The KHL and the NHL contribute with 19 players each.

How sweet.  A joint venture! 

Also…

Forwards: ... Alexei Kovalev (Ottawa Senators, NHL), Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta Trashers, NHL), Viktor Kozlov (Salavat Yulayev Ufa, RUS), Nikolai Kulemin (Toronto Maple Leafs, NHL), ...

Was this on purpose? 

And good for Kulemin from Toronto.  He’s a very talented kid.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 08/03/09 at 12:24 PM ET

How sweet.  A joint venture!

Yeah, and they didn’t have to try very hard to make it seem like it was actually this way, did they?  Something strikes me as funny about these “KHL players”:

Viktor Kozlov (Salavat Yulayev Ufa, RUS)
Sergei Fedorov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk, RUS)

On the NHL side:
Sergei Zubov (Dallas Stars, NHL)

This tilts it to 20/18.  Quick, get Vyacheslav Kozlov on the phone and tell Zinoviev he’s not invited!  Balance must be upheld!

Posted by shanetx on 08/03/09 at 01:16 PM ET

Datsuk, Malkin, AO, and Kovvy?  Oh man that’s gonna be a sick team.

Posted by Hippy Dave from Portland by way of Detroit on 08/03/09 at 01:37 PM ET

No defense (Zubov and Gonchar are both great, but neither is ‘whole’ and Markov isn’t capable of carrying the team).  Merely average goaltending. 

Can I really be the only person who sees this team as “great on paper, ‘feels good’, but no chance to beat Sweden and Canada”?

Posted by shanetx on 08/03/09 at 01:44 PM ET

I don’t know if you happened to see the finals, or the regular season at all for the Pens, but Gonchar obviously is a very “whole” player who can carry a team.  Between Gonch, Markov, Volchenkov, and Tyutin, I think that’s a decent enough top 4 to scare a few teams.  Plus, I’m sure a couple of those KHL guys are surprising.  As long as Nabokov holds strong, Varlamov is a very capable goalie as we saw in the playoffs this year.  They’ll be fine, especially when we see a power play with Malkin, OV, Datsyuk, Gonchar, and Markov.  Oh, they got tired?  I GUESS they can send out Kovalchuck, Kovalev, and Frolov.

Posted by Chase on 08/03/09 at 03:30 PM ET

Not only did I watch the finals, and regular season, I also am aware that Gonchar was playing the finals on a partially torn MCL, after missing 57 games during the regular season to injury.  I don’t call that “whole” at all but you’re welcome to ignore injuries that take months to heal, and their ramifications, if you’d like.

When healthy, or healthy enough to play (ala, the E. Conference and SCFs), he’s a great player.  If he and Zubov were both healthy, I think Zubov-Gonchar-Markov-‘whoever they round out the top 4 with’ is as good a top 3 as any team can boast. Neither will be healthy to start their NHL/KHL seasons, however, and I imagine their clubs will put some pressure on them to sit out the Olympics if they’re remotely nicked up going into it.

Even without Gonchar or Zubov, Russia’s still a top-3 team (with Canada and Sweden) but I don’t see them being as unbeatable as their forwards would suggest.  The back end doesn’t compare to Sweden or Canada and if they face a hot goalie that can keep them from putting up more than 2-3, they might get surprised and their defense/goaltending weakness exploited for a quick loss.

Posted by shanetx on 08/03/09 at 03:49 PM ET