Russian Prospects Profiles, Reports and News

Jan52010 by Gary Laws4 Comments

Russians finish sixth at the WJC

Russians finish sixth at the WJC (Photo © Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images) Losing 4-3 against team Finland in the fifth place deciding game, Plyuschev's team Russia got their second straight defeat and finished the World Junior Championships at a very disappointing sixth place, the worst result since 2001. This year's team Russia performed badly throughout the whole tournament, and the match against Finland was no different. Ramis Sadikov started between the pipes, with Igor Bobkov being iced after twenty-sixth minutes. The first period counted three goals: Maxim Trunev opened the score, while Teemu Eronen made it 1-1 with the man advantage at the sixteenth. All the four Finn goals will be scored while on the powerplay. With only twenty-three seconds to play, Alexander Burmistrov scored the ...

Jan22010 by Gary LawsNo Comments

Prospects » Team Russia to face Switzerland in WJC quarterfinals

Russian Prospects Profiles, Reports and News

Team Russia to face Switzerland in WJC quarterfinals (Photo © fhr.ru) After finishing the group stage with nine points in four games, Team Russia earned the second seed of the B Group and thus is going to face in the World Junior Championships quarterfinals the third seed of the A group, team Switzerland, who managed to skate past Slovakia 4-1 despite being without their top two defensemen, Luca Sbisa and Roman Josi. The game is scheduled for Saturday, January 2nd at 4 PM local time. In the last two group stage games Team Russia faced Team Sweden and Team Czech Republic. The match against Tre Kronor wasn't good for Plyuschev's guys, as they were down 2-0 already after the first period. During the second period Team Russia tried to react and scored a goal with Kirill Petrov, but it wasn't e...

Dec292009 by Gary LawsNo Comments

Igor Bobkov slams the door, Russia skates past Finland in WJC’s second match

Russian Prospects Profiles, Reports and News

Igor Bobkov slams the door, Russia skates past Finland in WJC's second match (Photo © The Canadian Press) With a phenomenal performance and 46 saves, goalkeeper Igor Bobkov left no way out to Finland as they couldn't score for the whole game despite a complete control of the match for more than two periods. Finland's inability to convert chances into goals costed them the game as Team Russia walked away with a comfortable 2-0 win in World Junior Championships' second match. Plyuschev team's now tops Group B ranking, sharing the lead with Sweden, with six points in two matches. In spite of Bobkov's one-man show, Nikita Filatov has been elected as player of the game for Team Russia. He did play a great game, assisting on Petr Khokhryakov's first goal of the night and scoring himself the seco...

Dec272009 by Gary LawsNo Comments

Kuznetsov scores two, Russia downs Austria 6-2 in WJC opener

Russian Prospects Profiles, Reports and News

Kuznetsov scores two, Russia downs Austria 6-2 in WJC opener (Photo © La Presse Canadienne) 2010 eligible Evgeny Kuznetsov scored two goals, Kirill Petrov, Vladimir Tarasenko, Maxim Chudinov and Maxim Trunev contributed with one goal each as Russia downed Austria 6-2 in WJC first game for both teams. The match was pretty much decided after the first period as Russia was up 4-1 after the goals scored by Trunev, Chudinov, Kuznetsov, Tarasenko, this last one was particularly eye-catching. Team's captain Nikita Filatov has been silent and left out the score sheet. Plyuschev's team didn't had their best game even if they controlled the flow of the game with relative ease thanks to its forward's superior skating, probably they tried to save energy for the upcoming matches. Goalkeeper Igor Bobkov...

Dec262009 by Gary LawsNo Comments

Alexander Avtsin: “For now I’m a Dynamo player”

Russian Prospects Profiles, Reports and News

Alexander Avtsin: "For now I'm a Dynamo player" (Photo © Sport Express) The latest winner of the Rookie of the week award, Alexander Avtsin, during an interview published on KHL official site, talked about his first goals in pro hockey, about the upcoming WJC and about his plans for the next season. RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation: Q: Alexander, you’ve been awarded with rookie of the week honors. You started playing successfully only midway through December, while at the start of the season there were a lot of expectations on you Avtsin: "The season isn’t over yet, we are only at its middle. We only need to go on till the end, win as much games as possible and fight to get the best results. I’m really satisfied for the award. Getting into pro hockey wasn’t an easy deal. Some...

Dec252009 by Gary LawsNo Comments

Sergei Andronov traded to CSKA Moscow

Russian Prospects Profiles, Reports and News

Sergei Andronov traded to CSKA Moscow (Photo © RussianProspects.com) 20 years old Sergei Andronov has been traded from financially troubled Lada Togliatti to CSKA Moscow. Andronov, who has under his belt a golden medal from the U18 WJC and a silver medal from the U20 WJC, has been drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the third round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, with the 78th overall pick. This is what he declared to Komsomolskaya Pravda: Andronov: "It's sad to leave Togliatti, I spent here the last six years and here I became a pro. Unfortunately nowadays it looks like Lada's management don't care about the team. We don't recieve a salary for three months, and they always promise that they are going to refund our debts. And thus I decided for myself, I don't believe to promises anymore. I pl...

Dec252009 by Gary LawsNo Comments

Prospects » WJC Final roster released

Russian Prospects Profiles, Reports and News

WJC Final roster released (Photo © fhr.ru) On December 25th, Russian national junior team head coach Vladimir Plyuschev named the final roster for the World Junior Championships. He took some drastic decisions as he decided not to call goalkeeper Alexander Pechursky, defenseman Kirill Yuriev, forwards Mikhail Fisenko and Dmitry Kugryshev. This is how the final roster looks like: Goalkeepers Igor Bobkov, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, 1991 Ramis Sadikov, Erie Otters, OHL, 1991 Defensemen Anton Klementyev, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, AHL, 1990 Dmitry Orlov, Metallurg Novokuznetsk, 1991 Maxim Chudinov, Severstal Cherepovets, 1990 Dmitry Kostromitin, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, QMJHL, 1990 Nikita Zaitsev, Sibir Novosibirsk, 1991 Nikita Pivtsakin, Avangard Omsk, 1991 Alexander Tarasov, HC MVD, 1990 Forwards N...

Dec222009 by Gary LawsNo Comments

Mikhail Fisenko added to WJC roster

Russian Prospects Profiles, Reports and News

Mikhail Fisenko added to WJC roster (Photo © Vancouver Giants) 19 years old center Mikhail Fisenko has been added today to the World Junior Championships Team Russia roster. The native of Magnitogorsk, Russia, grabbed a silver medal at the 2008 Under-18 WJC held in Russia, and the following summer moved to the Vancouver Giants of the WHL, where he scored 28 points in his first season. This year, after moving to the Calgary Hitmen, the two-way center added three goals and twelve assists in 24 matches, with 19 PIMs. Fisenko, who is undrafted in the NHL, is probably going to be played as third line center.

Dec212009 by Gary LawsNo Comments

Alexander Pechursky to join Tri-City Americans

Russian Prospects Profiles, Reports and News

Alexander Pechursky to join Tri-City Americans (Photo © fhr.ru) 19 years old Alexander Pechursky decided to report to North America as he's going to play for the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League, according to allhockey.ru. Pechursky has been drafted by the US team in this spring's Import Draft with the 55th overall pick. Let's remember that Pechursky has been drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins during the fifth round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Pechursky, who won a gold medal at the 2007 Under 18 WJC, has played only one match with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL this year, and had a short stint in the MHL. Recently the club signed national team goalie Vasiliy Koshechkin and thus he lost his backup role. On top of that he'll represent Russia at the upcoming World Junior Ch...

Dec192009 by Gary LawsNo Comments

Prospects » Alexander Burmistrov: “This time Russia will win the Gold”

Russian Prospects Profiles, Reports and News

Alexander Burmistrov: "This time Russia will win the Gold" (Photo © Terry Wilson/OHL Images) Blue-chip prospect Alexander Burmistrov, in this interview with Andrei Osadchenko of allhockey.ru talks about his experience in the OHL, analyzes his chances in the upcoming WJC and tries to anticipate the tournament's outcome. RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation: Q. Recently many talks were about the fact that some guys weren't released for the WJC. Did you have any talk with the Barrie Colts? Burmistrov: "I didn't have a single problem. They were willing to release me already on December 5th to join the camp in Novogorsk and they even bought me the ticket and all was set, but then, three days to the depart, the CHL unexpectedly took the decision not to release me. Did this affect your ...