CrashingTheGoalie

by Drew Baird

When discussing the favorites to win a gold medal at winter games this year, the conversation usually creeps toward Team Canada and Team Russia. Mostly everything I’ve read has had them stacked up pretty even, but I think that a lot of experts are underrating the Russian defense.

Now I’m not saying it is as solid as the Canadians, or that it has near the star power. What the Russians have is a solid group that can move the puck up the ice quickly to a star studded forward group. A group that will man the point on the deadliest powerplay in the tournament; Markov, Gonchar, Ovechkin, Malkin and Kovalchuk looks to be scarier than Mike Ricci.

The Canadian D core is the best and the deepest in the tournament but it won’t sneak up on anyone.

The Russian defenseman however, suit the Russian game style perfectly. They might have the most mobile blueline in the tournament, which again will only give the forwards more options. The top pair of Markov and Gonchar stacks up against in the tournament, but it does get a little slim past that. They don’t exactly have the luxury of keeping a Dion Phanuef or even a Willie Mitchell off the roster but I still believe this group is over looked.

Tyutin, Zubov and Volchenkov round out the group solidly. Tyutin has cooled off a little lately but is still a top 4 NHL defenseman. Sergei Zubov is still – well Sergei Zubov – and Volchenkov is a mammoth hitter and is very sound defensively.

This is the kind of unit that can sneak up and surprise you, I think they will catch a few teams off guard with how quick they can be in transition. With the big guns up front, a goalie just as capable of getting hot as Broduer and Lu, and a defence that can move and get the puck up the ice quickly, this Russian team will be some kind of tough to beat.

Lets just hope our boys come ready to play.

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picture courtesy of hockeydraft.ca