Men’s hockey to begin at Olympics, with Russia hoping for home advantage

The favourites Canada arrived in Sochi on Monday and did Sweden and USA while Russia will hope to repeat Canada's feat of four years ago, winning ice hockey gold as hosts.

Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals practices with the Russian national team on Tuesday.

The jet-lagged Canadians hit the ground running, Russia is facing questions about pressures of winning at home while Sweden is content to fly under the radar at the Sochi Games.

Canada and Russia have reversed roles at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Canada won the gold medal four years ago in Vancouver on home soil and now Russia is trying to do the same in the men’s hockey tournament which begins Wednesday.

“The opportunity to play in the Olympics and to be an Olympian in your home country is a dream come true,” said Canadian assistant coach Ken Hitchcock. “I am sure the Russians are optimistic they can do the same thing.

“There is a ton of pressure and if they can manage it they will have the opportunity.”

Canada wasted no time getting their skates wet on the new ice at the purpose built Bolshoi Ice Dome on Monday. The players arrived in the morning and just hours later were being put through their paces by head coach Mike Babcock.

“We got 11 returning guys in our group,” Babcock said. “They understand how hard it is to win an Olympic medal.”

After crashing out of the Vancouver Olympics with an embarrassing 7-3 loss to Canada in the quarter-finals, Russia is determined to take care of some unfinished business on their home ice in Sochi.

Their much-vaunted team is looking to make amends for a sixth place finish in 2010 and become the first Russian team to win gold since the fall of the Soviet Union.

“It comes down to the same thing all the time,” retired NHL superstar Wayne Gretzky told AFP.

“The team with the best goaltender. And if your best player is the best player on the ice and is on your best line, then your team is ultimately going to be the gold medal winner.”

Canada beat the USA in the Vancouver Olympic final when Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby scored the overtime winner to claim the gold medal on home ice.

The tournament begins Wednesday with 2006 Olympic gold medal winning Sweden facing the Czechs and Switzerland battling Latvia.

Four-time world champion Russia have not claimed a hockey gold medal since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. That team won the Olympic title in 1992 in Albertville when they played as the Community of Independent States (CIS).

This time around their players are mix of NHLers and players competing in the Kontinental Hockey League.

Russia will be paced by Pavel Datsyuk, Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin up front.

Canada will be seeking to win their first Olympic gold outside of North America since 1952 in Oslo, Norway.

Canada’s blueprint for success in Sochi is to go with big forwards who have plenty of scoring touch, backed by a mobile defence.

Led by the dynamic forwards Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf and Jonathan Toews, Canada also boasts an excellent core of swift-skating defencemen like Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty and Shea Weber.

The Swedes arrived to little fanfare on Monday and they are fine with that. They won the Olympic title in 2006 in Italy and could very well repeat that accomplishment in Sochi.

“It’s going to be a heck of a tournament, so many good teams and players,” said forward Alex Steen.

Their attack is led by Henrik Zetterberg, Steen and Daniel Alfredsson who will be making his fifth Olympic appearance.

The Americans may not have a lot of stars up front but are deep in goal which is necessary for any team who wants to make a run at a medal.

The 2010 silver medallists will likely go with Jonathan Quick as their No. 1 followed by Ryan Miller and Jimmy Howard.

Patrick Kane was their best forward in Vancouver as he anchors an explosive powerplay that also includes Dustin Brown and Zach Parise.

The next group of challengers includes Finland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Switzerland.