Russian swagger

CALGARY, Alta. -- It's the matchup everyone wanted, only the timing is wrong.

Canada will take on the Russians in the semifinals for the right to advance to Thursday's gold-medal game. It will be a reunion for five players who played in the memorable final in Buffalo last year. Evgeny Kuznetsov is the lone returning Russian while Canada has four returning players, including goalie Mark Visentin, who allowed five goals in the third period in Russian's 5-3 win. The three others are forwards: captain Jaden Schwartz, Brett Connolly and Quinton Howden.

Kuznetsov has fond memories of sending home a pro-Canadian crowd home unhappy last year.

"I like when crowd is against us," he said through an interpreter after his team's 2-1 overtime win over the Czech Republic in a quarterfinal on Monday. "I remember the moment from the last final. It was one minute before the final whistle and people start to leave arena."

Team Canada head coach announced Tuesday morning Scott Wedgewood would start in place of Mark Visentin, who was in goal in last year's loss to the Russians.

"We feel that both goalies are quite capable of playing tonight," Hay said. "Scott's played well for us and the decision is to go with him."

"This is a totally different group this year and that's one thing we've said from day one," said Ryan Huska, an assistant coach for Team Canada. "It has nothing to do with whatever happened last year. There is no revenge factor. It's just about us playing and playing our very best against a very good team."

The Russians are excited and ready for the puck to drop.

"Canada?" asked Russian forward Nail Yakupov, who plays in Sarnia for the Ontario Hockey League's Sting. "Pfffft. OK, let's go."

More at Buzzing the Net: WJC2012: Russians feel more stress tested than Canada | Read it here

Can Canada avenge last year's loss to Russia?

Forget what the players are saying, this game means everything to them. Beat the Russians and last year's loss is forgiven, for the moment. Lose this game and those questions about Canada's inability to beat their historical rival will creep back in. Nothing stings more than losing to a rival, and it hurts even more when it happens on your own soil. Beating this particular opponent means just as much to the players as it does to the fans.

"Last year's over," explained Schwartz, who missed last year's final to an injury. "Every time Canada-Russia plays it's a rivalry and that's enough to say about it."

The Russians weren't mincing words after their overtime win over the Czechs on Monday.

"Everybody is remembering Canada's loss in the finals so they will do all their best to take revenge, but we also try to win a second year in a row against Canada," Russian head coach Valeri Bragin said.

Will the Russian speed and transition lead to victory?

As can be expected from a Russian team, this group has speed to burn and transitions quickly. Their offence often starts from turnovers and stretch passes, something the Canadian defence will need to keep in check.

"Speed is important in a car, but we need to play smart using our head," Kuznetsov said.

The Canadian team is hoping to play a physical game to help neutralize some of Russia's quick-strike, counter-attacking ability.

"They're very skilled," Howden said. "They're very good with speed and their transition game is really quick, so if we can get on them right away and be physical and hopefully use our style of game, it should help us."

"I think that there will be a lot of plays in our zone, so we will have to play tactically-sound and we hope our counter-attacks will be useful for us and help us to beat Canada," Bragin said.

Will a goaltender steal the spotlight?

One of the reasons the Czechs and Russians went to overtime was due to the play of both goaltenders. Russian goalie Andrei Vasilevski stopped 38 of 39 shots he faced against the Czechs and made some big saves to preserve the victory.

"I think our goalie is ready for (Tuesday's) game," Kuznetsov said. "He is playing really good in this tournament. I feel confident in our goalie."

Team Canada did not name its starter for the game on Monday. The coaching staff said they would inform both goaltenders of their decision on Monday night. Bragin believes Canada also has good goaltenders in Scott Wedgewood and Mark Visentin. Windsor Spitfires forward Alexander Khokhlachev is familiar with both, particularly Wedgewood, and acknowledged he will be giving his teammates a scouting report on him.

"I see Wedgewood a lot of times," he said. "I score on these guys so I don't know. They pretty good so we'll see."

Are the Russians more battle-tested than Canada?

Yakupov doesn't believe fatigue will be an issue for his team. Canada hasn't played since Saturday, which is a positive sign considering the flu bug ran through the team. Head coach Don Hay was not at practice on Monday as he recovered from sickness.

Although Saturday's game against the United States meant nothing in the standings, since Canada already wrapped up the group, they were tested in the final frame. It was the only time in the tournament where Canada was pushed back, which is something assistant coach George Burnett views as a positive.

"We got through that push at the end, which I think was important for our hockey club as well to come out on top and weather the storm, so to speak," he said. "I think it was crucial we were involved in a game like that with a big rival of our own. They pushed us hard and our guys responded pretty well."

Surprisingly, the Russians don't see the game against the U.S. as having helped Canada, but Bragin believes the home crowd could.

"It was like a friendly game against Untied States, not much hitting, no emotion," he said. "I don't think it was a very good test for Canada. Of course, Canada has advantage because they are playing at home. They have rest days and they want to take revenge."