Legendary goaltender and the head of Russia's Hockey Federation Vladislav Tretiak has warned that whoever underperforms at the world championships that start this week can forget about a place at the home Olympics in 2014.
Russia plays Latvia later Saturday in its first group game of the world championships, which are co-hosted by Finland and Sweden and run through May 20.
Russia's fourth-placed finish in Slovakia at last year's world championships was considered a catastrophe, and Tretiak warned that there is even greater pressure on the players this time round as the country prepares for it's home Olympics in Sochi in 2014.
"God willing, that result won't repeat itself," Tretiak told RIA Novosti. "If it does, we'll draw our conclusions. We'll have a look at the team, test the players, see who's who. Those who don't give their all and perform well won't go to the Olympics. Simple as that," he said.
Last year, Russia finished fourth in its group in Slovakia, scraping into the playoffs. They beat the Canadians 2-1 in the quarterfinals but lost 3-0 to eventual champion Finland, and were thrashed in the bronze medal playoff 7-4 by the Czechs.
The result prompted national soul searching and led to the firing of coach Vyacheslav Bykov.
For this year's championships, which started Friday, Russia is based in Stockholm for the group stage and also faces Norway, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Italy.
Tretiak, 60, is a triple Olympic gold medalist with the Soviet team and a ten-time world champion. He was named in Sports Illustrated's greatest hockey team of all time that included Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Hull, Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr.
This week Tretiak was decorated with the order For Merit to the Fatherland 3rd Class by President Dmitry Medvedev in Kremlin ceremony.
