AC

SOCHI, Russia -- You wonder what all of this means to the Russian hockey players, to Russians in general. What it would mean to win their first Olympic gold since 1992, to win it on home soil, to recapture hockey glory that used to be a kind of birthright for this nation. And maybe this, in some ways, answers that question. The entire Russian team took part in a press conference in the Pushkin Hall on Tuesday with a crowd of 463 jammed into a sprawling auditorium in the main press center. The crowd burst into applause when the team arrived and again when the players left, many rushing to the front to take pictures of the team and coaching staff. There was also a spontaneous round of applause when head of Russian hockey and Hall of Fame netminder Vladislav Tretiak referenced the 1984 gold medal won by the Russians four years after being upset by the Americans in Lake Placid at the so-called Miracle on Ice Olympics. The event on Tuesday was recorded by 48 television cameras...