Many of the names you’ll recognize. Others, not so much.
Per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, here are the 35 candidates to represent host Russia at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Goalies (5): Sergei Bobrovsky, Semyon Varlamov, Vasily Koshechkin, Evgeni Nabokov, Konstantin Barulin.
Defensemen (12): Evgeny Biryukov, Slava Voynov, Anton Volchenkov, Sergei Gonchar, Denis Denisov, Alexei Emelin, Andrei Markov, Evgeny Medvedev, Nikita Nikitin, Ilya Nikulin, Eugene Ryasensky, Fedor Tyutin.
Forwards (18): Artem Anisimov, Michael Varnakov, Pavel Datsyuk, Ilya Kovalchuk, Denis Kokarev, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nikolai Kulemin, Evgeni Malkin, Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Perezhogin, Alexander Popov, Alexander Radulov, Alexander Semin, Vladimir Tarasenko, Alexei Tereshchenko, Viktor Tikhonov, Vadim Shipachev, Nail Yakupov.
The team will be coached by Zinetula Bilyaletdinov with the above candidates gathering Aug. 23-24 in Sochi.
Boasting the reigning Vezina Trophy winner in goal (Bobrovsky) and multiple stars up front (Malkin, Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, Datsyuk), the big question mark for the Russians is expected to be the defense.
Also of note, no invite for goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.