Special thanks to Squishy from the HFBoards for this heads up…

In a post game interview with AllHockey.ru Russian defenseman Vyacheslav Voinov, when asked about Anisimov, says he “tore a ligament in his knee” and most likely will not play in the remaining games.

http://allhockey.ru/articles/9670/

Keep in mind that’s just another player saying it… not a coach or doctor, etc…

AA, who might be my favorite prospect on the pack next year, suffered a MALICIOUS knee on knee by Colton Gillies.

Here is the video:

Does it get more blatant than that?!

To quote Captain Monglobster…

All I can say is it’s a good thing we don’t have another Russian prospect playing, because next game he would probably get speared, and the Canadians’ lawyers would probably come out with, ‘but the puck was in the air, he was just playing the puck!’.

-Inferno

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Did you guys see the intermission report between the 2nd and 3rd periods? Where TSN’s classy analysis team, chuckling like little school girls note how the Rangers are unhappy with this tournament. They go on, again with smirks on their faces, that the Rangers, who are relying a lot on the futures of these players, werent going to have Chere on the team this year, but were hoping AA would make a run for the open 3rd line spot, again, while chuckling.

Gee, professional much? Lets try a tiny bit harder to not look so happy at the malicious injuries suffered by 2 high level Ranger prospects.

Thats all I have to say. Im annoyed right now, big time.

-Inferno

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Just disgusting. Team Canada has taken out yet another Rangers prospect. Artem Anisimov was take out with a knee on knee by Colton Gillies while he was nowhere near the puck. That is now both of our prospects who have been injured in this tournament. First Cherepanov is forced to miss the rest of the series with a concussion (supposedly he is still in the hospital for observation) now Anisimov is hurt (the extent is unknown, but when have you ever seen knee on knee being just a minor thing?)

Yuck

-Inferno

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I have no thoughts, unfortunately I missed the period, I thought it was a 9am start. My bad fellas.

-Inferno

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Just wanted to say congratulations to team Canada. As you may have heard, Alexei Cherapanov is out for the next two games at least with a concussion caused by the repeated blows to the head he suffered by team Canada.

Way to make this exhibition, almost meaningless tournament a beacon for all things wrong with sports.

I will say this again. You NEVER go for the head, its cheap, its dirty, and its dangerous. Want to punish the guy with a severe body check, be my guest. But hits to the head should be automatically accompanied with a suspension.

Congrats Canada, you only severly hurt a young man who would have most definitely helped garner more interest in these games and to hockey in general.

I hope the win was worth it.

-Inferno

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The Canadians flat out destroyed the Russians. Russia played maybe 6 or 7 minutes of good hockey, and even then it was only when Nemchinov finally decided to pair Artem Anisimov with Alexei Cherepanov. Other than that, the Russians looked awful.

I’m not going to go too much more into it, but I do want to comment on one thing. Cherepanov is being held at bay because of 2 things.

1)The Canadians are taking hard, illegal runs at him every single time he is on the ice. Hits long after the puck has left his stick, and hits up high.

2)The Canadians are shadowing him with 1 or 2 players at all time.

Lets talk about these 2 things in kind, starting with number 1. In North America this won’t happen all the time. Here the Russian team is flat out soft, with no enforcers, and no team toughness. Its a skilled bunch which really doesn’t stand up for each other. On the Rangers Chere will have Orr, Hollweg, Avery, Dubinsky, Jessiman, WHOEVER, to protect him. You won’t be seeing guys like Sutter throwing flying forearms to his head. Or maybe you will, then youll see him in the hospital after Orr breaks his face like he did to Fedoruk after he decided to run a few Rangers. Unfortunately the only guy who seemed to stand up for his teammates on a consistent basis was Anisimov, and even he is not exactly a physical guy. The Canadians have a very tough team, excellently augmented with skill players.

The second point also won’t be as much of an issue in North America, because Chere will not be option 1, 2 and 3 on the team. He will be a piece of the puzzle. Want to shadow him? That’s fine, Bourret will go roughshod on you, or Drury, or Callahan, or whoever. The Rangers are not a one man team.

Also, we saw a flash in this game of what Chere can do. He made a helluva play to set up his linemate for a scoring chance, but the player (didnt catch who) missed the net with his shot.

Let’s see how Chere does in his home town of Omsk where he can actually play on good ice, and not have to worry about slush, fog, or swamplike conditions.

-Inferno

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Cherepanov hasn’t really done much, and AA has been burned on both of Canadas goals. Not a good day for the Rangers prospects. There is still another period to go, but I would hope both players would start showing us a bit more. At least AA has been very active out there and noticeable, Cherepanov really hasn’t done much of anything.

Not good.

-Inferno

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So I’m pretty surprised at how poor the russians are playing. i figured they wouldnt win just because canadas team looks so damn strong, but i didnt expect the russians to flat out not play well.

They just dont look like theyve ever played or practiced together at all. it looks like they want to play pond hockey and go end to end around 5 guys to score their goals, or take a 50 foot slapper inside the corner. thats not how you win at the professional level, nor at the international level.

You’d probably have to point to the coaching as a factor, but dont let the players off the hook either. Cherepanov looks pretty bad out there, Anisimov definitely looks better, but how much better, I am not sure. You need to use your linemates to create plays and defend your own zone. You try to create 2 on 1’s all over the ice, and exploit them as they develop (ie, isolations if they are there). The Russians are just not playing winning hockey, they are playing selfish, loser hockey. The kind of hockey I hate watching.

-Inferno

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Not exactly what you would expect to hear, but thats what happened. Cherepanov appeared to be benched for the most of the 3rd period. Perhaps it was because he was more or less invisible for the first 2 periods, or perhaps it was because Nemchinov saw a matchup he liked, but I have to tell you, to bench your most talented forward, when seemingly more than half the game is played with a man advantage (Canada took something like 14 penalties), and many a time with 2 men up, is just unforgivable. I dont get it. Cherepanov was creating chances everytime he was out there in the 3rd, yet he still couldnt buy ice time out there.

On the flip side, Artem Anisimov saw a ton of ice time, and showcased some good hockey instincts coupled with good size. He had a few chances to score, but didnt. He played very well.

Again though, don’t take too much stock into this 1 game, there are 7 more to go. But I would be curious to hear Nemchinovs reasoning for benching Cherepanov, though I am sure it will come out in the media soon enough.

-Inferno

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Disgusting, the ice is just disgusting out there. It looks like they are trying to skate on gravel. Canada has really taken control of this game, due in part to even more terrible goaltending, this time by Varlamov who has let in his share of softies.

The 2nd did showcase a spectacular shift by our own Artem Anisimov, who used his size to get to the slot and had a point blank shot that Mason saved, and he used his size and skill to set up a few other plays, and to help keep control of the puck. Cherepanov didnt do anything in the period, evertime he had the puck, it either hopped over his stick, or he fell down. I wouldnt look too much into his performance based on this game. Honestly I wouldnt look too much into any players performance, the ice and the reffing has really left a ton to be desired (something like 16 penalties called so far)

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