"Coach Bill" names Russian All-Star team to World Cup
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 Alexei Yashin will again be one of the leaders on a superbly talented Russian hockey team.  |
There were few surprises when newly named coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov on Monday announced Russia's roster for the World Cup. "Coach Bill" selected 15 players who represented Russia in the 2002 Olympics - and Dainius Zubrus, who isn't even Russian.
Russia was the last of the eight World Cup participating nations to announce its 26-man roster, but it is a star packed team well worth waiting for. The complete roster is at the bottom of this article.
The Ice Hockey Federation of Russia announced already last Friday, when it introduced Zinetula Bilyaletdinov as new head coach replacing outgoing Viktor Tikhonov, that Dainius Zubrus would be included. And the name of the 26-year old forward was on the roster which the federation released on Monday, May 31.
Zubrus, who plays for the NHL Washington Capitals, is a Lithuanian citizen, born in Elektrenai, Lithuania in 1978 when the country was still a Soviet republic. Zubrus has never played for any Russian national team and according to the IIHF eligibility rules, he is not eligible to play for Russia. The World Cup of Hockey is a NHL and NHLPA organized tournament where IIHF rules don't apply.
Bilyaletdinov as expected also selected San José goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, another player who is not IIHF-eligible to play for Russia. Nabokov is from Kazakhstan and has not played enough seasons (4) in the Russian league in order to switch national team eligibility. Nabokov has earlier played for the Kazakhstan national team in the IIHF World Championship.
Bilyaletdinov named four players from the Russian Professional Hockey League, among them forward Aleksander Ovechkin, 18, from Dynamo Moscow. Ovechkin, who represented Russia in the 2004 IIHF World Championship, is projected to become the number 1 overall pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft later this summer. The other players selected from the domestic league are goaltender Maxim Sokolov, defenseman Oleg Tverdovski and forward Maxim Sushinski, all three from the Russian champion Avangard Omsk.
Coach Bilyaletdinov went with the established pros as he named nine players who represented Russia already in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey: goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, defensemen Tverdovski, Sergei Gonchar and Darius Kasparaitis and forwards Alexei Kovalev, Sergei Fedorov, Alexei Yashin, Alexei Zhamnov and Valeri Bure. Of those, Fedrov and Zhamnov already played in the 1991 Canada Cup.
Noteble absentees from the Salt Lake City Olympics are forwards Pavel Bure (injured) and Igor Larionov (retired) and defenseman Vladimir Malakhov. Russia lost to the eventual winner USA in the semi-final of the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. Team Russia wil hold its training camp in Zurich, Switzerland in late August before departing for North America where the Russians will play in group with the USA, Canada and Slovakia.
Russia plays its first tournament game on September 2 against title holders USA in St. Paul, Minnesota:
Check out the complete schedule and all news on World Cup of Hockey on: http://www.wch2004.com/
Team Russia's Roster
Goaltenders:
Evgeni Nabokov (San José)
Nikolai Khabibulin (Tampa Bay)
Maxim Sokolov (Avangard Omsk)
Defensemen:
Oleg Tverdovski (Avangard Omsk)
Sergei Gonchar (Boston)
Daniil Markov (Philadelphia)
Alexander Khavanov (St. Louis)
Darius Kasparaitis (N.Y. Rangers)
Anton Volchenkov (Ottawa)
Vitaly Vishnevski (Anaheim)
Andrei Markov (Montreal)
Forwards:
Dainius Zubrus (Washington)
Artem Chubarov (Vancouver)
Sergei Samsonov (Boston)
Aleksei Kovalev (Montreal)
Sergei Fedorov (Anaheim)
Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta)
Maxim Afinogenov (Buffalo)
Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit)
Viktor Kozlov (New Jersey)
Aleksei Yashin (N.Y. Islanders)
Aleksei Zhamnov (Philadelphia)
Valeri Bure (Dallas)
Oleg Kvasha (N.Y. Islanders)
Alexander Ovechkin (Dynamo Moscow)
Maxim Sushinski (Avangard Omsk)