Canada/Russia Challenge: Team Russia

The CHL Canada/Russia Challenge conclude this past month, with Team Russia going a woeful 0-6 and being outscored 27-11 in the process. Several Russian players from this travel team have been invited to the WJC evaluation camp including Alexander Burmistrov, Maxim Kitsyn, Kirill Petrov, Ivan Telegin and Nikita Pivtsakin. McKeen's was on hand for game four of the series and files reports on these players as well as New York Islanders prospect Sergei Ostapchuk.

Alexander Burmistrov (2010), C, Barrie

Burmistrov has participated in the last two International competitions for Team Russia helping them capture silver medals in both the 2008 Ivan Hlinka and 2009 U18 tournaments .. a slick and explosive skater, who literally dances around the competition and is never found standing still .. he still needs to add some bulk to his frame but he won't be intimidated .. he plays with some jam but his courage has yet to be tested when games get real tough .. he is a better playmaker than scorer but his shot is quick and on the money .. his hands are lightning quick and he can make moves in tight spaces .. his speed helps in the transition game and caught the Team OHL forwards by surprise .. he was situated on the top line with Petrov and Kitsyn and were the most dangerous all evening .. active in the defensive zone, as he is smart enough to realize that good defence makes for good offence .. he plays the high man on the PK umbrella and needs to be respected when defending, as he has the speed and ability to beat teams shorthanded .. dangerous with open ice and when given time to spread the defence thin .. excels in 4-4 situations where he employs a series of head fakes to coax defenders to bite on his many moves .. would make a logical winger at the NHL level to exploit his creativity and not have to worry about his defensive duties .. showed that he is a top-ranked prospect with a strong showing against the OHL's best as he stood out.

Maxim Kitsyn (2010), LW, Metallurg, Novokuznetsk

Already playing in his second season in the KHL, Kitsyn was another player from this roster that was invited to Team Russia WJC evaluation camp and has a good chance to make the squad .. a graceful skater and an opportunistic scorer, as he led the Russians in this tournament with 4 goals in 5 games .. he appears to be very uninvolved but is stealth-like in getting himself acquainted with a play .. he sneaks in backdoor, eludes checkers and hangs back long enough before he finds his openings .. he works to get into the slot and utilize his shot .. his shot lacks power but has precision and is very accurate .. he curls his blade inwards to disguise his motions in an attempt to get a goalie to commit early .. tricky and elusive in the offensive zone, it is the area of the ice where he excels .. at 6-foot-2 and 180 pounds he rarely plays it and is far too passive in his backchecking duties .. shows little enthusiasm to play away from the puck and the only time he showed hustle is when he coughed up the puck at the line for a breakout the other way .. Kitsyn has great offensive awareness but needs to package everything together.

Sergei Ostapchuk (2010), LW, Lokomotiv, Yaroslavl

Ostapchuk competed in this event last year for Team Russia as a member of Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, however this year he has returned to his homeland .. a scrappy, aggressive work boot that plays with the same intensity each shift .. bull-in-a-china-shop-type-of-player that is not blessed with an abundance of skill .. his goals and points come as a result of hard work and his penchant for charging the net and showing little to no fear in the danger zones .. his puck skills are sloppy, as he can be rather careless with the puck .. he tends to react more than prepare, as he goes into shooting or passing lanes with little method to his madness .. was over looked last season by 30 NHL teams but could pave a decent career in the KHL.

Ivan Telegin (2010), C, Saginaw

Did an admirable job centring the second line but in all fairness he played out of position as he is a winger .. had to be reminded to pick up his man and did not display the defensive awareness that a natural centre would .. appeared to be pushing too heavily for offence and as a result his line was scored on a few times .. got frustrated and took lazy penalties away from the play .. did show some ability to get into the offensive zone and his speed looks like it has been upgraded .. stickhandling is ok but his creativity is lacking .. would be much more successful if he stopped and started rather than taking wide looping circles to exit the zone .. nonetheless, he boasts great size and is hard to knock off the puck .. Telegin continues to improve as he gets adjusted to the North American style of play.

Nikita Pivtsakin (2010), D, Avangard, Omsk

A fixture on Russian International teams and by far the best defender on this squad .. average in size but smart in terms of reading the play .. his skills are not elite, as he does not thrive in any particular area rather plays a quiet and effective game .. his biggest issue is his lack of strength to defend .. struggles against speed and simply is not strong enough to contain forwards as was witnessed on a breakaway goal by Kadri, in which he was draped all over him and still was unable to slow him down .. this does not bode well for his NHL chances, as players tend to be much bigger than Kadri .. takes short steps and has no real explosiveness in his stride but is able to navigate up the ice .. will sacrifice himself along the boards and takes a hit to advance the puck .. his passes are ok, as his vision is adequate but they need to be crisper and faster .. played the PP and his shot was able to get through .. he is not a flashy player and he won't necessarily hurt you but he does not make you a better hockey club, as he is rather ordinary.

Kirill Petrov (NYI), RW Ak Bars Kazan

Leading scorer for the entire tournament, however he played the most games .. played on the bronze medal winning U20 Team Russia squad .. was a top scorer for the Russians at the 2008 U18 tournament helping the team secure a silver medal .. Petrov gets his share of chances due to his substantial icetime but also due to his stickhandling prowess .. however, he does not capitalize on his chances, as he does not have the best feel for the game .. at times, he likes to show off just how good he is with the puck often trying to beat the same guy twice on the shift and losing the puck in the process .. he does not like to be hit and is not the same player if the body is put on him .. tends to shoot in poor lanes when flustered .. his game effectiveness was rather limited when his team fell behind four goals, as he did not exert the same type of passion as he did when the game was closer .. does not play with a competitive drive and does not comprehend the game well enough to be a top-six NHL forward.