Captain of the Russian national hockey team Ilya Kovalchuk said on Wednesday the win over Canada in the quarterfinals game at world championships is "a matter of principle" for the Russian players.
Russians have won the last two world tournaments, but disappointed at the recent Winter Olympics, where they were thrashed 3-7 by hosts Canada in the last eight.
"It is a matter of principle for me and my teammates to beat the Canadians and take revenge for the disappointing defeat in Vancouver...the score does't matter," Kovalchuk said in an interview with Echo Moskvy radio.
Kovalchuk said this time the Russian team would not underestimate the opponents, despite the absence of Olympic stars on the current Canadian roster.
"We will not fall into the same trap again," the Russian captain said referring to the poor performance at the Olympics.
The star-studded Russian team has won all six games at the preliminary stages of the current tournament while the "young" Canadian team suffered three losses on its way to the quarterfinals.
Kovalchuk said discipline on the ice would be key to victory because the Russian team cannot afford as many penalties with Canadians as they had in the game against Finland on Tuesday.
In other quarterfinals on Thursday Finland will face the Czech Republic, the hosts Germany will play Switzerland and Denmark will compete against Sweden.
MOSCOW, May 20 (RIA Novosti)
