With the 2010 Vancouver Olympics 48 days away, the Russians are one of the first powerhouse teams to announce their Olympic roster. The Russians are a team that will compete for a gold medal and with the roster that they have put together they are making the first step to competing for that medal. Here are the players:
Get To Know An Olympic Roster: Russia
Goaltenders
The surprise out of this announcement comes with the selection of third goaltender Semyon Varlamov from the Washington Capitals. Varlamov was the rookie sensation that led the Capitals to the conference Semi-Finals. Nabokov was the starting goaltender for the Russians for the 2006 Torino Games where the Russians lost to the Czech Republic in the Bronze medal game. Nabokov went 4-2 during those games with a 1.34 GAA and also led the Russians to their first of two back-to-back gold medals at the World Championships in 2008. Bryzgalov has some international experience as well as he was also apart of the 2006 roster, playing in one game that year.
Defense
Sergei Gonchar, Fedor Tutin, Dmitri Kalinin, Denis Grebeshkov, Anton Volchenkov, Andrei Markov, Konstantin Korneyev, Ilya Nikulin
Three of the eight defensemen come for the Russians come from the home country KHL and another defenseman has not played a game since October 3rd. If the Russians are going to have a downfall, it will most likely come from their defensive play. Sergei Gonchar and Andrei Markov are the two stalwarts for this defense but Markov will need to get himself in game shape as he has not played in a game for three months after slicing a tendon against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Dmitri Kalinin, Konstantin Korneyev, Ilya Nikulin are the KHL players on the roster but are not short on international experience. Kalinin has played in the World Championships five times and Korneyev and Nikulin have played on the last three World Championship teams, teams that have won two golds and a bronze medal.
Forwards
Alexander Ovechkin, Ilya Kovalchuk, Evgeni Malkin, Maxim Afinogenov, Alexander Semin, Pavel Datsyuk, Alexei Morzov, Viktor Kozlov, Alexander Radulov, Danis Zaripov, Sergei Zinoviev, and Sergei Fedorov
What may be perceived as a lack of Russian defense is more than made up for with the forwards that are traveling to Vancouver. With three of the top 25 scorers in the NHL and a great deal of NHL and international experience on the roster, the Russian offense is going to be a reason to watch the Olympics alone. Being able to roll lines with Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, and Malkin are always going to make this team a constant threat and having additional talent in Semin, Radulov, Afinogenov, and Fedorov means that no matter who has the puck on their stick, they are going to be able to score.
The Russians are a serious threat to win the gold medal in Vancouver and are probably one of the few teams that could spoil the Canadians homecoming. Behind an amazing offense and great goaltenders, they should be able to make up for any defensive issues that may occur.
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