Evgeny Kuznetsov in Team Russia practice facility. (Photo credit: Sovetsky Sport)

4PM UPDATE: A few days ago Team Russia head coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov announced three goalies and 25 skaters, including Kuznetsov, who “would be travelling to Helsinki and Stockholm for the Worlds Championship tournament.” Not all of the players named by the coach will be on the Team Russia’s final roster. IIHF rules allow for the minimum of 15 skaters and 2 goalies to be named no later than today; players can be added to the roster at any time during the tournament, up to the maximum of 22 skaters and 3 goalies. While some teams have filed their full rosters, Team Russia is taking an incremental approach. They announced today the first group of players – 3 goalies, 5 defensemen, and 11 forwards. Evgeny Kuznetsov does not appear on the list. Kuzya may make the team later, especially if some of the Russian players currently involved in the Stanley Cup playoffs do not make a quick 1st round exit.

ORIGINAL STORY: Caps prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov has been named to Team Russia for the 2013 IIHF World Championships, which begin Friday in Sweden and Finland.

Kuznetsov won gold in last year’s World Champs while playing in a limited role. Kuzya has been less than impressive in the last few months, earning Joey Crabb treatment by national team coach Zinetula “Bill” Bilyaletdinov, playing on the fourth line at the EuroHockeyTour tournament in Czech Republic. To his credit, Kuznetsov looked impressive in his limited ice time, which probably secured him a spot on the national team. After the tournament, Kuznetsov, who has been encouraged to tweak his game to a less flashy, more steady team style by Traktor coach Valery Belousov, complained about the “black cat on his shoulder” that’s been bringing him bad luck for the last half of the season. He told reporters that he has set a conditioning program for the off-season to come back in a better shape for the beginning of next season.

Traktor will sure need it. Despite retaining star goalie Michael Garnett, top line forwards Jan Bulis and Stanislav Chistov and second-line center Petri Kontiola, there are still a lot of question marks surrounding future of the Traktor squad. Despite being far from the richest team in the league, the club from hockey-obsessed Chelyabinsk has had two long playoff runs in the last couple years. Now they’ve lost their top all-situation defenseman Deron Quint, veteran forward Maxim Yakutsenya as well as few of the youngest members of the squad: defenseman Nikita Nesterov and forwards Maxim Karpov and Valery Nichushkin.

In slightly less important Kuzya news, Hockey’s Future has named him their Prospect of the Year. If you’re the world’s prospect even in your ‘down’ year, that’s quite impressive.

Peter Bondra holds up the 2002 World Championships’ trophy.

By beating the Czech Republic 3-1 in the second semifinal of the World Champs, Slovakia earned the right to play Russia, who defeated Finland earlier Saturday, for the gold medal. The Slovakians have won the Worlds once, in 2002, when they upset Russia in the final. Capitals legend Peter Bondra scored twice in that game, including the game winner with less than two minutes left in the third period of play.

Video is below the jump.

Peter Bondra scores the late game-winning goal to give Slovakia its only World Championship… so far. Check out full highlights, including another Bondra goal.

With that last goal, Bondra also won the goal-scoring race. Also in top-10 were then-Caps Ulf Dahlen (fourth) and Jaromir Jagr (tenth). Six Capitals who played in the World Championships that year, including Steve Konowalchuk, Joe Sacco, and Todd Rohloff, who played for Team USA.

A photo essay.

The Capitals booting from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in early May once again got the summer off to a premature start for the boys in red and their fearless leader. After all, peak season hadn’t even begun on the Vineyard and the lakes remained chilly in the White Mountains. But we RMNB chose not to focus on these grave hardships. No, instead we’re going to fire up the Google Machine and take a look back at Ovi’s summer, which spanned a mere 121 days. Alexander embarked on many adventures including a little shirtless soccer (and what summer is complete without that), a scandal involving his midsection that had “gate” on the end for some ridiculous reason, and commercials for Canadian candy bars, which are like regular candy bars except Canadian.

05/07/11 – Alex Ovechkin Arrives in Slovakia for the World Championships

Three days after the Bolts from the Bay swept the Capitals, the Great Eight hops on an airplane to join Team Russia at the 2011 World Championships, held in the land of Peter Bondra — Slovakia. The Ruskies will attempt to avenge their pitiful Silver Medal from the previous year. Most notably, Ovechkin emerges from the terminal in Vienna wearing his customary Dolce and Gabbana garb, sandals, and pants — over his pants. Yeah, and you thought the Large Hadron Collider was going to cause a black hole.

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05/10/11 – Team Russia Ditches Morning Skate and Plays Soccer

Ahead of its quarter-final matchup with their ice-hole arch-rivals Canada, Team Russia assistant coach Igor Zakharkin orders his players to abandon their team’s scheduled morning practice — and their shirts — and instead play soccer at Rapid Stadium in Bratislava. Please note for later reference in this post: Ovechkin doesn’t look fat. Some other folks, however…

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05/12/11 – Russia Rallies to Beat Canada, 2-1

Zakharkin’s shirtless soccer game apparently pays off as Ilya Kovalchuk scores in the final minutes of the third period, giving Russia a 2-1 victory. The win comes despite Ovechkin going scoreless for a third straight game. But no one cares about that: Russia’s better than Canada!!! (Except for the whole, you know, being a functional democracy part.)

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05/15/11 – Russia Loses in the Bronze Medal Game

Wuh oh! After being shutout, 3-0, by Finland two days earlier, Russia ends the tournament without a medal, losing to the Czech Republic, 7-4. In six World Championship games, the Great Eight goes point-less. He flies home to Russia the next day. The ridiculousness of his pants for this flight will remain a mystery.

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06/03/11 – Ovi Guest of Honor at Evgeny Kuznetsov’s Wedding

At the ripe age of 19, Caps’ mega-prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov weds his girlfriend of under a year, Nastya. Ovechkin flies to Chelyabinsk to support Kuznetsov and hangs out in Kuzya’s hometown for four days before departing for home.

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06/08/11 – Ovechkin Spotted at Premiere of New Russian Movie

After being surrounded by lovebirds in Chelyabinsk for almost a full week, Ovi brings a lovely lady and his father Mikhail to the movie premiere of “All Inclusive!” There are literally infinite ways to make an awkward joke here, but we’re far too civilized.

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06/09/11 – Beers and Hookah

Ovi gets international attention after being spotted in a Russian restaurant consuming hookah, lots of beer, and fried steaks. Sounds fun, and all for the low price of 30,000 rubles (about 1,000 bucks). Now that does seem like a lot, but Ovi also ordered a couple of salads so really it’s quite fair.

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06/14/11 – Ovechkin Presents 1,000,000 Rubles to Dynamo Moscow Youth Hockey Program

Alex does the charity thing on behalf of the shaving overlords at Gillette, presenting a check to Dynamo’s youth hockey program for 1,000,000 Rubles.

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Date: Unknown – Ovechkin In Da Moscow Clubs

In this photo from one of Moscow’s fine ear drum imploding dance clubs, the captain is shocked by how stupid it is for the woman to be wearing sunglasses indoors.

Photos via Alex Ovetjkin >>

07/04/11 – Ovi Returns to North America

The Great Eight popped in to the DC area for a jiffy around the Fourth of July, and was spotted at this establishment with John Carlson, a great American icon on his own. No word on whether Carlson slid on one knee and fist pumped in lieu of fireworks.

Around this time, Ovi filmed the (in)famous interview with Mike Vogel from Capitals and mysteriously flew off to the Great White North for a delicious commercial shoot.

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07/16/11 – Ovi Shows Up at Maxim Afinogenov’s Wedding

Wedding Number Two: Ovechkin makes the short 5,000 mile over sea drive to Moscow from Arlington to attend the wedding of hockey player Maxim Afinogenov and tennis player Elena Dementieva. The Russian paparazzi claim Ovi brought along a female friend, but all photograph evidence appears to have gone the way of Gaddafi.

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07/16/11 – Fat-Gate

Ah, torso-gate, chubby-gate, or maybe even slight-outward-curvature-gate — whatever you want to call it, this was the biggest Ovechkin news of the summer caused by slouching in a big couch that no one will remember in a year.

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07/24/11 – Alex Ovechkin Honored with Hat and Burka at Halftime of Russian Soccer Game

What do you get when you mix Alex Ovechkin, a traditional Dagestani burka and papakha, flip flops, and a soccer game? Yeah, we have no idea either, but it looks absolutely ridiculous.

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07/29/11 – Alex Ovechkin Endorses Canadian Candy Bar Mr. Big.

“Be big deal like me!”

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08/22/11 – First Alex Ovechkin Mr. Big Commerical Drops in Canada

This little gem dropped when Ian was vacationing on the Outer Banks, so naturally we didn’t do anything. But in a line straight out of a motivational poster, Ovechkin tells the viewer to “make impossible possible!”

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08/29/11 – Ovi Gets Interviewed by Pavel Lysenkov

Hey look, Ovi’s not fat!

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08/29/11 – Ovi in a Rap Video

Ovechkin seems to have a thing for cameos in rap music videos. Or maybe the video makers have a thing for Alex Ovechkin. Either way, can you beat lyrics with a much heartfelt meaning as this?

Alumni of Dynamo
8 on the back.
In the All-Star game all attention is on me.

In the NatTeam since 17
Scored 100 points in a season
Gold medal in Canada in ’08

I’m going to wager this rhymes better in Russian.

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08/31/11 – Ovechkin, Kovalchuk Lead Second Annual Charity Game in Russia

Hey look! It’s Alex Ovechkin on the ice and playing hockey. Looks pretty good, eh?

The Russian Machine managed to score four goals and also register an assist. The game ended predictably in an 11-11 tie.

Most importantly, a boatload of money was raised for charity — about 15 million rubles worth to be exact. NHL stars Evgeny Malkin and Ilya Kovalchuk also participated.

Is it October yet?

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09/02/11 – Ovi Signs Big Money Endorsement Deal with Nike

Late Thursday night, word surfaced that Ovi signed a sponsorship deal with Nike. Yes, the Nike that doesn’t sell anything hockey related. Clearly this is a move to corner the vitally important 25-year-old Russian millionaire whose wardrobe consists mainly of T-shirts given to him market.

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09/02/11 – Alex Ovechkin Flies Back to DC

Summer over.

Ian Oland contributed writing, along with fancy graphics and formatting.

Fedor Fedin contributed translating.

Thanks to our friend Dmitry, we have some leftover photos from the World Championships of Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin and Semyon Varlamov via the tricky Russian Internets. Most of these pictures are from a happier time: either practice or at an instance when wearing ripped jeans was absolutely necessary. Take a look and let us know what you think in the comments below.

Oops! How did that one get in there!!

Alex Ovechkin's bloodied mouth during the Gold Medal Game against the Czech Republic.

Tonight– thanks to our comrade at Alex Ovetjkin– we found out that the Russian Machine had more dental work done at the World Championships.  TJ writes:

In the video posted at sport.rian.ru (sport.rian.ru/sport_videos/20100524/238143601.html) Tretiak says that Ovechkin has lost three teeth in addition to the one he lost a few years ago on the upper jaw.

It happened at the end of the final game vs Czech Republic when 3 teeth were knocked out of his lower jaw.

That got us thinking… What does Alex Ovechkin’s smile look like now? Here’s our best guesses using photoshop. Make sure to click on the photos to see them at full size.

Happy Ovi!

At-Practice Ovi

Pensive Ovi

If anyone else wants to take a stab at what Ovechkin looks like now, send em’ over and we’ll put them up!

Semyon Varlamov: Canadians are always active in the first ten minutes [Ed. Note - CanadiEns, too]. They created some opportunities this time, too; but they didn’t score.  I don’t know why.

SovSport: Don’t be so modest.

SV: The Canadians missed a wide open net a couple of times, but I’m not going to say they have a weak team. Canada can win over any team with any roster, but we were better this time.

SS: You were surprised when Brooks Laich cross-checked Ovi, weren’t you? He plays for the Capitals, and Ovi is untouchable there.

SV: Canadians played very rough. Perry hit Ovechkin from behind when it was 3-0. It was very dirty. I’m sure, Perry wanted to injure him.

SS: What for?

SV: To not let Alex continue to play at Champs.

SS: It’s mean.

SV: Agreed. The Canadians have two dirty players: Perry and Downie. Last one just justifies his surname. You know what I mean. He behaved terribly.

Varly speaks!(Photo credit: SovSport)

If Varly said the same thing in D.C., we would certainly expect some people taking offense. Before that happens here, let’s try to consider the cultural context in which that comment was made.  Varly was sticking up for his friend and teammate; the passion makes sense- even if the message is icky.

SovSport says they will more interviews with the team tomorrow, so Fedor promises to keep you posted.

And if you need to tick your unsubstantiated-and-usually-spurious-hockey-rumor-from-Russia checkbox, here’s some “breaking news”*:  SovSport reports Alex Ovechkin may not play against Germany. When asked, Russian assistant coach Zakharkin did not affirm or deny this report, but he did say that, “some roster changes will come.” All this follows Ovechkin missing a shift yesterday after receiving a slash to his.. err.. negative zone.

* NOTE:  The scare quotes are intentional.  Please note that Russian Machine has a dismal record when it comes to sharing hockey rumors from Russia.  Stuff is actually LESS likely to happen if we report it.

Alex Ovechkin is separated by an official from going after Brooks Laich while Steve Downie whisphers sweet nothings in his ear.

Well, it wasn’t exactly a rematch of the Olympics, but Canada’s defeat at the hands of the Russians might salve some of the wounds from February.  In a 5-2 thrashing, some of the Russian Olympic team beat some of the Canadian Olympic team, and it only took 78 penalty minutes to happen!

Today’s game was noteworthy in that Brooks “Lugnut” Laich opposed a ton of his current and former Capitals teammates (Ovechkin, Semin, Fedorov, Kozlov, Varlamov, Rasputin, Zhivago) and didn’t evaporate any friendships in the process.  Aside from one tense scrum and a blocked wrister from Varlamov, the friendly rivalry was not a factor in the game.  What did matter was the steady drip of penalties leaking from the referee’s whistles.  Across twenty seven penalties, the officials dealt out 78 minutes of penalty time (30 for Russia, 48 for Canada).  If this wasn’t the most litigated pro hockey game you’ve seen in a while, I do not want to see your hockey games.

The Russian Machine decided to play the third period upside-down just to make the game more even. Whatta guy!

The present-day Capitals, Alex Semin and Alex Ovechkin, were silenced aside from a signature high-sticking call from “Sam.”  Ovechkin did have a couple fun scraps with goal-scoring leader Steven Stamkos, but it wasn’t anything that would merit ink on any site not actually named after the dude.

Let’s do note that all of Russia’s output came from NHL players (Sergei is still a Cap in our hearts!).  RMNB was not alone in dishing out heavy criticism against Russian coach Slava Bykov for stocking his Olympic team with players from the KHL before their dismal loss.  Has Bykov learned his lesson, or are the NHL players just outshining the Kontinental contingent?   Either way, we feel pretty good about it.

As I said before, the game was a ugly, lightly sauteed in a salty mix of roughings and stick penalties.  Sergei Fedorov had a particularly heated exchange with Tampa Bay’s resident dickbag, Steve Downie, but managed to maintain the dignity of hockey’s elder statesman.  The loooooong list of infractions on today’s summary sheet will likely raise questions about judicial overreaching in the IIHF.  The “let the boys play” approach that NHL refs are notorious for was wholly absent here.

So Team Canada’s jaunt to the world championship ends, and Russia’s continues.  Russia is now the heavy favorite to win the gold, but that should be cold comfort for the Russian Capitals, who had a different trophy in mind for the Spring.

Pavel Lysenkov of SovSport.ru chatted it up with Alex Ovechkin before today’s match with Kazakhstan (it’s happening right now!).   They discuss the Kazakh team’s goalie, the win over Slovakia, the Russian team’s struggles, and Russian showmanship.

By the way, for those of you not watching (which is pretty much everyone except for Fedor), Semin has a 3-point game so far (1G, 2A), and Ovechkin already has one goal.

PL: What do you know about the Kazakhstan team?
AO: I don’t know anything about this team. The only thing I know is that Vitaly Eremeyev is the goalie there. Good, reliable goalie.

PL: Soviet Sport talked to him, and he remembers that he last played against you at the Torino Olympics [Ed. note - Final score was 1-0 Russia]. And if Kazakhstan will play as firmly as there, they’ll be able to take some points.
AO: The’ll have a chance for sure. I’m not going to argue with this.

PL: Especially if Russia won’t play better in the powerplay…
AO: I wouldn’t make such an precise decision. It was our first game. The big one is ahead. We have to organize our interactions. We have some time for this. First step is to organize our game.

PL: Finns were going to organize, too, but Denmark smashed them.
AO: A lot of teams show a high level of play at the Champs. I can’t say who’s the main contender. There are five [or] six teams who fight for the medals every time. But others are coming; they may surprise and win.

PL: Anyway, were there more positives or negatives in the game against Slovakia?
AO: Positives, for sure. We won. How? No one cares.

PL: But those last minutes were pretty disturbing.
AO: We wanted to create some intrigue. Make our fans upset. It’s hockey.

PL: General Manager of the Capitals, George McPhee, said Ovechkin shouldn’t come to Germany…
AO: If you have an opportunity to play at the Champs, why shouldn’t I play for my country? Yes, the season was tiring. But I always have force– even after the playoffs. We exerted ourselves with the Caps, but five days is enough to restore myself completely. Our break will be in the summer.

Bam.  Ovie’s not tired!  Ovie’s not afraid of Kazakhstan!  Ovie’s not afraid of Bykov’s chaotic un-coaching!

For the three people in the audience watching the game legally, let us know how it’s going in the comments below.

Dear God, the Russian Machine does bleed red blood like the rest of us.

The wounds from the Caps’ round-one playoff loss are still raw, but we are on the mend.  The downtrodden leader of the Caps’, Alex Ovechkin, has linked up with his countrymen to mend some of those wounds.  The world championships began this weekend in Cologne, Germany, reuniting Ovechkin, Semyon Varlamov, and Alex Semin with their former teammates, Sergei Fedorov and Viktor Kozlov.  Today’s match found the Capitals Russians facing off against the Slovakians, coached by former Caps benchmaster, Glen Hanlon.

The Russian goalie,  massive Vasili Kosechkin, did not face a flurry of pucks until late in the second period.  When the Slovaks finally mounted their offensive attacks, a sneaky wrister from former Capitals farmhand Ivan Majesky threatened to start a scoring spree.  The Russians managed to hold off the Slovaks’ recovery, earning them a first round win– Alex Ovechkin’s first in four games.

Ovechkin played a ton of minutes, including the entirety of a mid-game power play.  Somewhere George McPhee is double-dosing his antihypertensives.  Despite the workout, Alex seemed to be enjoying himself out there.  He and Alex “lil Sasha” Semin exchanged some flashy passes in the offensive zone and scored off of a great faceoff win by senior statesman Sergei Fedorov (Awwwww, look how happy he is up there!).  We’re not sure when, but Ovie opened a cut above his mouth, so he looked like he was drinking fruit punch all day.

The Slovaks took a good 30 minutes before they were able to marshall their forces, but they were surprisingly aggressive once they did.  A physical presence on both sides of the ice, they never allowed the Russians to strut.

That Slava’s (Vyacheslav Bykov) coaching career continues will baffle me for years.  I’m not sure what he brings to the bench besides looking like a second-string James Bond villain.

Sergei Federov foolishly sent the puck out of play from his own zone, causing the 6-on-4 power play that ended the game.  The Russians were on their heels for a moment, but master PK operative Victor Kozlov found the empty net, effectively nailing shut the Slovaks’ coffin.

In summary, Russia wins their first game in the World Championships 3-1. Alex Ovechkin scores the game-winning goal and is named the player of the game. He wins a sweet, new Rolex. I’m thinking I love hockey again!

Alex Ovechkin arrives in Germany wearing a Capitals Hat. (Photo via Sovetsky Sport. Top Photo via Soviet Sport)

(Original Story by Soviet Sport’s A. Lipkin, English translation by RMNB’s Fedor Fedin)

As of a few weeks ago, the prospects for the Russian National Team at the World Championships did not look very rosy. Injuries to Zaripov, Morozov, coupled with not very good play of the goalies in the Gagarin Cup gave Russian fans legitimate concerns. And the failure of Vancouver is far from forgotten, which will cast a negative shadow on everything regarding the Russian team.

However, the results from the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs were like balm to the soul of our fans. New Jersey Devil Ilya Kovalchuk, Los Angeles Kings Alexander Frolov, and Nashville Predator Denis Grebeshkov were eliminated. And the Washington Capitals struggled against the Montreal Canadiens and ended their season, thus releasing Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin and Semyon Varlamov to the national team.

As it turns out, throughout the season we can root for our hockey players in the NHL, but when it’s playoffs time, we are all together in wishing them defeat.

But the real question is, what’s the mood of the NHL players who are coming to the team? Especially of those who were looking for a better result in their NHL seasons.

- The atmosphere of the team is good. We’re ready to fight. Everything has just begun. On Friday we fly to Germany (interview was published yesterday). We’ll fight for the gold. – says Alexander Ovechkin.

- Is there a desire to take revenge for the defeat of Canada at the Olympics?
- As I said, the world championship and Olympic Games – these are two very different tournaments, so we can only take revenge in Sochi. So we go to Germany to protect our title.
- Have you managed to forget the failure of Washington in the Playoffs?
- Here it is a different atmosphere, different people. I arrived back home in Russia. Of course, we can not say that we’ve already forgotten the defeat in the Playoffs, but I’ll begin to gradually readjust. If I did not want to come here, I would not come, so I have strength and desire to play for the national team.
- Will the losses of the NHL players have an affect on the team’s emotional conditions?
- No, it will not. There’ll be new emotions. Emotions are always a part of hockey.
- Waiting for Datsyuk?
- Of course, we all wish him good luck. I wish him once again to win the Stanley Cup, God willing.