Olympic Ice Hockey

While Russia can't officially send a team to the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics due to sanctions handed down by the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic Athletes from Russia men's hockey team is stacked with star power and favored to take gold.

With the NHL opting against allowing its players to compete in South Korea, the Athletes of Russia have a leg up since the KHL is the second-best professional league in the world and contains many former NHL stars.

Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic figure to be competitive as well with players from their domestic professional leagues, while the United States and Canada will rely on players scattered across the globe, including the AHL, college and juniors, in addition to European leagues.

Here is a full rundown of the Olympic Athletes from Russia hockey team, along with a closer look at the their top players and predictions for how the team will fare in Pyeongchang.

            

Full Roster (via CBC)

Vasily Koshechkin, goalie, Metallurg Magnitogorsk 

Igor Shestyorkin, goalie, SKA Saint Petersburg

Ilya Sorokin, goalie, CSKA Moscow

Vladislav Gavrikov, defenseman, SKA Saint Petersburg

Alexey Marchenko, defenseman, CSKA Moscow

Nikita Nesterov, defenseman, CSKA Moscow

Vyacheslav Voynov, defenseman, SKA Saint Petersburg

Artem Zub, defenseman, SKA Saint Petersburg

Andrey Zubarev, defenseman, SKA Saint Petersburg

Bogdan Kiselevich, defenseman, CSKA Moscow

Sergei Andronov, forward, CSKA Moscow

Alexander Barabanov, forward, SKA Saint Petersburg

Pavel Datsyuk, forward, SKA Saint Petersburg

Mikhail Grigorenko, forward, CSKA Moscow

Nikita Gusev, forward, SKA Saint Petersburg

Dinar Khafizullin, forward, SKA Saint Petersburg

Ilya Kablukov, forward, SKA Saint Petersburg

Sergey Kalinin, forward, SKA Saint Petersburg

Kirill Kaprizov, forward, CSKA Moscow

Ilya Kovalchuk, forward, SKA Saint Petersburg

Sergei Mozyakin, forward, Metallurg Magnitogorsk

Nikolay Prokhorkin, forward, SKA Saint Petersburg

Vadim Shipachyov, forward, SKA Saint Petersburg

Sergey Shirokov, forward, SKA Saint Petersburg

Ivan Telegin, forward, CSKA Moscow

       

Players to Watch          

Ilya Kovalchuk

After an 11-year NHL career that saw him score 417 goals in 816 games, winger Ilya Kovalchuk is still on top of his game.

The 34-year-old veteran has registered 31 goals and 32 assists in the KHL this season, and his 63 points is tops in the league.

Kovalchuk is a big reason why SKA Saint Petersburg is the No. 1 team in the league, and his play will largely determine whether the Olympic Athletes from Russia will win gold as expected.

The Atlanta Thrashers selected Kovalchuk with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 NHL draft, and he went on to score 30 or more goals in a season on nine occasions in the NHL. He also had six 40-goal campaigns and scored at least 50 twice.

Kovalchuk played in three NHL All-Star Games and won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy as the NHL's leading goal scorer in 2004.

He also has a history of international success, having won gold in both the World Championships and World Junior Championships. Kovalchuk has yet to do better than bronze at the Olympics, though.

Since Kovalchuk will be facing a level of competition at or below what he generally sees in the KHL, the odds are very much in favor of him being the standout performer at the Pyeongchang Games.

                    

Pavel Datsyuk

Longtime Detroit Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk will be the heart and soul of the Olympic Athletes from Russia hockey team in Pyeongchang as their captain after also skippering Team Russia at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

The 39-year-old is in the midst of his second season in the KHL, and he is producing at better than a point-per-game clip with 37 points in 35 contests.

As Kovalchuk's teammate with SKA Saint Petersburg, he is well on his way to leading the club to its second consecutive Gagarin Cup.

During his 14-year NHL career, Datsyuk was selected to four All-Star Games, won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy as the league's most gentlemanly player on four occasions and claimed the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL's best defensive forward three times.

Datsyuk is also a two-time Stanley Cup champion, which makes him the ideal leader for the Olympic Athletes from Russia in a tournament lacking big-time star power elsewhere.

In 953 career NHL regular-season games, Datsyuk registered 918 points, which makes him a potential Hall of Fame candidate down the line. He also had 113 points in 157 playoff contests, suggesting he knows how to perform on the big stage.

With Russia having some question marks in goal and on defense, Datsyuk's two-way game promises to come in handy at the Olympics.

                    

Vadim Shipachyov

Vadim Shipachyov made the leap from the KHL to the NHL for the 2017-18 season after signing with the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, but his venture was short-lived.

After scoring one goal in three games with Golden Knights, Shipachyov opted to go back to Russia rather than accepting an assignment to the AHL.

Vegas has thrived without Shipachyov, and he hasn't lost a step in Russia, as he has put up 25 points in 21 games for SKA Saint Petersburg.

The 30-year-old led the KHL in scoring with 76 points last season, and he continues to be one of the league's elite players along with Kovalchuk and Datsyuk.

He doesn't have the same NHL pedigree as his veteran teammates, but Shipachyov has NHL talent, and it is easy to envision him leading the Olympic Athletes from Russia in scoring in South Korea.

Although Shipachyov is missing out on a magical season in Vegas, winning an Olympic gold medal could vindicate him and prove he made the right decision by going back to his homeland.

                

Jerseys

Due to the fact the Olympic Athletes from Russia aren't officially representing the nation in Pyeongchang, there were some major restrictions placed on their uniforms.

As seen in the following images courtesy of Slava Malamud from Sov Sport, the jerseys are fairly plain with a red and white color scheme:

Russia's Olympic hockey jersey pays homage to digital watches, the phrase "Ay yem frrrom Rrrrusha!" uttered by every ex-Soviet in the West, and, apparently, to the Nebraska Cornhuskers. pic.twitter.com/DjYFp744s7

— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 5, 2018

Russia Hockey also tweeted a video of the shirts:

А вот и свитеры, в которых сборная России будет выходить на олимпийский лёд Пхенчхана! Изучаем и рассматриваем со всех сторон: pic.twitter.com/phyXshXJ3Z

— Хоккей России (@russiahockey) January 25, 2018

While Russia's hockey jerseys usually feature a signature eagle logo, it was not permitted to be used for the Olympic Athletes from Russia.

The uniforms seem to offer as little correlation to the country as possible, which will be the theme for the Olympic Athletes from Russia throughout the Games.

In addition to the generic uniforms, Olympic Athletes from Russia will march under the Olympic flag and be represented by the Olympic anthem.

                   

Prediction

There is a great deal of uncertainty when it comes to how teams will perform in the 2018 Olympic men's hockey tournament due to the NHL's absence, which makes the Olympic Athletes from Russia the safest bet.

All but two players on the roster are split between two KHL teams, which is a level of familiarity no other team in the tournament can boast.

The talent gap between the Olympic Athletes from Russia and other teams is also significant since it rosters multiple former NHL All-Stars.

Canada, the United States, Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic have plenty of former NHL players in their own right, but few have achieved the same level of success as those who the Olympic Athletes from Russia are bringing to Pyeongchang.

They aren't without weaknesses since none of their goalies have NHL experience, and their defense is light in that regard as well, but no team can match their firepower up front.

A team comprised primarily of Russian players hasn't won Olympic gold since the Unified Team at the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics, and while a gold medal win wouldn't technically count for Russia, the Olympic Athletes from Russia will make good on their status as favorites and return to the top of the podium in men's hockey.

The last time Troy Terry made Team USA, everyone on hockey Twitter @-ed him. Jealous fans and classmates here at the University of Denver were confused how he could have made the roster over the better scorers, the faster skaters, the bigger teenagers.

"I was receiving a lot of tweets," he says. "Like, How does THIS guy make the team? People were in shock."

As a fifth-round pick of the Anaheim Ducks, Terry was among the lowest-drafted amateurs to represent the United States at the 2017 World Juniors, playing on the third and fourth lines as an energy guy. But then came Terry's star turn, first against the Russians in the semifinals. Every once in a while, he'll go on YouTube and pull up the clip: three goals in a shootout, each time through the legs of the Russia goalie. He did it again the next day, clinching gold against the Canadians through the five-hole again, miraculously.

"I can't help myself," Terry says. "Watching the video—I just like to show myself that it actually happened."

Terry has always been underestimated. Early in high school, he was 5'7", barely 145 pounds. He's since grown to 6'0", 179 and become one of the best college hockey players in America—after coming back to campus with a gold medal, Terry helped lead the Denver Pioneers to a national championship at the Frozen Four in April. In February, he'll actually become an Olympian.

THIS guy made Team USA again, except now he'll be one of four college hockey players the U.S. will bring to Pyeongchang for the Olympics.

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READ MORE FROM B/R MAG'S WINTER OLYMPICS ISSUE:

• THE HOME TEAM, PART I: Shaun White Is Ready for More

• THE HOME TEAM, PART 3: Meet Team USA's New Halfpipe Prodigy

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And this isn't just some honorific thing, like Christian Laettner on the end of the bench with the Dream Team. The NHL has refused to allow its players to compete in the Winter Games, so Terry will join 24 other players (three each from the AHL and NCAA, 17 from European leagues and 38-year-old captain Brian Gionta, who hasn't played for a pro team this season) on the first U.S. hockey team sans NHL players since 1994, with expectations they could recreate 1980's so-called "Miracle on Ice."

At this point, Terry's addition to the underdog squad isn't quite as dramatic as that of the 30-year-old journeyman whose hug with his dad went viral when he got the Olympic call on New Year's Day:

The moment Bobby Butler’s dad found out his son is going to the Olympics.

Absolute chills. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/iFoGfeIpkQ

— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) January 2, 2018

Oh, Terry's dad hugged him after his call, too. And his mom says she'll "get teary-eyed just thinking about it." But success arrived faster than a pubescent growth spurt for Troy Terry. Because this guy is only 20 years old, and he might already be the new face of American hockey.

"I'm still in shock [from the World Juniors]," Terry says, "and then all of a sudden, I get a call that says I could go to the Olympics. It's been a whirlwind."

---

It's a Thursday in November, and Terry is sitting in his college living room, lined with hockey jerseys, including the one from the World Juniors. Some textbooks for finance, his major, sit on a round table next to a foosball setup. Terry and his teammate, fellow junior Jarid Lukosevicius, chose to live here, across the street from Magness Arena, where the Pioneers play to sellout crowds. Living less than 100 feet from their second home is all about convenience.

Because Terry may be representing the United States as an Olympian halfway around the world this time next month, but this guy also plays Call of Duty 20 hours a week. Red lights line the apartment wall, and below sit not one but two 32-inch TVs, one for each roommate to play their two to five hours a day.

"We have two Xboxes so we don't play split screen," Terry says. "We pretty much go to class, play hockey, play Xbox and watch football."

As the two play online, and IRL, yelling expletives while their characters respawn (they each win their respective online matches, Troy finishing with 17 kills and 12 deaths), Terry and Lukosevicius talk about their fantasy football teams: "Should I start Dion Lewis or Alex Collins?" Terry asks. Later, they'll go to a teammate's house to watch the Steelers play the Titans as they dip, eat Chipotle, discuss their fantasy Bachelor league...and play more Call of Duty, on yet another multiple-TV setup.

When Terry and his teammates are together, there's plenty of trash talk about the upcoming Olympic Games. Lukosevicius, a Canadian, felt bittersweet about that star turn that went viral in the hockey world: Watching his roommate and best friend get his moment in the spotlight was great and all, but it came at the expense of his national pride. "When he scored the three goals five-hole, a buddy and I were in accounting class that he was supposed to be in," Lukosevicius says. "You could hear everyone talking about him. It was crazy. 'Troy Terry just scored! Troy Terry just scored again!'"

Speaking of which, it's time for Troy Terry to get to his accounting class. It's the last class of the semester, and they're supposed to review for finals.

---

Terry's parents, Chuck and Susan, had to watch that moment at the World Juniors on TV, too. They were so unsure if he would make Team USA back in 2016 that they didn't make plans to watch in person in time.

The family basement, in the Denver suburb of Highlands Ranch, features a banner from the 1980 Olympics alongside a signed picture of the U.S. hockey amateurs who, miraculously, upset the Russians in the middle of the Cold War.

You will hear the Miracle on Ice comparisons to this year's Team USA a lot. Citing its clubs' desire to not disrupt the season, the NHL announced in April that it would prohibit its players from participating in the Olympics, forcing Team USA coaches and executives to choose from a pool of minor leaguers, overseas players, semiretired stars and collegians.

So in 2018, the teenage dream come true is that the Christian Laettner will get to play. "This is an opportunity for a lot of players. A lot of people dream about this opportunity," says Tony Granato, head coach of Team USA. "We have a team that can compete for a medal, just like every tournament the Americans compete in right now. We've done a great job of developing players that can compete at the national level."

On family and hockey trips, Terry would watch Disney's Miracle, first on the car's television system, later on Chuck's iPad, then again and again. He's seen the movie about the 1980 Olympic team hundreds of times. "To think Troy could actually be a part of a team like that is unbelievable," Susan says. "We always loved hockey, but we never imagined Troy would have this chance."

Troy, named after Troy Aikman, started playing hockey at four years old, before he could read, starting off the ice on Rollerblades. By the time he was six, he was playing with older kids, even though he could barely see over the boards. Through the NHL 2002, 2003 and 2004 video games and straight-up intuition, Terry picked up the game quickly, earning the nickname "Coach Troy" among his teammates. But for a long time, he was still significantly shorter than them, so his line got nicknamed "Two and a Half Men."

Growing up a fan of the Colorado Avalanche, Terry admired legendary goalie Patrick Roy, telling his parents he wanted to play goalie. At practices, while all the other Roy admirers waited their turn at goaltending, Terry started shooting pucks, and he started scoring—a lot—and that was the end of Troy Terry the goalie.

Troy and his younger brother, Trent, would set up in the street outside the Terrys' home and shoot on one another, using pillows for goalie pads and a baseball mitt for a hockey glove. When Troy turned seven, he played for Hall of Famer Joe Sakic, an Avalanche icon who coached his son's team during the 2004-05 NHL lockout. One day at the rink, Chuck felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Sakic. "I've never seen hands on a kid like that," he said, pointing to Troy. Says Chuck: "That's when I knew there was something." The kid had been playing ice hockey for two years.

In high school, as part of the Team USA development program, Terry was teammates with stars like Auston Matthews and Charlie McAvoy, now two of the NHL's marquee young players. Terry wasn't the main scorer and steered into his job as a third- or fourth-liner. "I was one of the bigger dogs at my age in Colorado, and then I went to play at Team USA, and I had to learn to play a different way," Terry says. "It helped me a lot defensively."

Things changed his sophomore year in college, when Denver needed him to be a scorer. Before heading to the World Juniors, Terry compiled nine goals and eight assists for the Pioneers in just 18 games. Gold brought him notoriety and acclaim, and alongside his status as an American hockey hero in waiting, Terry began to gain more confidence. In the last 17 games of the 2016-17 season, he tallied 13 goals and 15 assists to finish with 22 goals and 23 assists. He's humble enough for an all-of-a-sudden star, the Olympic roster a shoo-in for this young man and a high-impact NHL career just a few more YouTube clips away.

"I was a fifth-round pick but undersized. I thought I had the ability, but I was a fifth-round pick not expected to make the World Junior team," Terry says. "Just the way everything has changed now—I mean this not in an arrogant way at all, but I don't think Anaheim views me as just a fifth-round pick anymore."

---

Saturday morning after the Pioneers' 5-4 loss to the University of North Dakota, the team meets at Pete's University Park Cafe, the local diner. Terry sits with five of his teammates as NHL Network plays on the small TV above them. Everyone is uniformed in their quarter-zip pullover, and Terry is still searching for an answer to his fantasy football conundrum—Dion Lewis or Alex Collins?—two days after his initial inquiry. The waft of waffles floats through Pete's, and the guys broach the suddenly all-too-relevant topic of their favorite sports film—Miracle, obviously.

"I wonder if that movie's tough to watch as a Russian."

"They probably deleted all history of that."

"That would be so funny if you were at a Putin rally and you just held up the DVD, Miracle."

"Probably be shot on sight."

At the arena across from Terry's place, the Pioneers finish each practice by simulating a shootout. The rules are simple. If you score, you go to the orange line, where you're awarded a slice of sweet citrus. If you miss, you go to the lemon line, opposite the orange line on the left side of the rink facing the goal, where you stay until you score. The last hockey prodigy standing has to eat a whole lemon, in front of his whole team.

So Troy Terry stood at center ice the other day, getting ready to star in the sequel to Miracle IRL, and ate the lemon.

He'd been trying to avoid this sucker's fate all year, really, but something was up that day. The goalies were letting easy stops slip by. When Terry stepped up, nothing was getting by, even through the five-hole. He knew it was bound to happen soon enough—maybe not THIS fast, but still: He knew the hockey world wouldn't be confused by his success anymore, that the rest of the world had better get ready for a star to turn on, in an instant.

"Especially after all the shootout stuff that happened last year, it gives people a lot of reason to give me shit," Terry says, laughing on the walk from practice to back home, across the street. "I've got reason to believe the team colluded against me."

   

Joon Lee is a staff writer for Bleacher Report and B/R Mag. Follow him on Twitter: @iamjoonlee.

During the second intermission of the NHL Winter Classic on Monday, Team USA announced its men's ice hockey roster for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Longtime NHL forward Brian Gionta will captain the team, which will feature no players with current NHL contracts due to the league's decision to end its Olympic participation.

According to USA Hockey's official website, forward Chris Bourque and defenseman James Wisniewski are among the other notable names on the roster.

Here is a rundown of the full roster thus far:

Mark Arcobello (F)

Chad Billins (D)

Jonathon Blum (D)

Will Borgen (D)

Chris Bourque (F)

Bobby Butler (F)

Ryan Donato (F)

Brian Gionta (F)

Matt Gilroy (D)

Jordan Greenway (F)

Ryan Gunderson (D)

Chad Kolarik (F)

Broc Little (F)

John McCarthy (F)

Brian O'Neill (F)

Garrett Roe (F)

Bobby Sanguinetti (D)

Jim Slater (F)

Ryan Stoa (F)

Troy Terry (F)

Noah Welch (D)

James Wisniewski (D)

Ryan Zapolski (G)

The roster is a mix of former NHL players currently playing in Europe or on minor league contracts in the AHL along with collegiate players who have yet to sign an NHL contract.

Gionta is by far the most successful and experienced member of the group. The 38-year-old played for the Buffalo Sabres last season but is without a team in 2017-18.

In 1,006 career NHL regular-season games, Gionta scored 289 goals and registered 299 assists for 588 points.

He scored 20 or more goals in a season on seven occasions and won a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 2002-03.

Gionta also played for the United States Olympic team in the 2006 Winter Games.

Bourque is the son of Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque. The younger Bourque has played 51 NHL games with the Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins and is currently a member of the AHL's Hershey Bears.

Wisniewski spent 552 games in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, New York Islanders, Montreal Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets and Carolina Hurricanes, racking up 274 points. He currently plays for Kassel in the German DEL-2.

Another notable is Boston University forward Jordan Greenway, who was selected in the second round of the 2015 NHL draft by the Minnesota Wild.

The 2018 Winter Olympics will begin on Feb. 9 and run through Feb. 25 in Pyeongchang.

Team USA finished fourth in men's hockey at the 2014 Winter Games, and although it took silver in 2010, it has not won gold since the Miracle on Ice team of 1980.

The United States National Women's Hockey Team announced Wednesday that it will boycott the 2017 IIHF Women's World Championship unless USA Hockey meets its wage and support demands.

USA forward Amanda Kessel tweeted the following statement regarding the decision:

US WNT will not play in 2017 World Championship due to stalled negotiations over fair wages and support from USA Hockey #BeBoldForChange pic.twitter.com/CNo6ewr1gC

— Amanda Kessel (@AmandaKessel28) March 15, 2017

The IIHF Women's World Championship is set to begin March 31 in Plymouth, Michigan.

According to espnW.com, USA captain Meghan Duggan believes USA Hockey has treated the women's team unfairly: "We are asking for a living wage and for USA Hockey to fully support its programs for women and girls and stop treating us like an afterthought. We have represented our country with dignity and deserve to be treated with fairness and respect."

The players said USA Hockey pays them "virtually nothing" aside from the $1,000 per month they receive during the six-month Olympic residency period, per espnW.com.

Team USA defenseman Monique Lamoureux-Morando further explained the rationale behind sitting out the World Championship if things don't change:

It's hard to believe that, in 2017, we still have to fight so hard for basic equitable support. But when I think about the women who paved the way for our team—and when I see girls at rinks around the country who are dedicated to pursuing big dreams and look to us to lead by example—it's well overdue for us to speak up about unfair treatment, even if it means sacrificing an opportunity to represent our country. We owe the next generation more than that. We owe it to ourselves to stand up for what is right.

The United States is tied with Canada for the most medals in IIHF World Championship history with 17. It has won gold seven of the past nine times the event has been held.

The American women have also medaled each of the five times women's hockey has been contested in the Winter Olympics, including winning gold in 1998.

Should Team USA follow through on the boycott, Canada will be the heavy favorite to take IIHF World Championship gold.

Turkey's run at the 2017 European Youth Olympic Festival got off to a rough start with a 42-0 defeat at the hands of Russia's ice hockey team Monday.

Per the Daily Sabah in Turkey, the Russians built some breathing room in the first period with a 15-0 lead before tacking on 27 more goals over the final two periods.

While the loss is an embarrassment for the Turkish team, especially since the festival is taking place in the northeastern Turkish city of Erzurum, there was a small silver lining thanks to the home crowd.

"Despite the poor score, the audience supported the home team until the end of the match, trying to show the young men that sports is all about competition, not winning," read the Daily Sabah piece.

Ice Hockey Federation president Bulent Akay attributed Turkey's rough performance to growing pains for a country still building an identity in the sport.

"This is the first time that the team has played against a world giant," Akay said, according to Anadolu Agency (h/t Hurriyet Daily News). "We will continue our path with these guys and form a successful national team in the future."

Russia has been a hockey powerhouse for decades, no matter what age group is playing. The country has churned out current NHL superstars like Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin.

Turkey, on the other hand, didn't have an organized national hockey league until 1993. There is a steep learning curve in any sport, with this defeat being an indication a lot more work is needed.

Manchester Storm were joined by Justin Bieber for their Tuesday practice session as the Canadian pop star took a break from his UK Tour. 

Per BBC Sport, the Elite Ice Hockey League outfit presented the 22-year-old with a Storm jersey and gave him a spot in the locker room before he joined the team for a drink after the session.

Storm posted a team photo with Bieber on their Twitter feed, while BBC Radio Manchester provided footage of the Toronto Maple Leafs fan finding the net during practice:

Surprise late night visit this evening at the @Mcr_Storm! Thanks for joining us @justinbieber! #WeAreStorm pic.twitter.com/8EkG4IoSEz

— Manchester Storm | #TakeShelter (@Mcr_Storm) October 25, 2016

The one and only @justinbieber took to the ice with @Mcr_Storm last night - and he scored a goal https://t.co/DyV7GZKwff pic.twitter.com/oiLihAvy4g

— BBC Manchester (@BBCRadioManc) October 26, 2016

The team's general manager, Neil Russell, said the singing sensation was "a really good skater" and explained how Bieber ended up at training, per Emily Heward and George Odling in the Manchester Evening News:

I sent him an email a few weeks ago and heard nothing back. Then I got a call on Monday saying he would be very keen to meet up with the team for a skate. He cancelled on us three times but then they got in touch tonight and said, "I'm on my way."

So I got the team together and we were all skating with him for a good hour or so. And now we are at the pub with him. [...]

He just loves getting out on the ice, I think it must relieve the pressure of touring. The boys had a great time hanging out with him, he came into the changing room with us and everything. And he signed a jersey for us. He had a good skate and now we're all at the pub now. Word soon got out so there was a bit of a crowd at the rink.

It is not the first time Bieber has made a shock appearance at a low-key sporting event during the UK leg of his Purpose world tour.

He joined a football match at Highgate School in north London earlier this month:

Look who turned up today for Senior Football! @highgate1565 met @justinbieber #JustinBieber #HighgateFootball #FieldofDreams 😃⚽️ pic.twitter.com/Qd7393L57U

— HighgateSpEx (@HighgateSpEx) October 12, 2016

Thursday evening begins a three-night run for Bieber in Glasgow before he heads to Dublin. 

Jim Craig, the United States goalie during the famed Miracle on Ice victory over the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics, auctioned off the mask he wore during that game for more than $137,000.

Sean Leahy of Yahoo Sports reported Saturday that the piece of hockey history fetched $137,849.16 at Lelands auction house. The report noted Craig also put his gold medal up for grabs, but it didn't meet the reserve price after a high bid of more than $611,000.

The 59-year-old former netminder put a total of 17 items up for auction in May. Besides the gold medal, memorabilia that didn't reach reserve prices were the jerseys he wore against the Soviet Union and Finland as well as "the American flag that was draped around his shoulders following the team's final game of the tournament," according to Yahoo Sports.

In May, Ari Gilberg of the New York Daily News passed along Craig's comments about his collection:

I don't really feel as though they were just mine. I think I was a representative of something that was really special. And the auction was a way to get it out there to people who could really enjoy these things as I move to different chapters of my life. This was an awesome opportunity and chapter of my life, but I have moved on. ...

When you really get older—we lost [U.S. teammate] Bobby Suter to death—you start to really plan your financial future and how it's going to go. It became burdensome. It became a hard decision to make.

Though the Massachusetts native who spent parts of three seasons in the NHL may have moved on, the Miracle on Ice will never be forgotten.

The American team, which featured mostly unheralded amateur and collegiate players, stunned the previously dominant Soviet Union squad 4-3. As the clock wound down, announcer Al Michaels exclaimed, "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" Team USA clinched the gold medal with a victory over Finland two days later.

It's a story that's been told many different ways. The film Miracle was released in 2004, with Kurt Russell starring as head coach Herb Brooks. In 2015, ESPN released a 30 for 30 special, "Of Miracles and Men," providing the Soviet perspective on the game.

Russia has announced its preliminary 16-man roster for 2016's World Cup of Hockey in Toronto, Canada on Wednesday.

NHL Public Relations shared Oleg Znarok's squad in its entirety: 

Team Russia announces initial roster for the World Cup of Hockey 2016. #WCH2016 pic.twitter.com/wbsOyPoYuR

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) March 2, 2016

The Russians will face hockey's traditional "big six" at the tournament along with Team Europe and a Team North America side comprised of under-23 players.

The roster is typically top-heavy and contains 10 forwards and three defensemen, as well as three goalies. Znarok will likely name three more forwards and four more defensemen when he finalises his 23-man squad by June 1.

All of the players selected thus far play in the NHL, with none coming from Russia's Kontinental Hockey League. ProHockeyTalk's Mike Halford revealed some of the notable names to miss out on the initial selection:

Notable Russian "snubs" at forward: Nichushkin, Grigorenko, Yakupov, Burmistrov. On D: Medvedev, Marchenko, Emelin, Tyutin.

— Mike Halford (@MikeHalford604) March 2, 2016

Other notable "snubs" from Russia WC roster, guys that played in '14 at Sochi: Nikitin, Tikhonov, Tyutin, Medvedev

— Mike Halford (@MikeHalford604) March 2, 2016

Unsurprisingly, there's a place in the forward line for the Washington Capitals' left-winger Alex Ovechkin, who tops the player leaderboard with 40 goals this season. Ovechkin recently enjoyed a significant milestone, per the Capitals' official Twitter feed:

Last night, @Ovi8 became the 7th player in NHL history to record 40 or more goals in 8 of his first 11 @NHL seasons.https://t.co/r7SSuQsbUG

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 27, 2016

Rising star and Ovechkin's Capitals team-mate Evgeny Kuznetsov also makes the team. As noted by Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press, the 23-year-old is enjoying an outstanding season:

That's Evgeny Kuznetsov's 20th of the season, his first 20-goal season since he played under-17 hockey for Traktor Chelyabinsk in Russia.

— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) March 2, 2016

Kuznetsov was congratulated on making the squad:

Congratulations to @Kuzya92 on being named to Russia's World Cup of Hockey roster! #WCH2016 https://t.co/yupRJsb7c6 pic.twitter.com/kNXkGi6P5V

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 2, 2016

Artemi Panarin, whose 57 points this season—made up of 22 goals and 35 assists—is the highest of any rookie, also makes the team and will provide a great deal of creativity.

Per Halford, there should be plenty of chemistry in Russia's forward line with a number of players selected from the same team:

Worth noting Russia has 3 sets of teammates at forward: Ovechkin/Kuznetsov (WSH), Kucherov/Namestnikov (TB), Panarin/Anisimov (CHI)

— Mike Halford (@HalfordPHT) March 2, 2016

The three goaltenders are the expected choices, with Sergei Bobrovsky—the only Russian to win the Vezina trophy, awarded to the best goalie in the NHL—likely to be occupying the No. 1 spot and Semyon Varlamov and 21-year-old Andrei Vasilevskiy set to provide able back-up.

Notably, Dmitry Orlov also made the cut after an impressive season in Washington. Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post ran the rule over Orlov when he scored the winning goal against the Minnesota Wild on Friday, and believes he has done well to earn a place in Russia's roster: 

And that's why you can't take Orlov out of the lineup. There's some risk in his game, but a lot of offensive upside.

— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) February 27, 2016

Not a huge surprise, but Ovechkin, Kuznetsov and Orlov are named to Russia's World Cup roster. Especially good for Orlov.

— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) March 2, 2016

The inclusion of just three defensemen allows Znarok some flexibility in his choices ahead of the deadline in June and affords him the opportunity to wait for the likes of Alexei Emelin and Dimitry Kulikov to prove their form and fitness, which will be highly useful given the defense is Russia's biggest area of weakness.

As always they have plenty of firepower at their disposal and will be a threat to any team at the World Cup.

However, Russia have underperformed in recent years and finished in a disappointing fifth place at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. If they're to avoid a repeat and put in a strong showing in Ontario, it's their ability at the back that will prove crucial.

After holding onto memorabilia from the famous "Miracle On Ice" game for 35 years, 1980 United States Olympic hockey goalie Jim Craig is ready to sell it all in a unique auction.

According to ESPN.com's Darren Rovell, the clutch goaltender who helped Team USA beat the heavily favored Soviet Union and eventually win the gold medal is selling a 19-item lot for $5.7 million through Lelands.com.

Among the pieces of history Craig is selling are his gold medal, his jersey from the "Miracle On Ice" game, the American flag he held after Team USA won gold and most of the equipment he wore during the 1980 Winter Games, including his mask, as seen in these photos courtesy of Rovell:

Miracle On Ice goalie @JimCraigUSA selling 19 items from 1980 Olympics, asking for $5.7M http://t.co/VmicJ6j2jD pic.twitter.com/DJ4VBqRVhB

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 29, 2015

Per Rovell, the 58-year-old Olympic hockey legend explained the reasoning behind his decision to sell the belongings after so many years:

For the past 35 years, these items have been at the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Boston Sports Museum, the New York Sports Museum and I think we've done a good job showing them because this moment was so big that I truly believe everyone was a part of it. But after the 35th anniversary (this February), and after our teammate Bobby Suter died, I thought it was important to be responsible with these pieces to grow and protect the legacy for my family.

Those with enough money to buy the one-of-a-kind collection likely couldn't be more excited about the opportunity, while many who can't afford it would undoubtedly love to get their hands on it, including CNBC's Brian Shactman:

Wish I were billionaire! #awesome MT @darrenrovell:Miracle On Ice's @JimCraigUSA items for $5.7M http://t.co/Nuvo0wg3Uc

— Brian Shactman (@bshactman) July 29, 2015

The 1980 "Miracle On Ice" team is not only significant within the sport of hockey, but it is also a huge part of American history because of what its win over the Soviets represented socially and politically.

Craig was arguably the most important figure on that team, and he has been lauded for his accomplishments ever since.

The Massachusetts native will now allow someone else to enjoy the spoils of his victory, and while it is tough to put a price on memorabilia from such a seminal moment, he'll be compensated handsomely for the collectibles.

  

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

ESPN's "30 for 30" series has produced some spectacular documentaries over the years, but the upcoming "Of Miracles and Men" could very well top the list.

According to ESPN.com, the short film focuses on the famed "Miracle on Ice," which saw an underdog team of American college hockey players upset the mighty Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.

While most sports fans are familiar with that story of triumph, "Of Miracles and Men" will provide a look at the other side of the coin, per ESPN's John Buccigross:

30 for 30 film “Of Miracles and Men” debuts this Sunday at 9pm on ESPN--explores the scope of the Miracle on Ice through the Soviet lens

— BucciOT.Com (@Buccigross) February 3, 2015

Along with all of the information you need to watch the latest "30 for 30," installment, here is a full preview of the documentary as well.

Date	Time	Channel
Sunday, Feb. 8	9 p.m. ET	ESPN

"Of Miracles and Men" Preview

The 1980 United States Olympic hockey team will forever be celebrated as a collection of heroes. It was given absolutely no chance to defeat the Soviet machine, as the Soviets entered Lake Placid having won four-consecutive Olympic gold medals.

While Team USA was comprised of college amateurs, the Soviet squad was stacked with professional talent that played together with great regularity.

Despite the obvious disadvantage, the United States upset the Soviet Union, 4-3, on Feb. 22, 1980, and ultimately went on to win gold.

While it is an incredible story of triumph, few are aware of the impact that such a huge loss had on the Soviets. As seen in this video courtesy of ESPN on YouTube, director Jonathan Hock explores that perspective in "Of Miracles and Men."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WXqas1ZtyU

Per ESPN.com, Hock further explained his interest in the USSR's part of the story.

I was raised in the 1970s on the notion that Soviet hockey players were robots, part of a machine that played a heartless style of hockey. But given the beauty and creativity of their game, that never made sense to me. So I wanted to discover the truth about the men on the other side of the "Miracle on Ice" game.

There is no question that Hock is delving into an intriguing and untapped point of view in "Of Miracles and Men." While without malice, it stands to reason that most Americans have never really considered how the game impacted the Soviets.

As compelling as the United States' perspective is, Variety points out that the losing side has plenty to offer, too:

ESPN’s ‘Of Miracles and Men’ is a “story replete with remarkable subplots and intriguing characters.” Review: http://t.co/xdZDEbQ7PN

— Variety (@Variety) February 6, 2015

With legendary players like goalie Vladislav Tretiak, defenseman Slava Fetisov and forward Sergei Makarov falling to the unheralded Americans, the Soviets undoubtedly had plenty of questions to answer when they got back home.

One person who is especially interested in "Of Miracles and Men" is Jim Craig, who was between the pipes for Team USA's historic "Miracle on Ice" victory:

I was there...and I can't wait to see this! Of Miracles And Men-Soviet perspective of our game Feb 8 @ESPN @30for30 pic.twitter.com/vOeIkUB900

— Jim Craig (@JimCraigUSA) January 20, 2015

The alternative "Miracle on Ice" story is likely one that Russians are very familiar with. But nobody has seemingly felt the need to bring that story to the United States until now.

Many viewed the Soviets as enemies during the Cold War era, and that included their hockey team as well. In reality, though, the players that lost to Team USA in 1980 were villainized based on association.

After watching "Of Miracles and Men," it is very likely that American hockey fans will have a completely different view of the situation.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter