There is so much unintentional comedy going on behind the scenes as the world, and mother Russia prepare for the 2014 Winter Games. The political corruption, the egregious human rights stance concerning homosexuality and the blatant nepotism when selecting their own national hockey team.

All of these issues paint the nation of Russia in a negative light when the Olympics are supposed to bring out the best in everyone. The spirit of the international competition is about sportsmanship and fair play. The residual traces of the once “evil empire” still manage to rise up at the worst possible time.

With all that is potentially wrong with the host nation, their Olympic hockey team could provide a glorious coat of paint on the rusted hull of a proud nation. The big names will of course appear on the roster and headline what is sure to be an exciting team. There were blatant and obvious omissions from the roster however, which lends fuel to at least a dozen theories about the relationship of certain NHL players and the Russian federation.

Any fences have already been mended with the biggest names on the roster. Whether or not they were ever in poor standing with their homeland is irrelevant, but the Russians will be captained by Pavel Datsyuk. He’ll be joined by NHL defect Ilya Kovalchuk, and current NHL stars Evgeni Malkin, Alexander Ovechkin. These four comprise what could be the most potent offense in Sochi. They’ll look to rebound from a disappointing 6th place finish in 2010.

Goaltending: The prevailing opinion is that Semyon Varlamov is the de facto starter. Sergei Bobrovsky, the 2013 Vezina Trophy winner is also on the roster, and has been in top form lately. Competition between the two goaltenders is good news for Russia, which has lacked strength in goal during recent international competitions. Alexander Eremenko from the KHL ( Dynamo Moscow) is also on the roster and will backup the two NHL players.

Defense: Probably the weakest area on the Russian roster. The top pairing is probably the Montreal duo of Alexei Emelin and Andrei Markov. Though they aren’t paired together in the NHL, they are the top two Russian defensemen. Anton Belov (Edmonton), Vyacheslov Voynov (Los Angeles), Fedor Tyutin (Columbus) and Nikita Nikitin (Columbus) round out the NHL representation for the Russians on defense.

Forwards: The strength of the Russians lies in their offensive firepower and creativity. The flash and style of the forwards make them one of the most exciting teams to watch. The line combinations would make any NHL general manager drool but the main issue is chemistry. While there is only one basketball for the NBA equivalent of a “Dream Team”, there is still only one puck for the bevvy of stars in Russian sweaters. Malkin, Datsyuk, Ovechkin and Kovalchuk are joined by former Nashville center Alexander Radulov, Artem Anisimov (Columbus), Vladimir Tarasenko (St. Louis), Valeri Nichushkin (Dallas), Nikolai Kulemin (Toronto) and five other KHL forwards that have names that end in “v”.

Predicted Finish: There is no question that the Russians could steamroll through everyone on their way to the gold medal. The boisterous Russian home crowd pumping up the team before, during and after every game could provide an electric atmosphere. However, as we saw in 2010, all of that could short-circuit with a lack of chemistry and dissension among the players and coaches. With six games needed to take home the top honors, a hot goaltender can certainly provide the difference. What Russia has in talent, it sorely lacks in depth. They will be fun to watch and will certainly push the top teams in the tournament. I see them playing for the Bronze medal at best and finishing fourth.