Russia comes to Bratislava with a roster stacked with attacking talent. Head coach Ilya Vorobyov can call upon Alexander Ovechkin, Yevgeni Malkin, Yevgeni Kuznetsov, Nikita Kucherov and Ilya Kovalchuk, among others, and there may yet be space for Alexander Radulov if Dallas loses out in Wednesday’s game seven against St. Louis.
But if Vorobyov is enjoying good fortune due to the availability of so many impressive NHL-based forwards, Russia’s defence looks workmanlike rather than outstanding. There’s every chance that this year’s World Championship campaign could bring a flurry of goals at both ends of the ice.
Goal
Andrei Vasilevski is back in Russia’s colours for a third World Championship campaign. He first played at this level as a youngster in Minsk in 2014, impressing in an understudy role as the Red Machine powered to gold. Three years later he was the main man as Russia took bronze in Cologne, having matured from KHL fledgling at Salavat Yulayev Ufa into an established NHLer with the Lightning. This season he helped Tampa Bay top the regular season table but then had to come to terms with the disappointment of a first-round play-off exit.
The 24-year-old Vasilevski will likely share goaltending duties with Ilya Sorokin. The CSKA man, now 23, was instrumental in his team landing its first Gagarin Cup last month. With five play-off shut-outs to go with 11 from the regular season, Sorokin proved once again that he is the leading netminder in the KHL. The third-choice goalie will be Bulgarian-born Alexandar Georgiev. The 23-year-old moved to Moscow as a child and emerged from the Khimik Voskresensk club before joining the Rangers last season after a stint in Finland. This season brought his first call-up to Russia’s senior squad, having previously played U20 tournaments.
Defence
Russia’s blue line is something of a mixed bag. On the one hand, there’s the undoubted class of Washington’s Dmitri Orlov, a medallist on all three of his previous World Championship appearances (one gold, two bronze). There’s also the exciting 20-year-old Mikhail Sergachyov, whose game has come on leaps and bounds over the past two seasons at Tampa Bay and who is poised for his World Championship debut.
On the other hand, there’s CSKA duo Nikita Nesterov and Artyom Blazhievski. Neither of the Gagarin Cup-winning duo made a powerful impression during the recent Czech Hockey Games. And Bogdan Kiselevich, Olympic champion last year, arrives after a difficult first season in North America that saw him traded from Winnipeg to Florida, where he made just 32 appearances for eight assists. Against that backdrop, Russia was quick to bring Vladislav Gavrikov to Bratislava after the Blue Jackets came out of the NHL play-offs this week. Gavrikov played the bulk of the season under Vorobyov in St. Petersburg, scoring a career-high 20 points in 60 KHL regular season outings, and when he moved to the NHL he had agreed that he would return to play for Russia if he became available.
Forwards
Russia’s offence looks almost too good to be true. Ovechkin became the fifth player to score 100 points for Russia last Sunday when he had two assists in a 4-1 win over the Czechs. That game saw Kirill Kaprizov, scorer of that Olympic golden goal, join a line with Ovi and his Capitals’ team-mate Kuznetsov and the combination showed plenty of promise for the coming championship.
But there’s plenty more for opposition defences to worry about. Ilya Kovalchuk, Russia’s all-time leading scorer in international play, is available and has set a new record as he embarks on his 15th season with his national team; Yevgeni Malkin brings more star quality, while Nikita Kucherov was the NHL’s leading scorer in regular season with a mighty 128 (41+87) points before the Lightning burned out in the playoffs.
Then there’s the KHL contingent. Gagarin Cup winners Kaprizov and Mikhail Grigorenko have already tasted success this season, with Grigorenko bossing the post-season scoring in the KHL to plunder 21 (13+8) points from 20 games. Then there’s Nikita Gusev, the league’s leading scorer in the regular season. He had 82 (17+65) point in 62 games for SKA and is available for Bratislava after Vegas fell in the play-offs. Gusev could re-establish his partnership with former Petersburg favourite Yevgeni Dadonov, although Artemi Panarin is unlikely to be available to complete that title-winning combination from 2015.
Coaching
Ilya Vorobyov completes his first full season behind the bench for Russia and will be looking to improve on last year’s disappointing quarter-final defeat. Like his predecessor, Oleg Znarok, he’s combining the role with the head coach’s job at SKA St. Petersburg, and like Znarok he’s kept his thoughts very much to himself in his dealings with the media. However, he has acknowledged that this year’s roster offers far more goalscoring options than the class of 2018 and he will be hoping that firepower can see Russia follow up its Euro Hockey Tour success with a serious bid for gold in Slovakia.
Projected results
As always, expectations are sky high. Commentators back home are talking about a ‘dream team’, although recent defeats to Sweden and Finland in Euro Tour action have injected a shot of reality into some of the more fanciful talk about this roster’s potential. Inevitably, though, Russia should have a major say in where the medals go this time.
The group stage offers a relatively gentle start, with games against Norway and Austria to get things moving. The Czechs should provide a bigger test in game three, while the final group game against defending champion Sweden could offer the first major clues about the destiny of the gold medals. Overall, though, it’s hard to imagine Russia failing to make the podium this year.
But if Vorobyov is enjoying good fortune due to the availability of so many impressive NHL-based forwards, Russia’s defence looks workmanlike rather than outstanding. There’s every chance that this year’s World Championship campaign could bring a flurry of goals at both ends of the ice.
Goal
Andrei Vasilevski is back in Russia’s colours for a third World Championship campaign. He first played at this level as a youngster in Minsk in 2014, impressing in an understudy role as the Red Machine powered to gold. Three years later he was the main man as Russia took bronze in Cologne, having matured from KHL fledgling at Salavat Yulayev Ufa into an established NHLer with the Lightning. This season he helped Tampa Bay top the regular season table but then had to come to terms with the disappointment of a first-round play-off exit.
The 24-year-old Vasilevski will likely share goaltending duties with Ilya Sorokin. The CSKA man, now 23, was instrumental in his team landing its first Gagarin Cup last month. With five play-off shut-outs to go with 11 from the regular season, Sorokin proved once again that he is the leading netminder in the KHL. The third-choice goalie will be Bulgarian-born Alexandar Georgiev. The 23-year-old moved to Moscow as a child and emerged from the Khimik Voskresensk club before joining the Rangers last season after a stint in Finland. This season brought his first call-up to Russia’s senior squad, having previously played U20 tournaments.
Defence
Russia’s blue line is something of a mixed bag. On the one hand, there’s the undoubted class of Washington’s Dmitri Orlov, a medallist on all three of his previous World Championship appearances (one gold, two bronze). There’s also the exciting 20-year-old Mikhail Sergachyov, whose game has come on leaps and bounds over the past two seasons at Tampa Bay and who is poised for his World Championship debut.
On the other hand, there’s CSKA duo Nikita Nesterov and Artyom Blazhievski. Neither of the Gagarin Cup-winning duo made a powerful impression during the recent Czech Hockey Games. And Bogdan Kiselevich, Olympic champion last year, arrives after a difficult first season in North America that saw him traded from Winnipeg to Florida, where he made just 32 appearances for eight assists. Against that backdrop, Russia was quick to bring Vladislav Gavrikov to Bratislava after the Blue Jackets came out of the NHL play-offs this week. Gavrikov played the bulk of the season under Vorobyov in St. Petersburg, scoring a career-high 20 points in 60 KHL regular season outings, and when he moved to the NHL he had agreed that he would return to play for Russia if he became available.
Forwards
Russia’s offence looks almost too good to be true. Ovechkin became the fifth player to score 100 points for Russia last Sunday when he had two assists in a 4-1 win over the Czechs. That game saw Kirill Kaprizov, scorer of that Olympic golden goal, join a line with Ovi and his Capitals’ team-mate Kuznetsov and the combination showed plenty of promise for the coming championship.
But there’s plenty more for opposition defences to worry about. Ilya Kovalchuk, Russia’s all-time leading scorer in international play, is available and has set a new record as he embarks on his 15th season with his national team; Yevgeni Malkin brings more star quality, while Nikita Kucherov was the NHL’s leading scorer in regular season with a mighty 128 (41+87) points before the Lightning burned out in the playoffs.
Then there’s the KHL contingent. Gagarin Cup winners Kaprizov and Mikhail Grigorenko have already tasted success this season, with Grigorenko bossing the post-season scoring in the KHL to plunder 21 (13+8) points from 20 games. Then there’s Nikita Gusev, the league’s leading scorer in the regular season. He had 82 (17+65) point in 62 games for SKA and is available for Bratislava after Vegas fell in the play-offs. Gusev could re-establish his partnership with former Petersburg favourite Yevgeni Dadonov, although Artemi Panarin is unlikely to be available to complete that title-winning combination from 2015.
Coaching
Ilya Vorobyov completes his first full season behind the bench for Russia and will be looking to improve on last year’s disappointing quarter-final defeat. Like his predecessor, Oleg Znarok, he’s combining the role with the head coach’s job at SKA St. Petersburg, and like Znarok he’s kept his thoughts very much to himself in his dealings with the media. However, he has acknowledged that this year’s roster offers far more goalscoring options than the class of 2018 and he will be hoping that firepower can see Russia follow up its Euro Hockey Tour success with a serious bid for gold in Slovakia.
Projected results
As always, expectations are sky high. Commentators back home are talking about a ‘dream team’, although recent defeats to Sweden and Finland in Euro Tour action have injected a shot of reality into some of the more fanciful talk about this roster’s potential. Inevitably, though, Russia should have a major say in where the medals go this time.
The group stage offers a relatively gentle start, with games against Norway and Austria to get things moving. The Czechs should provide a bigger test in game three, while the final group game against defending champion Sweden could offer the first major clues about the destiny of the gold medals. Overall, though, it’s hard to imagine Russia failing to make the podium this year.