Anyone who knows anything about hockey knows about Russian superstars Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Andrei Markov, Alexander Semin, Sergei Gonchar, Ilya Kovalchuk, Evgeni Nabokov, Ilya Bryzgalov, and Pavol Datsyuk. That said, outside of those nine elite level players, just how solid is the Russian bear?
The NHL currently boasts a total of 28 Russian forwards and defensemen. Of those 28, only seven were “plus” players. Of those same 28, only eight scored 50 or more points and only 13 scored 30 or more points.
Only three Russians registered a short handed goal (Malkin, Semin and Nikolai Kulemin), only 16 Russian players scored a game winning goal—of which, just 12 had more than one.
A total of ten Russians registered 38 or more penalty minutes (which can be viewed as good or bad) and a total of just six players scored 20 or more goals (Ovechkin, Malkin, Kovalchuk, Semin, Datsyuk, Afinogenov), surprising for a Nation that is commonly known as the most offensively potent on the planet.
Now, needless to say, Russia has more than it’s fair share of “elite” players. Alex Ovechkin is one of the best players on the pla ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Mark Ritter
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