Today at 7:30 a.m. ET, Russia and Slovenia faceoff in men's ice hockey live from the Bolshoy Ice Dome in Sochi, Russia for Group A action in the 2014 Winter Olympics. The game can be live streamed here.
Russia makes its home debut for this year's Sochi Winter Olympics against a team that is making its debut to the tournament as a whole in Slovenia. Despite the fact that the host Russians--built to be a fan favorite--are a way larger country than Slovenia, the team knows it has to prepare well to try and avoid an upset.
"This is a very important game," Russia coach Zinetula Bilyaletinov said per NHL.com. "It doesn't matter who the competitor is, in any case we'll have to prepare. This is the first game so we have to be ready. That's it."
Captain and Detroit Red Wing Pavel Datsyuk expects to play after missing the last month and the opening practice at Sochi with a lower-body injury, and he practiced on a power play unit alongside Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) and Ilya Kovalchuk (KHL) via a report from NHL.com at Sochi.
"Right now, I play for my country at home, and this is another crazy moment," Ovechkin said Tuesday, according to NHL.com. "I'm pretty sure you can ask any Canadian guy, 'What's the biggest moment for them when they play for national team?' Of course, it's home Olympic games. It's probably biggest moment for me."
Ovechkin leads the NHL with 40 goals and has added 20 assists for 60 points thus far this season.
In net, the Russians will either turn to the Colorado Avalanche's Semyon Varlamov or Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar is the lone NHL representative for Slovenia and will be playing under his father Matjaz Kopitar, who is the head coach. Anze Kopitar understands how tough it will be for his team against a loaded Russian roster.
"We can't control what [Russia is] going to do," Kopitar told the Los Angeles Times. "I'm sure they're going to be flying for the first game, but I think if we put up the performance that we want to put up, I think everybody's going to be surprised how well we can play."
Kopitar has 47 points in 59 NHL games this season off of 17 goals and 30 assists.
Russia makes its Sochi 2014 debut today when the team hits the ice against Slovenia
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