Although I see your point Jay, you have to hand it to the Russian national team, though. Look at where they were 5-10 years ago, and look at them now. I for one am really happy they're starting to get their shit together, again.
May-15-2009 05:44
elFreak
Blood Diamonds and Salsa
Registered: Feb 2008
Location: With Juan Pachanga Eating Tacos. Ah Ha Si Mi Gusta.
what have they won of note when everyone is available?
they are better yes, but not the best.
i am a full supporter of other teams winning, but the rest of the world has improved more than russia. The swiss will be good soon, the nazis too.
Keep in mind that the Russians are way better than any of those, and only now are they starting to realise that hockey is actually a team sport. When it comes to skills, the Swiss have improved very much over the past few years, same with Latvia and some others. But it's not like they could ever be compared to the Russians. Russia's biggest problem has always been that either their players don't want to represent, or they play for themselves instead of their team. Over the past few years, these two problems have almost disappeared completely. The Result? Two championships in a row.
Bykov & Bure has done a hell of a job, could you have imagined ten years ago that every Russian WANTS to play for their team? Did you watch the world championship final a week ago? I never thought I'd say this, but it was heart-warming to see Kovalchuk skate his heart out for 35 minutes!
May-15-2009 06:40
chimera66
PARTOUZE
Registered: Jun 2006
Location: Left Coast
true story dubam. not sure exactly what's going on in russia but the hockey landscape for their players is a bit better
___________________
quote:
Originally posted by Ygrene
I once saw Swamper peel off 4 or 5 $100 bills from a fat roll and say this to Donald Trump: "Go clean yourself up; you look like a bum.". And then he threw the bills right in Trump's face/hair! Then Swamper and his entourage of 30, who were all wearing TA monogramed Rolexes, left the room and flew to Hawaii for a few hours because Del wanted fresh coconut.
To his defense, Trump didn't even really look like a bum.
May-15-2009 14:50
elFreak
Blood Diamonds and Salsa
Registered: Feb 2008
Location: With Juan Pachanga Eating Tacos. Ah Ha Si Mi Gusta.
if russians are so awesome, why is it that the nhl teams that have the most never win a cup.
this is not an opinion, this is an actual statistic.
I would much rather have a swede on my team that is a team player, than a ruskie diva that wants to do everything on his own and by the time april rolls around, he wants nothing more than to go home.
I hope russia regains its old form though, the more high caliber teams that there are, the better it is for the game in general.
Of course russia is better than the swiss and the germans, but if you want to talk about improvement over the last 5 to 10 years, these 2 nations have improved more than the cccp.
Originally posted by elFreak
the khl could be a factor in this.
oh most definitely. why give away their talent when they can keep it develop it and monetize the business of hockey in the region. we will see how that shakes out in the next couple years...still don't understand why jagr is there but they have a superstar player for sure with him.
___________________
quote:
Originally posted by Ygrene
I once saw Swamper peel off 4 or 5 $100 bills from a fat roll and say this to Donald Trump: "Go clean yourself up; you look like a bum.". And then he threw the bills right in Trump's face/hair! Then Swamper and his entourage of 30, who were all wearing TA monogramed Rolexes, left the room and flew to Hawaii for a few hours because Del wanted fresh coconut.
To his defense, Trump didn't even really look like a bum.
May-15-2009 15:14
elFreak
Blood Diamonds and Salsa
Registered: Feb 2008
Location: With Juan Pachanga Eating Tacos. Ah Ha Si Mi Gusta.
jagr is there because he is finished. He is too old to be dominant like in the past, just look at sergei federov.
Don't know where I said 'awesome' in any way. My views are nothing but
quote:
Originally posted by elFreak
I hope russia regains its old form though, the more high caliber teams that there are, the better it is for the game in general.
this.
To be honest, I still dislike them.. in general.
I don't want to compare KHL to NHL in any way. I hope KHL is going to be as big and awesome as it can get, but NHL will always be my number one.
May-15-2009 15:37
elFreak
Blood Diamonds and Salsa
Registered: Feb 2008
Location: With Juan Pachanga Eating Tacos. Ah Ha Si Mi Gusta.
if the russians we have on our team (other than markov) showed half as much heart as they do in international play, they would not be golfing right now
i am secretly hoping that they move away from drafting european players in the future.
the khl will never be huge until it can market the games in a language that most of the world can understand
Originally posted by elFreak
if the russians we have on our team (other than markov) showed half as much heart as they do in international play, they would not be golfing right now
i am secretly hoping that they move away from drafting LESS european players in the future.
the khl will never be huge until it can market the games in a language that most of the world can understand
