Russian star tunes out hype: We showed Canadian favourites in 2003, Ovechkin says
04.01.2005.. Snelgrove, Stephen. The Ottawa Citizen
GRAND FORKS, North Dakota - Alexandre Ovechkin has seen it all before.
The 19-year-old Russian captain knows what it is like to face Canada in
the gold-medal game of the world junior hockey championship -- he did
it in 2003 in Halifax.
Ovechkin remembers the thrill of playing before a partisan Canadian crowd and emerging the winner in a 3-2 game.
"In Canada, it was the same. When we were in Halifax, people kept
saying, 'Canada are champions, Canada are the best,'" Ovechkin said
yesterday. "But we went on to the ice and we proved that Russia was the
best. We must do the same (tonight)."
Ovechkin is just hoping there will be at least a few fans cheering for
his team when Russia takes on Canada in the championship game at Ralph
Engelstad Arena.
"I think it is the same, but then we were in Canada and now we are in
the U.S. I don't know what the fans will be doing, maybe there will be
a lot of fans for Canada," Ovechkin said. "It is very important for
people to watch the game and scream for Russia. It is very important to
us to have some help."
Regardless of who the fans are cheering for, Canada will be paying very
close attention to Ovechkin and teammate Evgeni Malkin. The pair were
the first and second overall picks in last June's NHL entry draft, with
Ovechkin going first overall to the Washington Capitals and Malkin
being taken by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
They lead an explosive Russian squad that will give Canada's stingy defence it's toughest test of the tournament.
"We have to try and limit their time and space, much like we have done
against the top players this whole tournament," Canadian captain Mike
Richards said. "We can't let them gain the blue-line, can't let them
have time to make their plays. They have the ability to do some things
with the puck that are pretty amazing."
Even more important may be Canada's ability to take the body, having
guys such as defencemen Dion Phaneuf and Shea Weber punish the Russians
every time they touch the puck.
"You always want to go into a game knowing who their big guys are and
really making them pay the price when they are in your zone," Richards
said. "You have to make them think twice about crossing the line, try
to get into their heads."
Canadian coach Brent Sutter acknowledged the talent of the Russians,
who went 3-1 in the preliminary round before advancing to the final
with a 7-2 win over the United States in Sunday's semifinal, but made
it clear his club isn't going to make any huge adjustments to counter
their attack.
"We're not going to, all of a sudden, decide that we're going to be a
different type of team now," Sutter said of his club, which has allowed
just six goals in posting a 5-0 record. ... I think Canada is a pretty
good team, too. We've only given up six goals in this tournament and
we've scored 35, so I think we've got some pretty good skill, too. We
know what kind of a team Russia has, we know that they have some pretty
good players."
Sutter won't make a big deal about matching line-for-line with the
Russians despite having the advantage of last change. Instead, he will
concentrate on making sure he has the right defensive combinations,
with Canada's top pairing of Phaneuf and Weber drawing plenty of ice
time against Ovechkin and linemates Dmitri Pestunov and Enver Lisin.
Braydon Coburn and Shawn Belle will try to stop the line of Malkin,
Sergei Shirokov and Alexander Radoulov.
Первая страничка молодежных чемпионатов мира 2005 года
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Подгруппа А - подробнее
США, Россия, Чехия, Швейцария, Белоруссия |
Подгруппа В - подробнее
Канада, Финляндия, Швеция, Словакия. Германия |
За 7-10 места - подробнее
Словакия, Швейцария, Белоруссия, Германия |
1/4 финала - подробнее
Чехия - Финляндия
Швеция - США
|
1/2 финала - подробнее
Канада - Чехия
Россия - США |
Финал - подробнее
За 5 место. Швеция - Финляндия
За 3 место. Чехия - США
За 1 место. Россия - Канада. |
| Страничка статистики |
Молодежные чемпионаты мира (до 20 лет) 2005 года.
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