head coach: Vladimir Yurzinov

roster: F - Pavel Bure, Valeri Bure, Sergei Fedorov, Valeri Kamensky, Andrei Kovalenko, Sergei Krivokrasov, Alexei Morozov, Sergei Nemchinov, German Titov, Alexei Yashin, Valeri Zelepukin, Alexei Zhamnov; D - Sergei Gonchar, Alexei Gusarov, Darius Kasparaitis, Igor Kravchuk, Boris Mironov, Dmitri Mironov, Dimitri Yushkevich, Alexei Zhitnik; G - Mikhail Shtalenkov, Andrei Trefilov.

game results:

ROUND ROBIN
Kazakhstan       W 9-2
Finland          W 4-3
Czech Republic   W 2-1

QUARTERFINAL
Belarus          W 4-1

SEMIFINAL
Finland          W 7-4

GOLD MEDAL GAME
Czech Republic   L 1-0

game recaps:
Round Robin: Russia vs Finland
Gold Medal Game: Russia vs Czech Republic

Russians Rocket Back to Power
by Michael Dell, editor-in-chief

The death of the Russian hockey program has been greatly exaggerated.

Even though several high-profile Russian players, including Alexander Mogilny, Vladimir Malakhov, and Nikolai Khabibulin, declined invitations to play in the Olympics because of the Russian debacle at the World Cup, the Russians still managed to pull together under the guidance of coach Vladimir Yurzinov and take the silver medal. And they were only a deflected point shot away from gold.

Pavel Bure by Meredith Martini

The Russian turnaround is pretty staggering. Something like this doesn't just happen. It takes commitment from the players and strong leadership. The man responsible for both of those things, along with coach Yurzinov, was Pavel Bure.

When the Russian team was named, no one wanted to be captain. The C got passed around until Pavel stepped forward and accepted the captaincy for the great honor it was. He was everything a captain should be. He led by example, challenged his teammates to do better, and left nothing on the bench. Bure was a leader in every sense of the word.

The Russian Rocket was simply electrifying. He led the tournament with nine goals, including five in Russia's 7-4 semifinal-round win over Finland. The old saying is "they don't ask how you score them, just how many." Well, that's not fair in Bure's case. It just doesn't do him justice. Not only did he score nine goals, but the majority of them came on highlight-reel individual efforts or breakaways. One Pavel Bure goal should be worth three scored by a normal human.

Bure wasn't the only one stretching the opposition's defense. The Russians led the tournament in goals with 26. Their whole attack was based on speed and transition. The Czechs were able to shut 'em down in the finals with a flawless defensive scheme, but the Russians were clearly the tournament's most exciting club. Their arsenal was stacked.

Valeri Kamensky by Meredith Martini

The top line featured Bure teamed up with Valeri Kamensky and Alexei Zhamnov. Kamensky was lyrical at times with his effortless skating and stickhandling. He's something to behold.

There was no drop off on the second line, which was home for Alexei Yashin, Sergei Fedorov, and Andrei Kovalenko. Yashin played center while Fedorov patrolled the left wing. For not playing a single game this season, Fedorov seemed like his old self. His timing may have been a bit off, but his skating was as strong as ever. And even though Kovalenko may be having a miserable year in Edmonton, he was pretty steady for the Russians. Kovalenko lived up to his "Little Tank" nickname, plowing down low along the boards and driving the net.

German Titov centered Valeri Zelepukin and Alexei Morozov on the third unit. Titov and Zelepukin worked well together, giving the line a defensive conscious and teaming up to form one of the club's top penalty-killing pairs. Meanwhile, Morozov, the 21- year-old Pittsburgh Penguin rookie, played like a seasoned veteran and provided the game-winning goal against Finland in their round-robin meeting.

The fourth line had the always dependable Sergei Nemchinov centering the speedy Valeri Bure and the excitable Sergei Krivokrasov. This line didn't do a whole lot of note, but Valeri is Pavel's little brother... so that's pretty cool.

The Russians were the only team in the tournament to rotate four sets of defensemen. This kept their guys fresh for the long haul and got everyone involved in the game. The standout was Darius Kasparaitis. Good ol' Darius was up to his old tricks, rattling everyone in sight with one destructive check after another. He went buckwild against Finland in the round robin. He nearly started a riot by popping Jarmo Myllys in the head and knockin' the Finn netminder all loopy. He then followed that up by crushing Sami Kapanen with an open-ice check. Kapanen got horizontal. Darius didn't show any favoritism, either. He also belted his good buddy Jaromir Jagr a few times in the gold medal game. He completely neutralized the Czech Wonder Kid when they went head-to-head. Kaspar is a bad man.

Darius Kasparaitis by Meredith Martini

Speaking of Jagr, Boris Mironov and Alexei Zhitnik whacked him pretty good. Boris caught Jagr with his head down in their round robin meeting, forcing Jaromir out with a shoulder injury. Then in the finals, Zhitnik blasted Jagr right between the eyes with an explosive shoulder check. Such physical displays weren't expected from the Russians. They played aggressive all tournament.

Mikhail Shtalenkov handled the goaltending chores and did a swell job, posting a 1.66 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage. The only shot that beat him in the finals was a deflection. Those things happen to the best of 'em.

They may not have come away with the gold, but the Russians should hold their heads high. They did their homeland proud and restored some of the lost glory to their country's hockey tradition.

TURNING POINT: The key moment for the Russians may have come in the round robin against the Czechs. The Russians were trailing 1-0 in the third when Valeri Bure and Alexei Zhamnov scored goals 10 seconds apart to carry the club to a 2-1 victory. The win clinched the top seed in Group B for the Russians and made their road to the finals a bit easier.

TEAM MVP: Hands down, it was Pavel Bure. The Rocket was something special. Watching him skate is a wonderful experience. It's hard to believe a mortal can skate that fast and still do the things he does with the puck.

SURPRISES: The fact that Sergei Fedorov was able to contribute as much as he did has to come as somewhat of a surprise. This guy's just been chillin' with his girlfriend at Chuck E. Cheese and helping her with math homework for the past several months, yet still played some great hockey.

DISAPPOINTMENT: Like the Czechs, the Russians really didn't have any disappointments. They put forth a terrific team effort from day one. Losing the gold was obviously disappointing, but it was nothing to be ashamed of.

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