Canadiens: The Kostitsyn Brothers and the 2010 Olympics

In 2010, Group C for the men’s ice hockey tournament at the Vancouver Winter Olympics had experienced teams in Sweden, Finland, the up-and-coming Germans and the underdog team from Belarus.

The Belarussian roster featured two names longtime Canadiens fans will remember. Two brothers, Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn.

The Kostitsyn brothers came to Montreal by way of the draft, despite being selected at very different stages. Andrei was drafted tenth overall in 2003, while Sergei was selected 200th overall by the Canadiens in 2005. The older brother played seven of his eight NHL seasons in red, white and blue, scoring 99 goals and 210 points in 379 games. The younger winger played 155 games for the Habs, amassing 24 goals and 68 points.

Some fans of the Tricolore may remember their impactful 2008 Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals game seven against Boston. The brothers combined for three goals against the Beantown rivals, eliminating the Bruins in the process.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiep6c38jDI[/embed]

The opportunity to represent Belarus in Vancouver was a huge milestone. The team was participating in hockey for the third (and would be last) time. The news suddenly dampened, however, when A. Kostitsyn was forced to pull out of competition due to a lingering knee injury. Being a standout of the Belrus development program, his absence was missed along with Mikhail Grabovski, who pulled out himself with a wrist injury.

The Belarussians would fend off Germany to secure a 5-3 win, but not before dropping games against Finland and Sweden 5-1 and 4-2 respectively. The team finished third in its group and ninth in the overall table. Belarus lost to Switzerland in the opening playoff qualification round 3-2, eliminating them from the competition. The younger Kostitsyn would lead his team in points, racking up five with two goals and three assists.

It was highly unlikely for the Belarus team to succeed in Vancouver. The slew of injuries plaguing star players was insurmountable. In their game against Finland, for example, there were 18 NHLers active on the Finnish roster, compared to two on the Belarussian. Hopes remained high going forward, with A. Kostitsyn was projected to be the forefront best player on the roster for 2014. Alas, it unfortunately never came to pass as the team failed to qualify for the games.