: Nesterov

Bobrovsky

Varlamov

Vasilevskiy

Strengths

Look at that firepower on offence! When the reigning Calder trophy winner, an emerging young talent and one of the best centres in the NHL forms your second line, you have a pretty good offence. Pavel Datsyuk may have left the NHL to return home but fans will get one last chance to see Datsyuk on North American ice. The Magic Man should have the best left winger in the world, Alex Ovechkin, and one of the most dynamic right wings, Vladimir Tarensenko flanking him.

Malkin is one of the best centres out there and he’s playing second line. Panarin has shown he can play with good players and Kucherov posted 60 + points. Offence is far from a problem for the Russians. Then you have some KHL players, such as Evgeny Dadanov, who at the time of writing, has nine points in six games to start his season off.

This is an offence that can go toe to toe with any team in terms of depth and skill. If the Russians are to win, it’ll be with this explosion of talent.

I also like the goaltending. Bobrovsky and Varlamov, while inconsistent at times, form a very solid duo. Vasilevskiy is another solid add. Too bad there’s no Ilya Bryzgalov though.

Weaknesses

The defence is possibly the worst in the tournament. The best defenceman here is Andrei Markov who is also 37. The rest of the defencemen are all relatively young and inexperienced. Even then, I don’t think Russia’s blue line is anything to write home about. Slava Voynov was barred from playing the tournament and he would have been a great help to this blue line. I’m interested in seeing Zaitsev live, as he was signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs this off season. Otherwise, there’s not a lot of depth on the back end. Easily, this is the one area that could sink the Russians for this tournament.

Who To Watch

I think all eyes will be on Pavel Datsyuk for one last time in North America. As mentioned above, he was one of the most talented players in the NHL during his campaign here. While he was amazingly skilled offensively, he was also just as good in his own end. The NHL will surely miss a player as creative as Pavel Datsyuk.

Biggest Snubs

I find it interesting that neither Alexander Radulov nor Ilya Kovalchuk are participating in this tournament. Radulov was one of the most exciting stars in the KHL, and recently signed with the Montreal Canadiens. Meanwhile, Kovalchuk is famous for leaving New Jersey during the summer of 2013 to return home to Russia. He was stripped of his captaincy with SKA and benched during the playoffs. Both of these exclusions are head scratchers as you can imagine the addition of those two would add even more fire power.

Jerseys

I dig these jerseys. Russia always has the coolest logo for international hockey: their coat of arms double headed eagle. The colours here are representative of Russia’s flag colours of red, white and blue. The numbers are in a simple, yet effective one colour. You have the stripes on the sides to represent Adidas as the supplier of the jerseys. Overall, it’s a clean but effective look.

Prediction

I think Russia has a tough time in this tournament but it’s not from the lack of offence. I feel the defence does not have enough depth nor star power to do well in this tournament. If the Russians had a fraction of the talent of the offence on the back end, they would be a top three team.

There are some serious gaps on that blue line. I have the Russians finishing 6th at the World Cup of Hockey.