VANCOUVER -- Blowouts look great for the winning players. But they can be terrible for coaches, when it comes to trying to analyze a team's strengths and weaknesses.
The same can be said of the Russians, who defeated Latvia hours later by a similar score of 8-2. Heading into the mismatched game, everyone knew Alex Ovechkin and company had tremendous firepower. But here are few things that we did not know:
• Sergei Fedorov, who is 39 years old, still has game. He picked up two assists against Latvia. Afterwards, he admitted that he was unsure whether he would be playing in the Olympics after deciding to leave the NHL for the Russia this season.
"I thought I would like to play, but I didn't think too much ahead, because it was a big change for me moving from the NHL to the KHL and coming to Russia," said Fedorov, who has nine goals and 28 points in 49 games for Magnitogorsk Metallurg this season.
"Coming to Russia for two weeks and having fun and seeing your friends is one thing. But to move there and start your career from the get-go again is a little bit different."
• In the old-school 8-bit Nintendo video game Ice Hockey, users were faced with the conundrum of choosing large, medium or skinny players for their four-player teams. The international game, which allows 23 players on the bench (two more than in the NHL), poses a similar problem.
Canada has chosen to have 13 forwards and seven defence. But the Russians (12 forwards and eight defence) are rolling five-man units that go on and off the ice at the same time.
"Generally, that's how we play in tournaments like that," said Fedorov. "We have four lines of five-man units."
• When they are motivated to play, the Russians have the talent to score at will. But when they had a three-goal lead in the second period, the players looked bored. They started to take longer shifts, tried to do too much on their own, and stopped backchecking.
As a result, the Latvians provided a mini-scare by scoring twice in the third period.
"We all recognize that we didn't play as well as we should have in the second," said Gonchar. "When they scored that goal in the third, everybody started to play a little bit better. It's not an excuse. We have to make sure it doesn't happen again."
• As mentioned, the Russians have arguably the most firepower in the Olympics. The top line is particularly dangerous, with Ovechkin (two goals) playing alongside Pavel Datsyuk (one assist) and Alexander Semin (one assist).
But Ilya Kovalchuk (one goal, one assist), Evgeni Malkin (one goal, one assist) can also give opposing teams headaches. And that does not even include KHLers Danis Zaripov (two goals) and Alexander Radulov (one goal).
When the Latvians scored, the Russians woke up and scored four goals in the third period.
"I think we have some talent," said Fedorov. "Everyone gives us credit, but now we have to put it on the ice. You'll see. So will we."
• As much as fans are crossing their fingers for a Canada-Russia final, some Russian players are not even paying attention to how the Canadians are playing or what is being said in the Canadian media.
"Not me," Gonchar said when asked if he watched Canada defeat Norway. "I don't know what everybody did. But I didn't watch them."
Ovechkin, who is usually accommodating, refused to speak to English reporters after the game.
