Russians Crush Switzerland 7-0, Swiss Baltisberger has to be Carried Off Ice on Stretcher

Anatoli Golyshev was the guilty party in what appeared to be an illegal head check on the Swiss Phil Baltisberger, which had him carried off the ice on a stretcher in Switzerland's 7-0 loss to Russia.

Golyshev, a 19-year-old KHL pro, earned himself a 5-minute match penalty, which automatically comes with a one-game ban, meaning he missed the rest of the game against Switzerland and will miss the game against Sweden. Baltisberger remained motionless on the ice for several minutes before having to be carried off the ice on a stretcher with his neck immobilized. Luckily, Baltisberger was not paralyzed; in the hospital, he was able to move his arms and legs, but his neck really hurt and he did not have to power to get up. However, the Swiss were so worried about him, that their coach had trouble keeping them focused on the bench. “We're all human and we were all worried about him,” he said, “and we didn't get a diagnosis right away.”

Originally, the referees weren't going to award a penalty, and the Russians believe the major was earned because of the injury. “It was just a shoulder check,” Valeri Bragin, the Russian head coach said through an interpreter. “It's a very strange situation and it's unclear exactly what happened. He (Baltisberger) got hit in the side. Our player is shorter (5-foot-9) and the Swiss player is taller (6-foot-1).If there was no head check, it's just a hockey play. If there was, then of course he should be suspended.” The IIHF will decide on whether Golyshev will participate in any games for the rest of the tournament. I honestly hope they don't let him play, as I was watching the game, and it was a very dirty play. I also simply hope Baltisberger can return to the ice soon, and complete his dream of winning the gold medal.

The Russians ended up beating the Swiss 7-0, on amazing saves by Igor Shestyorkin and goals by Pavel Buchnevich, Rushan Rafikov, and Alexander Dergachyov in the first period.

The second period showed the Russians too many penalties, including two 5-on-3 moments for the Swiss, but the Russians scored two goals by Sergei Tolchinsky and Alexander Sharov, making it 5-0 Russia by the end of the second period.

The third period included two more goals by Russians Vladislav Kamenev and Vyacheslav Leshenko, making the final score 7-0 Russia.

IIHF WJC Preliminary Round Scores

I only have time to do a very quick post.. so here goes:

Denmark - Russia 2-3
Sweden - Czech Republic 5-2
Denmark - Sweden 1-5
Czech Republic- Switzerland 2-5
Finland- USA 1-2
Canada- Slovakia 8-0
Slovakia - Finland 2-1
Germany - Canada 0-4

Games to watch out for today: SUI - RUS 5:00 EST, USA - GER 8:00 EST

IIHF WJC Preliminary and Relegation Schedule

  

Obviously, the games you must not miss are USA VS. Finland on Friday at 3:00 PM, Russia VS. Sweden on Monday at 5:00, and USA VS. Canada on Wednesday the 31st at 4:00.

And a topic that confuses most people...the 5A VS. 5B game in the relegation match means that the top teams from Group A will play the top teams from Group B depending on the results of the preliminary rounds. In Group A, there is Team Canada, Team Finland, Team USA, Team Slovakia, and Team Germany. In Group B, there is Team Sweden, Team Russia, Team Czech, Team Denmark, and Team Switzerland. The winners of the relegation match will go on to play four quarterfinals against each other all at different times on January 2 (I will be posting the schedule when the time comes), and the winners of the quarterfinals will play two semifinals, and the losers of the semifinal will play the bronze medal game, while the winners will compete for gold, while the loser wins silver. Good luck to all teams!
Go Team Sweden! Go Team Russia!

Traktor Beats Lada 2-1

Traktor Chelyabinsk beat HC Lada Togliatti 2-1 at 5 AM today (5 PM Russian time). The first goal was scored by Anton Glinkin in the first period (ASST: Michael Garnett, Maxim Kondratyev), putting Traktor up 1-0.

The second goal was scored set up by Stanislav Chistov and Francis Pare and scored by Artem Borodkin, and Traktor has the 2-0 lead. Lada tried to come back in the final minutes of the third period, with Martin Zadevich scoring in the final minutes, but their comeback was too late, and Traktor wins the game 2-1.

Go Traktor!

Capitals Fall to Rangers 4-2

Bam. Just like that, the Caps' 20-day point streak is over. They fell to division rivals New York Rangers 4-2 (even though they had unfair referees who didn't call the obvious offside in the third goal against the Rangers, and gave the Caps two horrible penalties), Rick Nash put the puck past Holtby in the first period, and in a second-period powerplay, Martin St. Louis made it 2-0 New York. Rick Nash scored again in the third period, but then Evgeny Kuznetsov made a 2-goal deficit become a 1-goal deficit with an amazing goal in the beginning of the third period that was so subtle almost nobody noticed it. Like, wow...

Obviously, Kuzya was in beast mode today (so was Eric Fehr), and they both had one of the best games of their careers. Then Rick Nash scored on an obvious offside, which the evil ref didn't count, and put the Rangers up 3-1. Ovechkin scored one of his Ovi goals right after that, and it seemed that the Capitals might be able to catch up and make it into overtime at least.

But, no, the ref chose today to be unfair, and gave Nicklas Backstrom a double minor penalty for high-sticking, and Jason Chimera a minor penalty for who-knows-what, making it 5-on-3 for the Rangers, who ended up scoring their fourth goal of the game. Ugh. The factors were obviously against the Caps, who decided to come back too late.

Next game is against the Penguins this Saturday.

Let's go, Caps!

Capitals Beat Senators 2-1

The Washington Capitals beat the Ottawa Senators 2-1, with goals for the Capitals scored by Jay Beagle (ASST: Mike Green, Evgeny Kuznetsov)...

Capitals celebrate Jay Beagle's goal, assisted by

Mike Green and Evgeny Kuznetsov..

Evgeny Kuznetsov, the Capitals' star young center,

had an assist...

Their second goal was scored by Nicklas Backstrom, and assisted by Mike Green and Alex Ovechkin.

Braden Holtby had an extraordinary night, making inhuman saves.. really, I don't think the Capitals should trade Holtby anymore. 

One of HoltBEAST's insane saves...

Postnote: Capitals have a game against the New York Rangers tonight at 7 PM, and Traktor have a game against HC Lada Togliatti tomorrow morning at 5 AM EST (5 PM Russian time)...

Let's go Caps!

Let's go Traktor!

Capitals Beat Devils 4-0, Ovechkin Scores One of the Best Goals of his Career

The Capitals beat the Devils 4-0, earning Holtby his 13th career shutout.
And Ovechkin had one of the most incredible goals I've ever seen... we should call it his The Goal II!

Even this GIF does not capture the amazing goal in a respectable way...

Anyway, the first goal of  the game was scored by Mike Green, and assisted by Jack Hillen and Nicklas Backstrom, the second was by Backstrom, assisted by Jay Beagle and John Carlson. and the third was scored by the Russian machine (Alexander the GR8), and the fourth by Backstrom and assisted by Beagle and Carlson.

Let's go, Caps!

Looks Like the Defending Stanley Cup Champions Aren't Doing so Well This Season

This picture explains how the Kings beat the San Jose Sharks right before Discovery Channel's Shark Week started.

However, this season the defending Stanley Cup Champions are not doing as well as they should be. Right now, they are 16-11-6, 4th in the Pacific Division. They have been losing to low-ranked teams. The question is: What happened?

Braden Holtby Last Year

This picture totally describes Braden Holtby last year. Luckily, since Barry Trotz came to Washington, he has emphasized defense, and now we see defensemen like Karl Alzner and Mike Green scoring goals.

Eric Fehr Scores OT Winner, Helps Capitals Beat Blue Jackets 5-4

The Capitals and Blue Jackets had a great game yesterday, with Eric Fehr scoring the winning goal for Washington, tricking Sergei Bobrovsky with a backhand for the overtime winner.
Goals scored in the first period were by Joel Ward (ASST: Eric Fehr, Karl Alzner), and Jason Chimera (ASST: Michael Latta, Brooks Orpik), putting the Caps up 2-0.
In the second period, the Jackets retaliated on two power-play goals by Jack Johnson (ASST: Nick Foligno, James Wisniewski), and Nick Foligno (ASST: Kevin Connauton, Ryan Johansen).
Early in the third period, the Jackets had the lead, on Nick Foligno's second goal of the night (ASST: Jeremy Morin, Brian Gibbons), and then the Caps tied it up on a goal by Karl Alzner (ASST: Michael Latta, Jason Chimera), and the Jackets regained the lead on a goal by Michael Chaput (ASST:Jared Boll, Matt Calvert). The Caps tied it up again with a goal by Troy Brouwer (ASST: Mike Green), and only 42 seconds into overtime, Fehr gave the Caps their two points with his overtime winner (ASST: Mike Green).

Welcome!

Welcome to Russkiy Hockey Machine Never Break, an ice hockey blog that focuses on the NHL, KHL, IIHF, and most of the posts will be about Traktor Chelyabinsk, Washington Capitals, Team Sweden, and Team Russia...

Hahaha... that was just for kicks! Martin Brodeur is 41 now, and he still plays hockey (now for the St. Louis Blues), so that's where the joke comes from.
Happy reading!

~ Fatima the Hockey Beast