Nikita Zaitsev negotiated the Russian team lineup on the opening day of the 2016 IIHF World Championships and came out of it not the winner but maybe the wiser.
Oleg Znarok, the coach of the Russian team at this year's World Championships, is a complicated guy. Born in Russia, he played most of his hockey career in the old Soviet League for Dinamo Riga and is known as Olegs Znaroks the Latvian as often as he is by his more Russian name. He finished his playing days in Germany and holds German citizenship.
He's coached the Latvian men's team, he's coached Dynamo Moscow in the KHL, but for the last year, he's been the coach of the Russian national team, which is a full-time job, as they play multiple tournaments over the course of the year.