Say hello to the enemy...

Well, with that first WJC game in the books, a 16 - 0 drubbing of Latvia (who I am beginning to believe don't actually have ice in their home country), there's some news relevant to our beloved Twenty Ten team.

The Russians have announced their Olympic team that will hit the ice in Vancouver in 2010.

A quick look at the team...

Goalies
Ilya Bryzgalov (Phoenix), Evgeni Nabokov (San Jose), Semyon Varlamov (Washington)

Defence
Sergei Gonchar (Pittsburgh), Denis Grebeshkov (Edmonton), Dmitri Kalinin (Salavat Ufa), Konstantin Korneyev (CSKA Moscow), Andrei Markov (Montreal), Ilya Nikulin (Ak Bars Kazan), Fedor Tyutin (Columbus), Anton Vonchenkov (Ottawa)

Forwards
Maxim Afinogenov (Atlanta), Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit), Sergei Fedorov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk), Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta), Viktor Kozlov (Salavat Ufa), Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh), Alexei Morozov (Ak Bars Kazan), Alexander Ovechkin (Washington), Alexander Radulov (Salavat Ufa), Alexander Semin (Washington), Danis Zaripov (Ak Bars Kazan), Sergei Zinoviev (Salavat Ufa)

Surprised by some of the omissions (you can read that on the CTV site, I don't need to parrot who was left off as well as who made the squad), but I'm not too concerned, as they must feel they're giving their team the best chance to win, and there's no shortage of skill with Ovi, Malkin, Datsyuk and Kovalchuk up front.

Power rankings?

Our regular readers know me for my positive attitude, and how I like to find the good in everything, which is what makes this post so difficult for me.

Now looking at the title of the post, "Power rankings?", you'd think I would be writing a post to publicly bash the other "contributor" to this humble blog, and where his weekly staple of a column has been the last, oh, two months, but no, I am a better person than that.

What I am writing about quickly is that last night Alex Ovechkin injured his knee on a knee-on-knee hit with the Hurricanes Tim Gleason. Ovie left the game, did not return, and it has been speculated that he will be out for 2 months at least.

I wish absolutely no injuries to any player these days (I wished for 5 straight seasons Tom Brady would get hurt and when he went down at the start of last season in the NFL, I felt sick to my stomach), but this could be a big advantage for Team Canada at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

If you asked me yesterday who the biggest competition for the gold would be with Canada, without hesitation, I would have answered Russia. Russia would be my answer because they would probably have the best player in the tournament, and in a short tournament like how the Olympics works, the team with the best player will always be in the thick of things. However, with this injury, if it's as serious as it looks, he may not play

Let's say though, that number 8 is out for 2 months. That means his return would be at the START of February. Ovie would be back just in time for the Olympics, and as dynamic as he is, I'm not sure he's 100% from a knee injury for the tournament.

I'm not writing this post as a Canadian hockey fan who's scared of the Russian team. Nor am I writing it to say we've clinched the gold medal. All I am trying to say in this post is that who we, as Canadians, thought our biggest competition was at the Olympics, may no longer be the team we talk about in the gold medal game.

Even if there's no "I" in team, you gotta admit this hurts Russia's chances...

I SWEAR GOD!!

This again???

Common guys...seriously, the only player who will need insurance for camp this summer is...well...anyone who goes into the corners with Lucic.

Did we mention that WE LOVE LUCIC?!

Also, the Russian defense is gonna get pasted in Vancouver...but will it matter with all the goals they have the potential to put up?


WHAMMO!!

The "other" best team in 2010...

I've made it clear from the start of my conversations with Matty about the Canadian Twentyten team that the Russians have to be the team to give Canada the most trouble at the games in Vancouver.

Yesterday, the invitees to the Russian camp were announced, and they definitely have a solid group of players going to their own little camp.

Obviously, the list is headlined by Ovechkin, Malkin and Kovalchuk. I'm not "wowed" by their goaltenders, with Nabokov really being the only one with a proven track record (though not when it matters), although Varlamov really showed some resilience in the playoffs this year, until game 7 when he put on his best Roman Cechmanek impression in game 7 versus the eventual cup champs. I was surprised to see Khabibulin not even on the camp invitee roster. Their defense will definitely have skill, but I don't know they'll have the physical ability to really challenge a lot of the players they'll have to deal with from our Canadian squad.

All in all though, with the offensive fire power these guys have, they're going to be tough to stop, but I have to believe that our boys are better than theirs.

WHAMMO!!