2013 Super Series Preview - Russia vs. OHL

After Team Russia failed to get a win against the QMJHL, they head off to face the OHL. Same gripe as last year: Russia playing back-to-back games, OHL gets 2 teams (although comparing to the amount of Russia players, it's a mute point), the ridiculous wait between games. Russia did finally win their first game against the OHL last year. This year, they might not be as lucky.

Rosters

OHL

Goalies:

Name	Team
Daniel Althshuller	Oshawa Generals
Matt Murray	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
Jake Paterson	Saginaw Spirit

Defense:

Name	Team
Chris Bigras	Owen Sound Attack
Josh Brown	Oshawa Generals
Trevor Carrick	Mississauga Steelheads
Aaron Ekblad	Barrie Colts
Matt Finn	Guelph Storm
Slater Koekkoek	Windsor Spitfires
Darnell Nurse	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
Adam Pelech	Erie Otters

Forwards:

Name	Team
Josh Anderson	London Knights
Nicholas Baptiste	Sudbury Wolves
Sam Bennett	Kingston Frontenacs
Connor Brown	Erie Otters
Mathew Campagna	Sudbury Wolves
Michael Dal Colle	Oshawa Generals
Max Domi	London Knights
Brendan Gaunce	Belleville Bulls
Bo Horvat	London Knights
Scott Kosmachuk	Guelph Storm
Scott Laughton	Oshawa Generals
Conner McDavid	Erie Otters
Brock McGinn	Guelph Storm
Zach Nastasiuk	Owen Sound Attack
Ryan Rupert	London Knights
Kerby Rychel	Windsor Spitfires
Chris Tierney	London Knights
Carter Verhaeghe	Niagara Ice Dogs

Russia

Goalies:

Name	Team
Ivan Nalimov	SKA St. Petersburg
Igor Shesterkin	Spartak Moscow

Defense:

Name	Team
Viktor Baldaev	Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Alexei Bereglazov	Metallurg Magnitogorsk
Vladislav Gavrikov	Loko Yaroslavl
Pavel Koledov	Loko Yaroslavl
Kirill Maslov	Loko Yaroslavl
Alexander Mikulovich	Niagara Ice Dogs
Rushan Rafikov	Loko Yaroslavl
Mark Skutar	Metallurg Novokuznetsk
Mikhail Tikhonov	SKA-1946 St. Petersburg
Rinat Valiev	Kootenay Ice
Kirill Vorobyov	Krasnaya Armiya

Forwards:

Name	Team
Alexander Barabanov	SKA-1946 St. Petersburg
Ivan Barbashev	Moncton Wildcats
Alexei Baskov	Omskie Yastreby
Georgy Busarov	Dizel Penza
Vladimir Butuzov	Sibir Novosibirsk
Alexander Delnov	Seattle Thunderbirds
Eduard Gimatov	Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg
Nikolay Goldobin	Sarnia Sting
Denis Gorbunov	Baie-Comeau Drakkar
Sergei Kuptsov	Izhstal Izhevsk
Ivan Petrakov	Loko Yaroslavl
Igor Rudenkov	Chaika Nizhny Novgorod
Nikita Shcherbak	Saskatoon Blades
Ildar Shiksatdarov	Krasnaya Armiya
Nikolai Skladnichenko	Metallurg Novokuznetsk
Vladimir Tkachyov	Omskie Yastreby
Sergei Tolchinsky	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
Kirill Voronin	Loko Yaroslavl
Valentin Zykov	Baie-Comeau Drakkar

Games

November 21 (Oshawa)
Russia vs. OHL

November 25 (Sudbury)
OHL vs. Russia

Last 6 Matchups

OHL (2-1) - Russia (2-1) - OHL (6-3) - OHL (10-7) - OHL (2-1) - OHL (4-0)

Predictions

Game 1: Russia 3 - OHL 6
Game 2: OHL 4 - Russia 1

I get the feeling that this might not be a close series. OHL regain dominance over their Russian opponents.

Fun side note: during the look-up for the Russian squad, I seen an ad for a Red Stars (junior all-stars) tour of New England. They'll face an EHL all-star team and four colleges (Yale, Harvard, Colgate College, Cornell). It would be interesting to see how the results from that Russian team stacks up to how this Russian team fares in the Super Series.