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Yevgeni Malkin headlines Russia's entry into IIHF Worlds

April 28, 2012, 12:05 PM ET [63 Comments]
John Toperzer
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
IIHF World Championship: Rosters Take Shape, Puck Drops May 4





Here's a link to the rosters of the 400-plus players and 16 country entrants into the tourney.

Old Penguins friend, Konstantin Koltsov, appears on the Belarussian roster. We'll get to see if it's true that a player loses his foot speed before his hands because Koltsov never had a set of hands.

Canada's got Cam Ward as its starting tender. Marc-Andre Fleury mentioned on getaway day that the team had promised Ward first dibs as the starting goalie. That may be a big reason why Fleury declined an invitation. Devan Dubnyk will serve as the backup.

Canada's defense looks pretty strong but it looks better geared for an obstruction game than that of the larger European ice surfaces. Phaneuf, Subban, Luke Schenn? Duncan Keith is the stud on the blue line.

Canada also features a strong collection of young guns at forward: Jamie Benn, Jordan Eberle, Jeff Skinner, John Tavarez. Add Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, among other vets, and this team has to be considered the frontrunner.

The Czech Republic squad reintroduces Penguins fans to Petr Nedved. Hemsky, Krejci, and Plekanec will give the Czecho's a solid top line.

Denmark has Frans Nielsen, four-goal game Lars Eller, and Jannik Hansen but not much else.

Kari Lehtonen gives Finland a leg up in goal. Karri Ramo, who's playing for Avangard Omsk in Russia these days, is the backup.

Ex-Pen Janne Pesonnen will lace the skates for the Fins. Calgary prospect Mikael Granlund and vets like Mikko Koivu and Jussi Jokinen round out the roster.

Sens prospect Stephane Da Costa should help entertain French fans, who will also get a look at Cristobal Huet in net.

Marcel Goc is already listed on the German roster after stepping up in the Cup postseason. Christopf Schubert is one of the few other recognizable names on the team.

Italy looks to be in trouble with a group of no-names but maybe the unheralded squad will surprise.

Kazakhstan's roster doesn't look any more familiar than the Italians. Konstantin Pushkarev played for the Wilkes-Barre Baby Pens in 2009-10 after a long and winding road from the LA Kings' no. 2 pick in 2003.

Here's one for you. Ted Nolan is the head coach of Latvia. Janis Sprukts played 14 games for the Florida Panthers.

Kristian Forsberg serves as name recognition for Norway but he's neither a prospect nor related to Peter -- as far as I know.

Russia will certainly be another top contender, with Pavel Datsyuk and Evgeni Malkin headlining the squad. I wonder if Datsyuk has ever been out of the playoffs soon enough to play for his homeland before? Megaprospect Tarasenko is also one of the team's forwards, Nikita Nikitin, Zherdev, Burmistrov, are some of the other heady players for Russia.

The Vladimir Vujtek-led Slovakians will give Penguins fans a chance to catch up with Tomas Surovy. Prospect Tomas Tatar is on the team. Pens Cup winner Miroslav Satan will lace up the skates, Tomas Kopecky is already set to play fresh off Florida's run. Stefan Ruzicka will play. There's a Hossa, but it's Marcel. Here's to wishing a complete recovery by Marian.

Sweden figures to be tough. Jhonas Enroth will get a chance to shine in international play. Enroth started strongly for Buffalo in 2011-12 but was mostly bench-relegated in the second half as Ryan Miller came on. The Red Wings' d-men, Ericsson and Kronwall, will see time for the Swedes. Henrik Zetterberg is playing, too. That's somewhat of a shock to me because he's been hurt so frequently over the last several seasons that it would be easy to see him pass on the IIHF's. Soon-to-be Calder winner Gabriel Landeskog will also skate.

Henrik Lundqvist apparently isn't available for Sweden but his twin brother Joel is.

Mark Streit and Luca Sbisa figure to see ample time on the blue line for Switzerland. Islanders fans will get a chance to scout Nino Niederreiter, too.

Finally, the United States brings a steady yet unimpressive cast to Helsinki. Former Penguins organizational goalie, John Curry, will back up Jimmy Howard.

The defense looks passable with Alex Goligoski, Justin Faulk, Cam Fowler, and Jack Johnson, but coach Scott Gordon is going to have to milk the forwards for points. Bobby Ryan is playing. Paul Stastny, Kyle Okposo and Max Pacioretty are the other top forwards. Justin Abdelkader will skate around and try to hit people.


Predictions

Gold Medalist -- Russia

Silver Medalist -- Canada

Bronze Medalist -- Sweden


*****


Have a great weekend & treasure life!
JT
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