Kovalchuk Emphasizes Win Now For Russia

World Championship - Ilya Kovalchuk: "We need to win now like never before"
RussianHockeyFans.com May 4, 2010


RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation.

Many thought that you won't play for the national team. It is very risky as you don't have a contract for the next season in the NHL. Besides your wife gave a birth to your son in March. Was this decision hard to take?

Kovalchuk: "After failing in Vancouver all guys agreed to go to the World Championship if there is a chance. We must win and make this season end well.
My wife Nicole understood me at once, told me that the whole family would be watching games on TV and cheer for us. She and the kids stayed in Miami. I spent a week there and flew to Russia."

Many teams will have either weak or very young rosters. It will be easier for Team Russia to win the gold?
Kovalchuk: "In first place we have to think about our team. It doesn't matter against whom we will play. All teams will fight against Russia. Especially the young guys, who will want to show themselves. But our team is young too, we have Kulikov, Anisimov, Varlamov, Radulov, Ovechkin, Semin... They aren't old men, are they?"

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Alexei Morozov Is Confident In Russian Team and Believes Canada Has Weaknesses

Tatar-inform "Alexei Morozov believes Canadians have chink in their armour" 2-24-2010

Captain of the Russian team and Kazan’s HC Ak Bars Alexei Morozov answered journalists’ questions after a training session at Britannia Centre.

According to Morozov’s words, the quarter final stage versus Canada at the Olympics-2010 shouldn’t be considered a preschedule final. “It is totally not true. But every match is like a new final for our team. Tomorrow will be a new day, a new match and a new rival. We don’t think about who it will be. The main thing is not to be afraid of the opponents, but we can respect them,” Sport-Express quotes the captain as saying.

Answering the question about Canadians’ weak points, Morozov said: “Any team, including Canada, have weak points.”

Russians Still Looking To Hit Stride: Volchenkov's Defense Could Be Difference Maker

GenXXXL breaks down the Russian team in anticipation of the 2010 Olympic quarter-finals game between the Canada and Russia. In particular, GenXXXL believes that the Russian blueline and defencemen Anton Volchenkov could be a difference maker.

The complete counter to Gonchar would be Anton Volchenkov. Where Gonchar is flash and dash, joining the rush to tip the offensive scales in favor of his team, Volchenkov is a stay at home defenseman.

He is consistently among the league leaders in blocked shots and is considered one of the toughest players in the league. He has won gold at the World Junior Championships, plus gold and silver at the World Cup. This will be his second Olympic appearance in his career.

To review GenXXXL's piece in its entirety, please follow this link.

THE VISIT: Sergei Shirokov at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver as a guest of the Russian delegation.

THE VISIT: Moose forward Sergei Shirokov spent Sunday and Monday at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver as a guest of the Russian delegation.

“They wanted him to be part of those surroundings,” said Arniel. “It was a nice gesture by the Russian federation.”

Volchenkov, Russia get best of Czechs

On Sunday Russia won their Olympic group in a 4-2 victory over the Czech Republic. Evengi Malkin netted two goals for the Russians and defencemen Anton Volchenkov helped hold down the fort by slowing down the previously unbeaten Czechs.

To read more about the Russian's win on Sunday and Anton Volchenkov's stellar play, please visit this link.

The Great Ambassador: Ilya Kovalchuk

Great piece by Michelle Kenneth at Inside Hockey on Ilya Kovalchuk and his Olympic play. To read Michelle's piece in its entirety, please visit this link.

The newest member to the New Jersey Devils, Ilya Kovalchuk, is participating in his third Olympics. He was only 18 years old when he was first selected to represent Russia.

“Probably the first one,” he said of his favorite Olympic memory. “I was 18 years old and we got so many great players and we won the bronze medal. It was kind of exciting.

"It’s always nice when you win. But now, I’m a little older, I have a little more experience. We won two World Cup Championships with the national team. We’ve got a great atmosphere in the locker room. It will be very interesting. We’ve got a great chance to play really well.”

After all, he’s representing the country that almost every country in the world considers their biggest rivalry.

Strong Play By Morozov Reignites Talk About Move Back to NHL

Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette discusses the possibility of KHL star and Russian National Team Captain Alexei Morozov returning the NHL.

To read Dave's February 17, 2010 column, please visit this link.

Kovalchuk, Radulov and Morozov Score in 8-2 Russian Route of Latvia

The Russian hockey team showed the world why they were are favorites to win gold in Vancouver, as they pummeled Latvia 8-2 on Tuesday.

Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexander Radulov, and Alexei Morozov were among the seven Russian players that scored against Latvia.

To read more on the Russian's win, please visit this link.

Alexei Morozov officially declared Russian national hockey team’s captain in Vancouver

Congratulations to Alexei Morozov who was just named the Russian national team ice hockey captain and will be celebrating his 33rd birthday!

Alexei Morozov (HC Ak Bars) was the Russian delegation’s banner bearer at the opening ceremony of the Olympics-2010 and captain at the two world championships in Quebeck-2008 and Bern-2009, which brought the national team victories.

Olympic Prediction: Volchenkov Big Part of Russian Gold

Star Tribune hockey writer Michael Russo breaks down his prediction on why he thinks the Russians will take gold during the Vancouver Olympics. Russo believes the solid play of defensemen Anton Volchenkov will play a large role in a Russian victory.


Anton Volchenkov is one of the NHL's best shutdown defensemen and six or seven times a year clobbers somebody you're afraid will never get up.

To see Michael's article in full, please visit this link.

Zubov: I am a hockey player, not politician!

Check Out Sergey Zubov's Recent Statement On His Decision To Not Participate During The 2010 Vancouver Olympics As A Reserve

“...I have been reading articles in mass media for these six days, read commentaries and online blogs. I was surprised that fans responded to my announcement aggressively, but most of all I was sad that atmosphere of the national team’s preparations for the Olympics had been disturbed...I am not a politician, I am hockey player and I don’t predict all my public moves unlike hockey ones. Moreover I haven’t lived in Russia for a long time and I haven’t restored my vocabulary yet...I think that most probably I was right except the harsh form of my refusal. At the same time I would like to introduce clarity in my announcement...Believe me that I have no claims to the head coach Vyacheslav Bykov. Slava and I are both products of HC CSKA, we played in one club and national team and we are in perfect relations...I know that he has done a lot to restore atmosphere in the national team and Russia’s two victories at the World Championships. I also know in which situation he is ahead of the Olympic games...My refusal was provoked by a call of administrator, who warned me that coaches take me to Vancouver as reserve player. I won’t hide that this conversation shocked me and the explanation is not in the fact that I would be in reserve. The main thing is the form how they informed me about it. To my mind people showed they are not professionals by behaving this way, and I was not ready for it after seventeen seasons of playing in NHL..I think that not all people deal with their own business in the Russian hockey and Bykov is just a hostage of this system. The team of managers should be responsible for formation of the national team’s squad and holding talks with players, while in Russia the head coach has to deal with this job...Vladislav Tretyak is famous former goalkeeper, the world hockey legend, he is manager of our national team, however managers’ work is something absolutely different from what we used to see in Russia. In NHL junior administrator or masseur would never call you and inform you that coaches take you to the team’s roster or not. It’s all manager’s responsibility”.

To view Sergey's statement in whole, please visit this link.

Russia's A-Train On Track

As the 2010 Vancouver Olympics near, the Russian national ice hockey team are early favorites to bring gold back to the motherland. A Russian triumph in Vancouver may depend on the solid play by the defensive unit led by Ottawa Senator Anton Volchenkov. Volchenkov, who is having another strong year with the Senators, has been subtle about the Russians chances stating, "With [Sergei] Gonchar and [Andrei] Markov, we've got a couple of real good players and I have some experience but we won't be trying to get goals." With the possibility of becoming an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, Anton Volchenkov may have more to play for than Olympic Gold.