Sleeping with the enemy

Wow, what a day for a hockey geek like me......at 3 pm the Russian Team with Ovechkin playing wing for Malkin plays against the Czech Team with Jaromir Jagr and at 7:45 pm Team Canada with Richards playing wing for Crosby against Team USA with Malone and Orpik begins. It does not get much better than that unless you are talking Stanley Cup playoffs. The interest in the game is magnified by the above referenced combinations..........fans in both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are probably losing breakfast thinking of their respective captains playing together for the greater good of the Canadian team. Will either side give their respective players credit if the combination is magic? Will either side gain some new found respect for the player they love to hate? Will the players themselves have more respect and some common bond that is not very evident when Philly and Pittsburgh go at it? I am VERY intrigued by the combination as Mike Richards brings ALL of the benefits of a guy like Kunitz times 2. He is EVERY bit as physical but much bigger, and he is FAR more gifted offensively, and all kidding aside a real leader on the ice. With Rick Nash on the other wing, this line is big, tough and very gifted with the puck. I would be surprised if they do not click, but you never know. I am interested to see the outcome of this example of strange bedfellows to say the least.

Now to the Russian team....it had been obvious that the top two Russian lines lacked chemistry in their last game, and I figured that anyone playing with Ovechkin and Semin would be the third wheel, as we all know how much Ovie loves semin.....the taste of it, the texture......oh sorry, wrong movie....anyway, Pavel Datsyuk will now center the line Malkin was centering with Kovalchuk and Afinogenov, and Malkin will center Ovie and Jizz. The rivalry between the Caps and Pens, and Malkin/Ovechkin offers plenty of intrigue in this set up as well. I am curious to see how Malkin fits in crashing Geico's love of Semin but this line SHOULD be unstoppable..........The added size of Geno combined with the physical nature of Ovechkin should be fun to watch............Geno has no excuse to not pile up points on this line as Ovechkin is an upgrade from Kovalchuk, probably the only person on the team and maybe most teams that could be an upgrade from Kovalchuk, and Semin is a big upgrade from Afinogenov who should be in pairs figure skating if you ask me. I can tell you this...........no matter how this one turns out, I will still hate the Caps and their fans. It will be fun to watch. Finally, the intrigue of Jagr hinting at coming back to the NHL, combined with his comment of owing Mario (translate play for him at way less than market value), will have yinzer nation foaming at the mouth.....do not bet the farm on that one folks. Enjoy.