Two Ducks Make Olympic Team

Feuds and personal priorities kept many prominent players off the Russian Olympic team, which was announced Monday in Moscow. Vancouver Canuck right wing Pavel Bure, one of the few stars eager to play for his country, and Ottawa Senator center Alexei Yashin top the 19-man roster. Four players will be added by Dec. 1.

Mighty Duck goaltender Mikhail Shtalenkov and defenseman Dmitri Mironov were selected, as was Mironov’s brother, Boris, of the Edmonton Oilers.

Starting with its Olympic debut in 1956, the Soviet Union won seven gold medals, one silver and one bronze. Known as the Unified Team in 1992, during the breakup of the Soviet Union, it won gold at Albertville. Playing as a Russian team, it failed to win a medal in 1994 at Lillehammer.

None of the Detroit Red Wings’ Russian Five was chosen. Sergei Fedorov is an unsigned free agent and defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov is recovering from injuries he suffered in a car accident last June, but defenseman Viacheslav Fetisov and forwards Igor Larionov and Vyacheslav Kozlov declined to play because of disputes with the hockey federation.

Phoenix goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, unhappy with the federation’s work in last year’s World Cup of Hockey, also declined. Montreal defenseman Vladimir Malakhov, who is having an outstanding season, said he preferred to save his strength for a run at the Stanley Cup.

Other forwards headed to Nagano are Alexei Zhamnov of the Chicago Blackhawks, Valeri Kamensky of the Colorado Avalanche, German Titov of the Calgary Flames, Andrei Kovalenko of the Oilers, Valeri Zelepukin of the New Jersey Devils and Sergei Nemchinov of the New York Islanders.

The other defensemen are Darius Kasparaitis of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Alexei Gusarov of the Avalanche, Alexander Karpovtsev of the Rangers, Igor Kravchuk of the Senators, Dimitri Yushkevich of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Alex Zhitnik of the Buffalo Sabres. Andrei Trefilov of Chicago will share the goaltending work with Shtalenkov.