1988 & 1987 tournaments
 

Roster of the 1988 team at the tournament is Sweden: as expected the teams that are the most represented are Ufa and Yaroslav
GKs: Semen Varlamov (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl), Alexei Zhigarev (Krylia Sovetov Moscow).
Ds: Ivan Boldyrev, Oleg Eliseev, Igor Zubov (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl), Pavel Doronin, Artur Kutdusov (Salavat Yulaev Ufa), Alexei Ishmametiev, Vasily Vinogradov, (Metallurg Magnitogorsk), Marat Kalimulin (Lada Togliatti), Denis Davydov (CSKA Moscow), Roman Shedov (Dynamo Moscow)

Fs: Maxim Frolov, Artem Gardeev, Yaroslav Kostin, Denis Kurepanov (Salavat Yulaev Ufa), Anton Glavotsky, Maxim Mamin (Metallurg Magnitogorsk), Dimitry Kurenkov, Ilia Nefedov, Alexander Ryabev, Alexander Vasyunov (Lokomotiv Yaroslav), Andrei Popov (Traktor Chelyabinsk), Oleg Glebov, Vladimir Zharkov (CSKA Moscow), Kirill Orlenko, Makar Voloshin (Lada Togliatti), Vadim Golubstov (HC Lipetsk)

The offense should be lead by Popov, Kostin, and Vasyunov. Glovatsky, Zharkov, and Frolov are good too (Frolov had a pretty good tournament is Czech Republic, especially the second game). Varlamov is generally considered the best 1988 gaolie so far after Nikita Davydov (not selected from Ufa, it's too bad). Doronin, Boldyrev and Kalimulin are usually the best Ds (although Kalimulin is not too big)

the team's material did not arrive with the team.

It did not take more than 55 seconds before Vasyunov introduced himself with a goal against Sweden today (Russia won 5-0). He scored one more goal in the game.

Anyone watching this tournament .. Like, is anyone there?

they won yesterday 5-0 against Sweden: Vasyunov, Kostin, Popov (Kutdusov), Vasyunov (Mamin), Ryabev (Nefedov).

They lost today in OT to the Fins. goals by Glebov and Kureinikov. Nefedov got an assist.

Also the final cuts: Nikita Davydov plays as the GK rather than Zhigarev.
Ds cut: Shedov, Zubov.
Fs cut: Glavotsky, Gardeev, Orlenko, Golubstov

They won today against the Swedes 6-1. Goals by Frolov, Kurepanov (2), Zharkov, Kostin, and Vasyunov.

Also some news on the 1987 tournament in Czech Rep. Russia beat the Fins 5-2, then went on beating the Czech Rep. 4-1 (gaols by Sopin, Velichkin, Bumagin, and Churilov).

Great news :handclap:

Complete scoreboards of the 1987 tournament:

RUS-FIN 5-2
Lesnukhin (Bumagin, Krysanov)
Velichkin (Lyapunov, Nikitin)
Zharkov (Istomin, Churilov)
Krysanov (Bumagin, Lesnukhin)
Lyapunov (Poleschuk, Nikitin)

CZE-RUS 1-4
Sopin (Kalyanin, Shvalev)
Velichkin (Krysanov, Bumagin)
Bumagin (Krysanov, Tikhonov)
Churilov (Istomin, Velichkin)

RUS-FIN 5-1
Istomin (Churilov)
Churilov
Churlov (Istomin)
Anikeenko (Sopin, Istomin)
Lesnukhin (Bumagin, Krysanov).

The team had a great tournament. It also confirms that the main opponents of this team are the north american teams (cf tournament in Magnitogorsk, and the one in Canada).
Great combination, once again of Churilov and Istomin. They tried several LWs on that line (Zharkov who is usually a RW but who is the former RW on Churilov's line in Magnitogorsk before Istomin was transferred from Chelyabinsk, Sopin, and Velichkin (son of Magnitogrosk's GM)). The problem with Velichkin is that he does not bring the size that Zharkov or Sopin can bring.
Also great to see the emergence of a great combination Krysanov-Bumagin. They provided a strong second line which was much needed for this team. Krysanov's size combine with Bumagin's skills was a great combo.
Zubarev-Anikeenko emerged as a strong first line.
Reliable goaltending by Proskuryakov (the best 1987 GK).
Buravchikov and Belyakov were not there.

I realized that I forgot to post the roster:
Gks:
Ilya Proskuryakov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk), Sergey Letunovsky (Avangard Omsk)

Ds:
Vitaly Anikeenko, Alexei Shvalev (Lokomotiv Yaroslav), Stepan Kharitonov, Viktor Tikhonov (Yes, you are reading correctly) (Lada Togliatti), Igor Nikitin (Severstal Cherepovets), Anton Poleschuk (Metallurg Magnitogorsk), Alexei Privalov (Avangard Omsk), Andrei Zubarev (Salavat Yulaev Ufa).

Fs:
Ivan Bondarenko (Avangard Omsk), Alexander Bumagin, Anton Krysanov (Lada Togliatti), Andrei Chistyakov, Gennadi Churilov, Denis Istomin, Vitaly Lyapunov, Igor Velichkin (Metallurg Magnitogorsk), Alexander Kalyanin (Traktor Chelyabinsk), Sergei Lesnukhin (Lokomotiv Yaroslav), Alexei Sopin, Egor Zharkov (Dynamo Moscow)

No Buravchikov, Belyakov, Kucheryavchenko, Zubov (with the 1986 team), and Pakhomov.

Hey thanx for the news Guillaume !

Can you say me something about Churilov ? What kind of player is he ? He had great numbers .............

Great center. He does not dominate as much as he used to because he did not grow up as much as other players (proportionaly). When he was about 14, he was about 5'10, playing with Zharkov who was about 6'1 at that time (most players at that age are 5'7 5'8). So they really dominated at the time they were playing together for Metallurg (on a line with Velichkin), which is why they had huge stats at that time. Now, Zharkov plays for Dynamo and Istomin came from Traktor to play on the line.
Churilov still has the talent and the skills but not much of an edge with his size. He is about 6'0 175 now. He is a great playmaking center with great ice vision (which is probably what I liked the most in him) and soft hands. His shoot is not bad at all and he uses it. He generally shows leadership (he is now the captain of the Russian 1987 national team) and makes his linemates play better. He creates great combinations with Istomin. He has a pretty good positional defense but he is not physical.
also something I like is that he shows great consistency, especially for a player that young.

IMO, he is the best Russian forward born in 1987 along with Istomin and Ilya Zubov (Zubov is completely off the radar because he plays with the 1986 team, on the 4th line, and with Traktor Chelyabinsk in Upper league where he is a solid contributor). Any of these guys might go top 20-25 at the 2005 draft (just my opinion). After these 3 guys, probably Zharkov, Sopin, Krysanov, Bumagin, Kucheriavchenko, etc.

Edit: I tried to upload a picture of him, but it was a failure.

Actually, here is a picture of him off the internet: he is the guy on the right.
http://www.metallurg19.sitecity.ru/a...17.phtml?pix=3

From left to right: Proskuryakov, Istomin, Lyapunov Gorbunov, Velichkin, Shumik, and Churilov

That homepage gives a certain NHL-team a hint about a player who would like to play for them. :)

yeah, the Avs' scouts could already book their tickets to Magnitogorsk to go see Velichkin.
I believe Zharkov's website was with the colors of the Sharks at some point...but there was also a picture of him with John LeClair...I believe Ovechkin told several times that his favorite team was the Sharks...

THANX !