The Kazakhs are not only one of the favorites to win the tournament but also a very strong and physical team. A year ago they were relegated down to the Division 1A level of the World Championships and are looking to be back there as soon as possible. They bring a strong and experienced team to the tournament with most of their players playing at a high level such as the KHL and a couple in the NHL. “The Kazakhs will be playing a very physical style that is similar to the Russians since most of them play in the KHL” says Tibor Márton, MAC youth coach.
Goalies- This is a position where the starter has a lot of experience and has played at a high level where the backup is very young but has potential. Number one keeper is Vitali Kolesnik who has been a stable player in the KHL with playing in the AHL as well as 8 games in the cage for the Colorado Avalanche. The other player in between the pipes will be the 21 year old Pavel Poluektov who has only two matches of international experience at the adult level. Poluektov in the past year has bounced between a Kazakh team in the KHL, the Kazakh league and the Russian junior league, MHL.
Defensemen- Six out of the eight defenders are 28 years or older, this is a very experienced group on the blue line who has played not only at the top level of the World Championships but at the Olympic Games as well. The senior member of this group is the 39 year old Alexie Troshchinsky who still played in the old Soviet League and represented the USSR at the U-18 level. Joining Troshchinsky in the back is experienced defensemen Vitali Novopashin, Yevgeni Blokhin, and Yevgeni Fadeyev, with Blokin and Fadeyev playing in the KHL as well. Roman Savchenko and Maxim Semyonov also played in the KHL this past season.
Forwards-As mentioned before this team is a very experienced and this is reflected also on the forward lines with eight out of the twelve being over the age of 28. All twelve of the forwards played in the KHL this past season with eleven playing together in the same club, Barys Astana. What this forward group brings that none of the others do in this tournament is that four of them were drafted into the NHL. Viktor Alexandrov was taken by the Blues in 2004 in the 3rd round; Konstantin Pushkaryov went to the Kings in the 2nd round in 2003 and playing 17 games with them as well as playing in the AHL and a season of juniors in the WHL. Ilya Solaryov and Dmitri Upper were both drafted as well but neither played North America, the former being taken by the Lightning in 2001 and the later to the Islanders in 2000.
This should be a good game with the Kazakhs being good skaters as well as being physical says Darryl Easson IIHF Sports Development Director.
Szabolcs Závodszky
Twitter: @Zavodszky