| Our team won the Swedish Games The bold experiment of the new head coach of the Russian national team, Vladimir Plyushchev, to dramatically “rejuvenate” the team’s composition brought the second golden fruit. After defeating the hosts, our team ahead of schedule became the winner of the final stage of the Eurotour - the Swedish Games. Before this season, in the seven-year history of the unofficial championship of the Old World, the Russian team had never won an away tournament. Plyushchev led the team to two victories in just one year. In September, he celebrated his premiere as helmsman with a triumph at the Ceske Pojistovna Cup.
The Russians began their Swedish tour with a duel with the Canadians. The Maple Leaves prevailed over the Finns in Stockholm, and the Swedes and Czechs in their meetings with them achieved victories only in penalty throws. And only our team dealt with the North Americans without any problems - 4:1. The second rival of the Russians was the Finns, who have recently become our most inconvenient opponent. This meeting with the northerners was already the tenth in the last two seasons, and before it the Russians had won only once, and even then in a shootout in the semi-finals of the World Championship in Sweden. This time the Swedish ice became happy again for our team. In a dramatic match, captain of Khabarovsk "Amur" Sergei Krivokrasov put an end to it in the 19th second of overtime - 3:2.
The match with the hosts can hardly be classified as an “easy walk”. After a series of chronic failures on the international stage, the Swedes needed a victory at the home tournament like air. But even the deafening support of the fans, who filled the stands of the Globe, which seats 14 thousand spectators, to capacity for the first time at the tournament, did not help them. The Scandinavians outscored the Russians almost twice (32:18), but our guys were more accurate in finishing attacks. The 19-year-old leader of the Tolyatti Lada attacks, Igor Grigorenko, scored a hat-trick, and Krivokrasov scored another goal. The Swedes were only able to upset Kazan goalkeeper Andrei Tsarev, who shone at the last turn, only twice - 4:2.
“Such a match is the decoration of any tournament, both Olympic and world. Of course, we are also talking about the content of the game. Two teams that respect each other fought. They showed very correct hockey, although the fight was tough, there was no dirt in it. We knew that the opponent was determined to win and would move away from his usual style and play more aggressively. The Swedes succeeded. The game was double-edged, but in the end we were stronger. At the World Championships in Finland, I am counting on a number of young players, including, of course, the hero of the match, Igor Grigorenko, who has already become one of the leaders of the team,” Vladimir Pluschev shared his impressions after the match with Tre Kronur.
Our young team has matured before our eyes in just six months. At the beginning of autumn, the Russians won the tournament in the Czech Republic, primarily thanks to the youthful enthusiasm and overflowing energy of the guys who tried on the national team sweaters for the first time. To be fair, it should be noted that the superiority of the Russians in “physics” was due to the fact that our preparation for the season traditionally begins a month earlier than on the continent. And already in November at the Karjala Cup in Finland, it was not possible to cope with the opponents due to enthusiasm alone. The Finnish lesson came to fruition. In December, at the Baltic Cup, although the Russians were unable to retain the main prize in their homeland, the game became more meaningful.
In Stockholm we saw an even more mature team. From the past massive raids on enemy gates, often turning into devastating counterattacks, only memories remained. The Russians have noticeably improved their tactics and become more cautious in their defensive actions. There have been significantly fewer unjustified deletions. The team learned to endure and cling to the result. A gaming arrhythmia appeared - a sign of class. A circle of leaders has emerged around whom the game is built. Going to the World Championships with such a team is not scary, but extremely interesting!
Yesterday, in their last match in Stockholm, the Russians beat the Czechs - 3:2, the favorite “clients” of our team. This victory was already the eighth over the Czechs in a row! Late on Sunday evening the Swedes and Finns took to the ice. If the hosts win in regular time, the Russian team could take first place in the Eurotour for the first time in history. Victor SHUMOV |
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