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Team Russia

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Sorry if a similar thread already exists... too lazy to check.

Semin - Malkin – Ovie

Kovalev - Datsyuk – Kovalchuk

Frolov - Yashin – Radulov

Morozov - Fedorov – Filitov

Markov – Markov

Gonchar – Grebeshkov

Tyutin – Volchenkov

Khabibulin

Bryzgalov

Spares

Kozlov

Afinogenov

Zubov (starts if healthy)

Kalinin

Only way to beat this team will be to muscle them. Not sure any country can match their skill.

Thaughts?

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Depending on the pairings, I like Russia vs Sweden in Gold Medal game. Interesting that you put Kovalchuk on same line as Datsyuk. . . perhaps a thing to come in Detroit's future? Ha ha

One can only hope.

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Don't forget about Varlamov, he did damn good this post season and should at least make the top 3. (hell, jonathan quick made the top 3 for the US and he didn't even make the post season).

**edit** - Is that list the Official one??

Edited by Swayze

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Don't forget about Varlamov, he did damn good this post season and should at least make the top 3. (hell, jonathan quick made the top 3 for the US and he didn't even make the post season).

**edit** - Is that list the Official one??

No, nothing official about this list... just something i put together quickly.

...and I forgot about Varlamov... good call on that one. Not sure I'd have him starting over 'Bulin or Bryz just yet though.

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hmmm...i wonder how Frolov would look on Datsyuk's wing...

Frolov - Datsyuk - Kovalchuck

Looks good, but then again, you can put just about any name next to Pavs/Kovalchuck and it'll look good.

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...and I forgot about Varlamov... good call on that one. Not sure I'd have him starting over 'Bulin or Bryz just yet though.

Yeah def., you also forgot Nabokov, who will most likely be their starting goalie.

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Depending on the pairings, I like Russia vs Sweden in Gold Medal game. Interesting that you put Kovalchuk on same line as Datsyuk. . . perhaps a thing to come in Detroit's future? Ha ha

Zetterberg versus Datsyuk for the gold. I like it. Although Z will probably play against whoever is the best scoring line at the time and given the names that scream offensive firepower on Team Russia, it's very hard to tell who's going to have the hot hand.

It doesn't appear all that likely but I like Sweden for a repeat. Though I reserve the right to change my mind if Lidstrom decides not to play.

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If Canada builds the team the way they should, they`ll handle Russia. Less Heatleys more Lucics, but Im sure they`ll make the mistake. I dont think Russias goaltending is strong enough for a victory, if it isnt Canada, I believe the States has a good chance.

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If Canada builds the team the way they should, they`ll handle Russia. Less Heatleys more Lucics, but Im sure they`ll make the mistake. I dont think Russias goaltending is strong enough for a victory, if it isnt Canada, I believe the States has a good chance.

I thought this site of all places would have confidence in Steve Yzerman to build a gold medal team.

Anyways, Canada will have the deepest team, especially up front, it will be interesting to see who they go with on D.

With Canada on home ice, I think they will have a decided advantage in terms of a loud crowd.

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I thought this site of all places would have confidence in Steve Yzerman to build a gold medal team.

Anyways, Canada will have the deepest team, especially up front, it will be interesting to see who they go with on D.

With Canada on home ice, I think they will have a decided advantage in terms of a loud crowd.

Mack, I have confidence Canada will win gold, it`s just I dont want too many primadonnas on the team. When guys like Lucic, Morrow, Cleary, etc. are available for your team, get them on the team. They can play, and they can grind, and against teams like Russia, Sweden, Finland we have the talent to match them, but if we dont have the grinding play (and I dont mean just the (Getzlafs and Richards and Doans because thats a given) we might not have the full advantage. I like our goaltending over everyone, yeah even Sweden. Home ice will be huge as well as you mentioned, hopefully Stevie and Mike do er right and Canada wins the gold on home ice (and I can brag how Canadians are still the best on this site :P)

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All around Canada's top 12 forwards are better IMO, the top 6 offensively are close, possibly an advantage to Russia, but when you have a potential checking line of NHL captains like Morrow-Richards-Doan, that's where Canada has a huge advantage. Better defense too and goalies.

Canada is the favourite

Russia/Sweden are probably next up

USA/Finland have solid teams and could upset

Czech/Slovak I think are pretty equal I'd like to see them play each other in an elimination game

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I thought this site of all places would have confidence in Steve Yzerman to build a gold medal team.

Anyways, Canada will have the deepest team, especially up front, it will be interesting to see who they go with on D.

With Canada on home ice, I think they will have a decided advantage in terms of a loud crowd.

I'll grant you that canada has better D and G than Russia, if only slightly. The depth here would benefit Canada more because an injury to a couple of Russian top D might not be easy to fill in for.

On forward side, Russia IMHO has a noticeable edge, especially in top 6. Malkin, Datsyuk, with 2 of S.Fedorov/Vic. Kozlov/Zinoviev/Yashin/some others in the middle, OV, Semin, Kovalchuk, Frolov, Morozov, Zaripov, Filatov, Samsonov etc. on wing represent a very potent offensive group. If Russia can get "good enough" goaltending performance out of Nabokov or Bryzgalov or Khabibullin, or even Varlamov, they will have a decent shot on beating anybody, including Canada. And having home ice is a double edge sword, remember Quebec WCH? :P

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its going to be Canada, Russian and Sweden in the top three in no particular order. All three are going to be insane....

Team Canada

Crosby – Lecavalier - Iginla

Heatley – Getzlaf - Nash

Toews– Thornton - Gagne

Carter – Richards - Doan

extras Morrow, Savard

Bouwmeester - Niedermayer

Phaneuf - Weber

Boyle - Green

extras Burns, Pronger

Luongo

Brodeur

extra Fleury

now thats going to be hard to beat...but if anyone can it will be Russia or Sweden

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Sorry if a similar thread already exists... too lazy to check.

...

Only way to beat this team will be to muscle them. Not sure any country can match their skill.

Thaughts?

Nabokov will make the starting spot over Khabibulin, he's younger and far better.

Yashin won't centre a shutdown line over Feds. If Yashin can't crack the top 6 (and he certainly can't) he should make the team. I also have a hard time seeing Frolov on a shutdown line. I think your bottom 6 is a lot farther from the final list than the top 6 (which will probably stay exactly like that aside from some possible shuffling based on chemistry).

Isn't Radulov banned from IIHF competition because of his broken contract in Nashville?

Defense will be the undoing of that squad. Markov had the most turn-overs in the NHL last year.... having him as the #1 d-man is like having Green as the #1 d-man on the Canadian squad- defensive suicide.

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If Canada builds the team the way they should, they`ll handle Russia. Less Heatleys more Lucics, but Im sure they`ll make the mistake. I dont think Russias goaltending is strong enough for a victory, if it isnt Canada, I believe the States has a good chance.

More Lucics over Heatleys? Are you serious? Heatley may be a gutless ***** who bails out on his team and paints them into a corner with his public trade requests, but he has an insane scoring record at international tournaments.

Lucic has his place dude- the 3rd/4th line. No way are you going to see Heatley down there (although he's not terrible defensively, he's not a Selke quality guy).

The States are pretty weak looking right now. Goaltending? Defensive depth? Non-unproven-young-ass-mofo forwards?

As others have said- it's a threeway (haha) for the gold- Canada, Russia, Sweden.

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I'll grant you that canada has better D and G than Russia, if only slightly. The depth here would benefit Canada more because an injury to a couple of Russian top D might not be easy to fill in for.

On forward side, Russia IMHO has a noticeable edge, especially in top 6. Malkin, Datsyuk, with 2 of S.Fedorov/Vic. Kozlov/Zinoviev/Yashin/some others in the middle, OV, Semin, Kovalchuk, Frolov, Morozov, Zaripov, Filatov, Samsonov etc. on wing represent a very potent offensive group. If Russia can get "good enough" goaltending performance out of Nabokov or Bryzgalov or Khabibullin, or even Varlamov, they will have a decent shot on beating anybody, including Canada. And having home ice is a double edge sword, remember Quebec WCH? :P

:blink: Only slightly? The 4th best Canadian D-man would be the top D-man on the Russian squad. Goaltending? Brodeur or Luongo are decidedly better than Nabokov. I think Nabby can get hot and be pretty damn good, even out duel one of those goalies if he gets hot enough, but on paper both are better than him.

The Russians certainly have an edge over the Canadians in their top six, but the Canadians superior depth in slots 7 through 12.

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:blink: Only slightly? The 4th best Canadian D-man would be the top D-man on the Russian squad. Goaltending? Brodeur or Luongo are decidedly better than Nabokov. I think Nabby can get hot and be pretty damn good, even out duel one of those goalies if he gets hot enough, but on paper both are better than him.

The Russians certainly have an edge over the Canadians in their top six, but the Canadians superior depth in slots 7 through 12.

The 4th best Canadian D-man could also be the top D-man for team Canada. Yes Canada has better depth and can probably field two equally strong teams. The question is, would either of them be stronger then the Russian team? (the only one we'll put on the ice :) )

OV, Malkin, Kovalchuck can decide games. Canada has excellent, excellent forwards but not quite as good as those. That's all I'm saying. And I agree that Canadian G (Luongo, as Brodeur's age is bound to catch up with him some time) is better than Khabibullin or Nabokov over 82 game season. Question is, can Russian goalie be better for a few games in a row? I hope - yes. And that may be enough for us to win.

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The 4th best Canadian D-man could also be the top D-man for team Canada. Yes Canada has better depth and can probably field two equally strong teams. The question is, would either of them be stronger then the Russian team? (the only one we'll put on the ice :) )

OV, Malkin, Kovalchuck can decide games. Canada has excellent, excellent forwards but not quite as good as those. That's all I'm saying. And I agree that Canadian G (Luongo, as Brodeur's age is bound to catch up with him some time) is better than Khabibullin or Nabokov over 82 game season. Question is, can Russian goalie be better for a few games in a row? I hope - yes. And that may be enough for us to win.

Ovi is the best offensive forward in the game, so yeah- he's better than anyone on the Canadian team. Kovalchuck? Really good, but he's no better than a guy like Vinny Lecavalier. Malkin... the 08-09 Malkin is better than any of the Canadian forwards. Datsyuk? No one on Canada can come close to the combination of his combined offensive and defensive skill level... the only guy close is Getzlaf, but Getzlaf gets lots of point on shear size and strength, while Datsyuk's are 100% skill based, plus Getz can't touch Dats defensively (not that Getz is bad defensively, he's just not Selke good).

I'll agree that your top six is superior based on the 08-09 season. Who knows what super elite players will dominate next season. It's not like Iginla, Lacavalier or Crosby haven't dominated the league before. Regardless, I still give you Ovechkin as the best overall offensive forward in the game.

What about the bottom 6? Canada's got more depth there.

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You forgot Slava Kozlov. He'll be on the Olympic team before Radulov or Filatov. As far as defensemen go, Andrei Markov, Sergei Gonchar and Sergei Zubov are all pretty damn good defensemen who are capable of playing as well as anyone Canada will be putting on the ice. So it's not so clear cut as to which squad has the best defensemen.

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You forgot Slava Kozlov. He'll be on the Olympic team before Radulov or Filatov. As far as defensemen go, Andrei Markov, Sergei Gonchar and Sergei Zubov are all pretty damn good defensemen who are capable of playing as well as anyone Canada will be putting on the ice. So it's not so clear cut as to which squad has the best defensemen.

Markov is a joke defensively. He's a turn-over machine. Gonchar's gotten better defensively, but he's still not Norris worthy. I've got a ton of repsect for Zubov though.

I just don't see how any of those three can be compared to Pronger or Neidermayer.

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