World Cup hockey: U.S. gets chance to make amends vs. Russia

By Knight Ridder Newspapers and The Associated Press


DETROIT — Sergei Fedorov declined to come. So did Nikolai Khabibulin and Alexei Zhamnov.

So Alexei Kovalev was asked: Why did he bother with the World Cup of Hockey?

"Why?" Kovalev said, sounding disgusted at the question. "Because you're playing for your country, and you don't know if there's going to be a season (because of the NHL labor situation). This is the time to leave it all out there."

The Russians have so many issues off the ice, some of their stars don't want to play in the tournament.

But some of their stars do, and they present a stiff challenge to the United States in the quarterfinals today in St. Paul, Minn.

The Russians dominated the Americans in pool play Thursday night, outscoring them 3-1 and outshooting them 45-21.

As always, the Russians are highly skilled.

"Offensively, they have as good of players as any team in this tournament," U.S. coach Ron Wilson said. "Pavel Datsyuk. Ilya Kovalchuk. Alexei Kovalev.

"I mean, the names go on and on. It's a who's who of the best one-on-one players in our league (NHL). Some of these guys were the top players in our league last year, Datsyuk and Kovalchuk."

But Wilson was impressed with the Russians' discipline and commitment Thursday night, too. Their forwards came back, clogged the neutral zone and helped out the defense.




The speedy Russians kept stealing the puck and sustaining pressure in the U.S. end, making the Americans look relatively slow.

"Our legs were gone," said U.S. assistant coach Barry Smith, the Detroit Red Wings' associate coach, blaming travel and hard practices.

"We couldn't get there. They won the one-on-one battles."

The loss to Russia — on the heels of a similar 2-1 loss to Canada a week ago — prompted Wilson to make dramatic changes. He benched five players — including Brett Hull, a future Hall of Famer who is third on the NHL career-goals list — and put in all five of his reserve skaters.

The Americans responded with a 3-1 victory over Slovakia on Friday night. They were more energetic, getting off to a good start, and they were smarter.

Instead of trying to make plays through the middle, turning over the puck and playing too much in their own end, they kept the puck along the boards, sustained pressure in the offensive zone and generated some offense.

"It was something to build off of," Smith said. "It wasn't just that we won, it was that we won the right way."

Wilson is expected to use the same lineup of skaters tonight.

Robert Esche didn't dress against Slovakia, but only to rest after being blitzed by 77 shots in the first two games. He will be back in goal.

Much is at stake.

Lose, and the Americans are done. It's a single-elimination tournament the rest of the way. The United States' group of accomplished veterans, captained by Detroit defenseman Chris Chelios, will break up in disappointment — some to return, some not — after winning the 1996 World Cup, finishing fifth at the 1998 Nagano Olympics and winning silver at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics.

"We've got to take away space and time," Smith said. "We need good backside pressure. We have to go at this team with a lot more determination."

Yesterday's game

At Finland 2, Germany 1 — Mikko Eloranta tipped a shot past Olaf Kolzig with 3:22 left, lifting Finland over Germany and into the semifinals.

"It was the biggest goal in my career, but hopefully there will be another even bigger goal," said Eloranta, one of two players from the Finnish League on Finland's roster.

Defenseman Kimmo Timonen took a pass from Olli Jokinen and fired the shot from the point that Eloranta deflected just in front of the goal.

"I saw the puck coming all the way and deflected it. I had no idea where it went because I had my back to the goal," Eloranta said.

Sweden, which had as many points (five) as Finland but a lower goal difference in round-robin play, takes on the Czech Republic in Stockholm, Sweden, today in the other European-pool quarterfinal.

Janne Niinimaa, a defenseman for the New York Islanders, left the Finnish squad late Sunday after a dispute with head coach Raimo Summanen.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company