RUSSIA COMMANDING AGAINST LATVIA

If the opening day of competition in Men's Hockey was any indication, the much talked about Russia vs. Canada showdown could be in the horizon.


Any talk of those two giants of the sport brings to mind the legends of the sport, epitomized by the 1972 Summit Series but the 2010 model of Alexandr Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Jarome Iginla and Evgeni Malkin is in vintage form.

Following Canada's 8-0 thrashing of Norway that was as much as cleansing from the embarrassment of Torino as a statement of intent, the stage was set for Russia who equally wanted to move past the disappointment of the 2006 games.

In the day's leading up the opener, Vladislav Tretyak certainly appeared confident as Alexandr Ovechkin and company put on an attacking show during practices that few can rival. Against Latvia in the late Tuesday night contest, Russia was dominating from the start with a 8-2 victory.

Just past two minutes into the first period Sergey Fedorov showed his play-making abilities is still top-shelf as he sent a cross-crease pass that Danis Zaripov sent past Latvia goaltender Edgars Masaļskis. Salavat Yulaev's Alexandr Radulov sent in a close range rebound four minutes later to give Russia a quick two-goal lead. Russia continued to flourish and with less than a minute in the first period remaining Alexandr Semin set-up Alexandr Ovechkin, with the Hart Trophy winner showing no hesitation with one-timing it past the Latvia goalie.

The second period showed a modest weakness in the Russian side, though against such a lesser side, it is possible that any analysis is over reaching. Russia seemed to ease off the accelerator in the second period and lacked its normal team cohesiveness as it could only net a late power-play goal by Evgeniy Malkin to up its lead to 4-0.

This carried forward to the start of the third period when Herberts Vasiljevs stunned Russia with a shot from the slot to pull Latvia to within three. To lend credence to the notion that Russia was coasting, the Latvian goal stirred Vyacheslav Bykov's men as they scored Alex Ovechkin, Danis Zaripov and Ilya Kovalchuk each scored within two minutes. Dynamo Riga's Ģirts Ankipāns would add another for Latvia before Russian captain Alexey Morozov rounded out the scoring in the final minute.

Despite any negative concerns, Russia showed an overwhelming domination that few can rival. The rich attack, led by Alexandr Ovechkin, Evgeniy Malkin and Ilya Kovalchuk was daunting, yet the veteran leadership of Sergey Fedorov might most be the most compelling statement, as Russia wants gold.