Unbelievable comeback by the Capitals in the 3rd period of a must win game over Atlanta lead by Alex, the Great.
Down 1-3 at the end of 2 periods the Capitals lay siege to the Atlanta net for the whole 3rd period and come away with a 5-3 win despite incredible goaltenting by the Thrashers’ Kari Lehtonen.
Alex Ovechkin scores 2 goals and reaches the elite 60 goals plateau (first time any player scored 60 in one season in 12 years!) while adding 2 primary assists, as well, for a total of 4 points in this game.
For our last RSL game of the regular season we picked the clash between last year’s champions, Magnitka and this year’s regular season leaders, Salavat Yulayev.
Our next game will be from the first round of RSL playoffs.
You can watch the game in the streaming player or download the file to your computer by clicking the “Open Containing Folder” link below the player, right clicking the file and selecting the “download” option.
Here’s another chance to see the Russian Super League leaders Salavat Yulayev Ufa in action, this time against CSKA Moscow.
We have pretty much sung all the praises we could muster for Salavat in some of our previous RSL Game of the Week posts. They have been the dominant team all season long. It is to be expected considering all the money oil giant Bashneft have invested into what is the most offensively gifted line-up in the RSL (the Ufa club’s 3rd and 4th line consists of players who were leaders of their former teams) and that their ultimate goal for this season is to win the Russian championship.
This should be yet another great game. The CSKA Ice Palace, home of the Russian Red Army team, as CSKA is known in the West, is absolutely packed with fans for the visit of the league leaders and the atmosphere is rocking.
You can watch the game in the streaming player or download the file to your computer by clicking the “Open Containing Folder” link below the player, right clicking the file and selecting the “download” option.
We just came upon this little gem and decided that we really don’t have to add much to it since Don makes such an excellent case for being a complete idiot all by himself.
Yes, we know, Don. You would like the World Cup to be called the Canada Cup and have it played between Canada A and Canada B. In case it needs a couple more teams to fill it out throw Canada C and Canada D in there as well.
Why does hockey even have international tournaments? Where do all these foreigners get off playing a game invented in Canada anyway? (This is to be said with a tone of rightful indignation).
After all, Don would rather watch a game between a team of Canadian plumbers versus a team of Canadian lumberjacks. Preferably wearing one of Don’s suits and no pants. That would be far more exciting.
Sergei Fedorov looks like he’s pretty excited about his trade to the up and coming Washington Capitals. So much so that he has decided to bring back the old time tradition of playing without a helmet. OK, not really, but…
Skating on the Caps second unit between Brooks Laich and fellow Russian Alex Semin the future Hall of Famer looked like he was 25 again in his debut against the East leading New Jersey Devils. A couple of big hits, blocked shots and a sweet no look pass on the Washington’s first goal in a 4-0 road demolition of the Devils has the Caps GM George McPhee and coach Bruce Boudreau smiling from ear to ear.
Overall, Fedorov looked like he hasn’t lost much in terms of his incredible skating ability and it just might be that Boudreau’s wide open, aggressive style of play suits his game far more than the defensive oriented, trapping style of the Columbus Blue Jackets, a team where he was basically relegated to a checking forward. Heck, Fedorov was immediately inserted into the Capitals first power play unit and it looked mighty fine right off the bat (or is it stick?) prompting the Devils announcer Mike Emrick to rave about the lightning quick puck movement, Devils goalie Marty Brodeur to fish the puck out of the net after a gorgeous goal, and Devils coach Brent Sutter to look even grimmer than when he’s happy.
Looks like the Capitals have officially replaced the injured Michael Nylander (out for the season) with a legitimate second line center who is still a great defensive player, is in top 20 in the NHL in faceoff winning percentage, and just might be reinvigorated offensively by their wide open style.
Combined with Fedorov’s newly found excitement for playing hockey this might be good news not just for the Capitals, but also for the NHL as a whole. With the possible exception of the Carolina Hurricanes.
We know two things. One. Boudreau’s 9-year old son is loving it. Sergei is his favorite hockey player. Two. Theo Ruth can always tell his grandkids that he was traded for Sergei Fedorov, mano e mano or tovarisch for tovarisch.
Extensive interview with former CSKA Moscow, Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils star defenseman Slava Fetisov, now the Head of the Russian Federal Agency of Physical Culture and Sport, on Russia Today. Large part of the interview is devoted to the creation of the new Continental Hockey League and its ultimate goal to someday challenge the NHL as the best hockey league in the world.
An interesting article in the New York Times that has, predictably, caused a firestorm of extremely negative comments on their blog. We could not resist, but to reply to some of them in our comment on NYT’s Slapshot.
The storied Russian franchise Dinamo Moscow, which has fallen on hard times recently under their new Czech coach Vladimír Vůjtek, faces a huge challenge away at the brand spanking new Bashneft Arena to take on this season’s undisputed king of the Russian Super League, Salavat Yulayev of Ufa. Salavat’s green monsters, thanks to Bashneft’s oil revenue, have a roster that is the envy of the rest of the league and are able to roll out four lines of pure skill.
You can watch the game in the streaming player or download the file to your computer by clicking the “Open Containing Folder” link below the player, right clicking the file and selecting the “download” option.
Another great game from the Russian Super League. Is this a nice stretch in the RSL schedule or what?! Last year’s champions’ next task after battling it out with Ak Bars Kazan, a team they faced in last year’s finals, is to take on the Central Sports Club of Army that is also flying high under the leadership of former NHLer, hard hitting Oleg Saprykin. Mr. Saprykin has also rediscovered his scoring touch aside from sticking his nose into every possible altercation this side of the Atlantic. This promises to be a real battle.
You can watch the game in the streaming player or download the file to your computer by clicking the “Open Containing Folder” link below the player, right clicking the file and selecting the “download” option.
Since our blog is devoted to Russian hockey we’ll leave the marian hossas and brad richards of the world out of it and focus on the deals that involved only the players from the former Soviet Union.
One of the all time greats of Russian hockey, Sergei Fedorov, was acquired by the fast improving Washington Capitals in a deal that few saw coming. It’s quite obvious that Columbus has officially waived a white flag when it comes to their chances of making the playoffs and dumped a couple of big salaries by getting rid of Fedorov and Adam Foote. Fedorov is an idol of Washington’s two Russian superstars, Ovechkin and Syomin, and the move just might rejuvenate the former Hart trophy winner. Most importantly it fills the void for the Caps at second line center left by Michael Nylander’s season ending injury. Fedorov is not the offensive player he used to be, but is still an excellent checker with incredible skating ability. His experience and keen hockey sense will allow Caps’ coach Bruce Boudreau to use him in any situation. He’s a great penalty killer and can play the point on the power play. And who knows? Playing on young, exciting team with the two Alex’s and his old buddy Viktor Kozlov just might get him to put up a few more points. Great deal for Washington.
The only other deal involving players from the former USSR, ironically, had one of them being dealt for another. Colorado shipped Latvian defenseman Kārlis Skrastiņš to Florida for hard hitting Belarussian blueliner Ruslan Salei. This seems to be a pretty equal exchange overall. If anything, Colorado might have gotten a bit more physical by getting Salei and Adam Foote from Columbus. Both teams are chasing a playoff spot.
