12.02 Home Olympics a Double-Edged Sword for Ovechkin

SOCHI, February 11 (R-Sport) - Russia star Alexander Ovechkin says playing the Olympic hockey tournament on home ice is a double-edged sword: You have the support of a raucous crowd but there's nowhere to escape the weight of media expectation.

Russia is bidding to win the gold medal for the first time since the Soviet Union triumphed in Calgary in 1988.

"We are yet to play a game so I can't say if there's any pressure or not, but of course the pressure from the media can be felt," said Ovechkin, playing in his third Olympics.

"Whoever the host of the Olympic Games is probably has the most pressure, and I'm pretty sure we're in the same position as Canada was four years ago," Ovechkin said, referring to the Vancouver Games that saw the hosts win.

"But I'm pretty sure we have the experience and we're old enough guys to handle the pressure.”

Three groups of four teams make up the men's tournament, which starts Thursday at the Bolshoi Ice Dome when Russia play Slovenia. It ends with the gold medal game on February 23, the final day of the Games.

The United States and Slovakia are also in Russia’s group, while Canada must deal with Finland, Norway and Austria. Sweden is in the mix with a strong Czech team, the Swiss and Latvia.

Russia's roster has been altered twice already as the injured Dynamo Moscow forwards Sergei Soin and Denis Kokarev were replaced with Carolina Hurricanes wing Alexander Semin and Ak Bars Kazan center Alexander Svitov.

The host nation is looking to make amends for a humiliating 7-3 quarter-final defeat to Canada four years ago.