Hockey

Edmonton Oilers goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin is among the 50 names under consideration by the Russian Hockey Federation for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Despite not being invited to the Russian hockey camp in August, Khabibulin is among 12 new players added to the list which will be pared down to 23 by the end of December.

Khabibulin has not played for the national team since the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.

Other notable players who were added to the list include forward Sergei Mozyakin, who led the KHL in scoring last season, Alexander Perezhogin and Anton Kuryanov, who were also part of the 2009 World Championship winning team.

Two noticeable absentees from the list are Nikolai Zherdev and Alexei Yashin. Zherdev returned to Russia this season after scoring 58 points with the New York Rangers last year while Yashin is currently third in scoring in the Russian League. He has competed in three previous Winter Olympics but has not represented Russia internationally since 2006.

Dynamo Moscow defenseman and former NHLer Alexei Zhitnik has been dropped from the list of players who attended the summer camp. 

Ottawa forward Alexei Kovalev finds himself still on the list despite the fact national team coach Vyacheslav Bykov has failed to select him for the national team since 2006.

Defensemen Andrei Markov and Sergei Gonchar along with winger Ilya Kovalchuk are on the list despite nursing some serious injuries. However, it's hoped they will be healed in time for the Olympics.  

The 50 man candidate list includes 31 players from the Russian KHL but the Federation says it plans to ice a balanced team of NHL and KHL players.

Russia will go into the Olympic Games as the two-time world champions and likely Canada's biggest threat to a gold medal. The Russians last won gold at the Winter Olympics in 1992.

Russia's 50-man candidate list

Goalkeepers: Ilya Bryzgalov (Phoenix, NHL), Simeon Varlamov (Washington, NHL), Alexander Eremenko (Salavat, RUS), Evgeni Nabokov (San Jose, NHL), Vasili Koshechkin (Togliatti, RUS), Nikolai Khabibulin (Edmonton, NHL).

Defencemen: Vitali Atyushov (Magnitogorsk, RUS), Vitali Vishnevsky (Yaroslavl, RUS), Anton Volchenkov (Ottawa, NHL), Sergei Gonchar (Pittsburgh, NHL), Denis Grebeshkov (Edmonton, NHL), Alexander Guskov (Yaroslavl, RUS), Sergei Zubov (St. Petersburg, RUS), Dmitri Kalinin (Salavat, RUS), Maxim Kondratiev (Salavat, RUS), Konstantin Korneyev (CSKA Moscow, RUS), Denis Kulyash (CSKA Moscow, RUS), Andrei Markov (Montreal, NHL), Ilya Nikulin (Kazan, RUS), Vitali Proshkin (Salavat, RUS), Oleg Tverdovsky (Salavat, RUS), Fedor Tyutin (Columbus, NHL).

Forwards: Evgeni Artyukhin (Anaheim, NHL), Maxim Afinogenov (Atlanta, NHL), Konstantin Gorovikov (St. Petersburg, RUS), Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit, NHL), Danis Zaripov (Kazan, RUS), Sergei Zinoviev (Salavat, RUS), Alexei Kovalev (Ottawa, NHL), Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta, NHL), Viktor Kozlov (Salavat, RUS), Nikolai Kulemin (Toronto, NHL), Anton Kuryanov (Omsk, RUS), Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh, NHL), Alexei Mikhnov (Yaroslavl, RUS), Sergei Mozyakin (Mytishchi, RUS), Alexei Morozov (Kazan, RUS), Ivan Nepryayev (Dynamo Moscow, RUS), Alexander Ovechkin (Washington, NHL), Alexander Perezhogin (Salavat, RUS), Alexander Radulov (Salavat, RUS), Maxim Rybin (St. Petersburg, RUS), Oleg Saprykin (Dynamo Moscow, RUS), Alexander Semin (Washington, NHL), Maxim Sushinsky (St. Petersburg, RUS), Petr Schastlivy (CSKA Moscow, RUS), Andrei Taratukhin (Salavat, RUS), Alexei Tereschenko (Kazan, RUS), Sergei Fedorov (Magnitogorsk, RUS), Alexander Frolov (Los Angeles, NHL).