AFrame14 Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Two straight Olympics help to prove that these guys have a very hard time coming together as a team. All that talent and still no dice. All due credit to Finland, but talent for talent, it should have been a win for the Ruskies. You then have the legit threat of losing your players the KHL, and they would generally play for money before the chance to win. Not to mention being rewarded with ice time at the Olympic games... Im so thankfull we have a player in Bo Horvat rather that Valeri Nichuskin. Im sure that VN will end up scoring nicer goals, but I have no doubt that Horvat will be the better team player, and be more helpful in actually winning games that matter. How many key Russian players do the SC contenders have? Chicago? Anaheim? Boston? LA? SJ? Pitts? Of those teams I count 2... yes 2. Malkin and Voynov. Interestingly enough, 4 of the 5 teams listed have won Stanley cups over the last 6 years. IM not suggesting there cant be an exception, particularly if its an elite center iceman, (Datsyuk, Malkin), but stay away from the explosive wingers with all that talent. In this era, they are non factors or solo factors when the game matters the most. I honestly never really see people bitching about us not gettin Russians.. In fact I'd say people complain a lot more with the amount of Americans on the Canucks and the limited Amount of Canadians, although that has changed recently. I don't care what nationality our players Are as long as gillis can bring in the right players To make van a better team.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragon4401 Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Im so thankfull we have a player in Bo Horvat rather that Valeri Nichuskin. Im sure that VN will end up scoring nicer goals, but I have no doubt that Horvat will be the better team player, and be more helpful in actually winning games that matter. The only reason im glad we got Horvat instead of Nisk is because we needed a top notch shutdown center prospect in the system(Gaunce is good but not sold on him being Kes/Berg level) he can play C/LW and that is a key hing for comfortable play in those situations as needed...Nisk could be an Aussie for all I care i would still take Horvat because he fits the positional need of C/Wing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithers joe Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 i loved larinov...he was a real team player....i'ld take larinovs any time....i believe hockey is a team game....not a one man show.... federov got a front loaded contract from detroit.....most of his money came early...when his contract called for just a million a year he balked and wanted to re negotiate his contract because he didn't feel he was getting paid what he was worth.... is niskonen a team player?...maybe but gm's are overly cautious .....i don't blame them..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithers joe Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 it doesn't matter ....if gillis took the russian player, some would cut him up for not taking horvat.....i trust gillis to do what's best for this team, but then i'm not a cdc gm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRAZY_4_NAZZY Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Russia loses one game, and people start making generalizations to all Russian players. Who cares about nationality, as long as you can play hockey and do it well game in and game out, you are welcome here with open arms. SInce Canada had such a hard time against the Latvians today shall we can all Canadian players then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lychees Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 From what I've seen, most super dynamic Russian forwards aren't responsible defensively (Kovie, Ovie, Malkin, Semin, Yakupov) Of course there's exceptions, Datsyuk. But honestly at this point, I'd want MG to take the gamble, we need a bonafide 1st/2nd line scorer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownky Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 You need a guy who has a killer instinct when it comes to scoring goals. Russians typically have that. One selfish guy on the team isn't always a bad thing; how often do we bitch about the Sedins pass pass pass pass pass... puck going other way with no shot? Obviously a bit of a generalization, but ignoring a nationality based on the threat of them leaving to another league is just silly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horny Manatee Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Yeah, let's stay the course. It's working out great!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalky Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 I couldn't care less about the nationality of the players on my team...outside of Canada. If anyone wants to generalize Yakupov and Datsuyk as even remotely similar players or people they are just bitter from sour grapes. Yes, I get it, Mike Gillis is the worst GM in the history of the league, he hates talent, he won't draft the players you want and he has never made a trade or signing that worked out. OK, that was a sarcastic, I'm not saying he was been great, but I would stop well short of calling him being Paul Holmgren or Jay Feaster. He's been an average GM and I'm hoping (expecting) he can make a splash for next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apollo Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Because deep down inside we all want the second coming of the Russian rocket. No logic... just because we dream that the rocket will set foot on our ice in our teams jersey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonMexico Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 i loved larinov...he was a real team player....i'ld take larinovs any time....i believe hockey is a team game....not a one man show.... federov got a front loaded contract from detroit.....most of his money came early...when his contract called for just a million a year he balked and wanted to re negotiate his contract because he didn't feel he was getting paid what he was worth.... is niskonen a team player?...maybe but gm's are overly cautious .....i don't blame them..... Joe, Fedorov won the Selke Trophy 2 times in his career. This pretty much indicates a team first type player. Tough to accuse him of not caring about the team when voted the best two way player, twice. Who cares if wanted to re-negotiate when his contract was in some lean years. Every player from every country would want to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.53 Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 If I had the choice of 2 players with the exact same skill set, and one was russian and the other was not, I would take the other almost every time. The reason being, any time you want to resign them, there is always the threat that they will return home for ridiculous amounts of money making them both harder to resign as well as significantly driving up their cost. For a North American player, they are already home, so there is much less of a chance that they will leave. Also, you never know exactly how well their game will transfer to a North American style. It could convert very well, but there is a chance that it couldn't. Plus, language barriers in the locker room are always a hassle. They can be overcome, but if you don't have to put that there in the first place, then why would you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honky Cat Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 I'm guessing that when MG was a player agent..He probably saw a lot of issues involving Russian players..Its no coincidence that he hasn't traded for any and we don't have any in the organization. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Sparkle Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Ya, Malkin, Bure, Ovie etc are over rated. If you saw Kovalchuk in the shootout against the USA you would know why. then they choke against finland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake Doctor Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 I don't think there are any Russian players on his radar right now. He's not against Russian players. The KHL is trying there best to keep them close to home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Surfer Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Hey, Grigorenko will be available as an RFA in '15-'16. If MG wants a Russian that can play on the wing then he can pick one up then. His character is in question though. I think that's one of the reasons that teams are reluctant to pick up Russians. If they don't get their way, they are likely to bolt off back to Russia/KHL. Really its up to the NHL to have a competitive playing field. But the reverse is also true. The KHL will stop throwing money at guys if they dont make money doing it. Recently the KHL has tried to flex it muscle and establish itself. That wont last forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SabreFan1 Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Really its up to the NHL to have a competitive playing field. But the reverse is also true. The KHL will stop throwing money at guys if they dont make money doing it. Recently the KHL has tried to flex it muscle and establish itself. That wont last forever. Either way, I think it's too late for the Sabres to save Grigorenko. Darcy really screwed up handling him. Murray already has a poor perception of Grigorenko because of what happened with the reassignment "refusal". MG needs to scout him next year while he plays in the AHL. He's a fixer-upper with a huge upside if he gets the proper training that he needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremyCuddles Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Cause one day we'll get that Bure or Datsyuk and when that day comes, we'll get a Messier and we'll all cry deeply... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elenap Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Being Russian I almost regret that the Olympics is host by Russia. I never read so much negativity about Russia, Russian players, Russian politics and Russian people. Very sad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuongovsTuuka Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 i loved larinov...he was a real team player....i'ld take larinovs any time....i believe hockey is a team game....not a one man show.... federov got a front loaded contract from detroit.....most of his money came early...when his contract called for just a million a year he balked and wanted to re negotiate his contract because he didn't feel he was getting paid what he was worth.... is niskonen a team player?...maybe but gm's are overly cautious .....i don't blame them..... No, Larionov left because of Soviet BS. He wanted to stay here. http://canuckslegend...r-larionov.html It's a ways into the article.... Although he never wanted to leave Vancouver, he refused to sign in 1991 because of the Russian interference in negotiations. He wouldn't allow any transfer payments to be sent to the powers-that-be in his old country. He played that year in Switzerland before being acquired by the San Jose Sharks in the 1992 Waiver Draft. With the Sharks the intellectual Larionov was briefly reunited with dazzling Makarov. Igor Larionov is one of my all time favorite Canucks and all time favorite players. He never took a night off, played great at both ends of the ice and played a large role in getting the Wings to the Cup. The real problem is that the generation that has followed his tends to be the Russian sniper who wants the money, the fame and glory. They need to be sat down and made to watch the Soviet teams of the 70s and 80s, great teamwork, teams that passed better than anyone else and just knew how to dominate. If a Russian kid comes along who plays like Larionov did, I'd be very happy to see the Canucks draft him. EDIT: Pavel Datsyuk is the obvious player in the NHL now that hearkens back to the old Soviet style of player and he is a real warrior. The Wings are lucky to have him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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