Those Russians Just Can’t Stop Talking

How times have changed:

In the days of the Soviet Union, the USSR coach never appeared at a news conference until the gold-medal game had ended, and players were never made available for interviews.

The post-breakup Russia is more media friendly, to the extent that Coach Vladimir Jurzinov and his entire team were at a news conference Wednesday.

“We have had a hard time with our hockey in Russia, so our main task is, we will try to get back the winning tradition of our hockey,” Jurzinov said. “We have to prove we are among the top teams in the world.

“I have to say a lot of those [players] who are sitting here, we remember winning teams. Speaking sincerely, we don’t like the position our hockey is in.”

Russian captain Pavel Bure, of the Vancouver Canucks, said the organization and atmosphere surrounding the team are much better than during the World Cup in 1996. Many prominent Russian players cited the chaos in that tournament as a reason for skipping the Olympics.

“We have a pretty strong team and all who are here come with the wish and desire for a gold medal,” Bure said. “To my mind, this is the strongest Russian team that has gotten together in the last four or five years.”

Mighty Duck goaltender Mikhail Shtalenkov is expected to be chosen over Chicago’s Andre Trefilov as Russia’s No. 1 goalie, when the Russians open play Friday against Kazakhstan.

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Duck right wing Teemu Selanne, who will play for Finland, is finding the time difference a difficult adjustment.

“[Wednesday] is the worst for me so far,” he said before Finland practiced at Big Hat. “I’m just so tired. I hope I will feel better in a day or so.”

Selanne was put on a line with Montreal center Saku Koivu and left wing Ville Peltonen, who has played a few games with the San Jose Sharks. Selanne has played with Koivu before but never with Peltonen.

“It’s going to be exciting,” said Selanne, a member of the seventh-place Finnish team at Albertville in 1992. “It’s nice to be back with guys you’ve played with before.”