Most of the medal contenders in Denmark have drafted in reinforcements from the NHL during the tournament. Russia, unusually, has not. Instead, Nikita Gusev has become the potential catalyst for an upswing in the team’s offence.
 

We’ve seen Gusev before, of course. Four points in an Olympic final cemented the 25-year-old’s reputation after making his first appearance at a World Championship last year in Cologne. Now he’s back in the red uniform looking to lead Russia to double gold in this Olympic season.

Amid the hype surrounding the arrival of the Pastrnaks and Forsbergs in Denmark, Gusev’s addition to Russia’s ranks has gone largely unheralded. But there’s a star quality about the SKA St. Petersburg forward that has made its present felt immediately. Slotting into that Olympic top line with Kirill Kaprizov and Pavel Datsyuk, Gusev has kicked the Russian offence up a notch.

It’s not just that he’s had a hand in four of the nine goals the team has scored since he joined up. It's not even the quality of his assists, combining terrific vision with precision passing. It’s the sight of a rejuvenated Kaprizov, described as a star in the making by Mike Babcock just days after many in the Russian media were suggesting the 20-year-old Minnesota prospect was all played out for the season and needed a rest. It’s the revival of his link-up with Datsyuk, once an idol and now a team-mate for SKA and the national team. With Russia looking powerful against the outsiders in Group A but losing out against the Czechs and the Swedes, can Gusev trigger the improvement needed to beat the best in the knock-out phase?

The man himself is fairly happy with the team’s performances. “I don’t think we have a big problem,” he said after it was put to him that losses against fellow ‘Big 6’ nations might scupper Russia’s medal prospects. “We didn’t play badly against Sweden. There were lots of chances for us on the power play, we just needed to take more of them. Overall, our game was quite good.

“I had a couple of chances that I got wrong, and there were a couple of times when the puck bounced badly for me. But, of course, those are the ones that we have to convert. It’s hard to win with only one goal.”

If Gusev himself comes across relatively muted, the reaction elsewhere has been more enthusiastic. After the game against Switzerland, in which Gusev contributed two high-quality assists, Kaprizov admitted that the whole team had been waiting for Nikita’s return. Swiss head coach Patrick Fischer lamented that Gusev’s return was a blow to his hopes for the game. “I was surprised to see Gusev on the team, and disappointed for us,” Fischer said. “He’s an unbelievable player, so strong. It’s great to see him on a line with Datsyuk and Kaprizov – if you’re a Russian fan!”
 

However, Gusev’s flair might have been lost to the hockey world – as a child, his first ventures on the ice were in figure skating. As a youth player at CSKA’s Krasnaya Armiya junior team, he gave an interview and explained: “My hockey journey started out a bit strangely – with figure skating. When I went to the rink, I saw some other guys playing hockey and immediately understood that this was what I wanted to do with my life. I kept up the figure skating for a couple of weeks, then I joined the Beliye Medvedi hockey team.”

From dancing on ice to dancing through defences, Gusev’s artistry may yet make the difference for Russia in this year’s championship.