| Magnitka's goalkeeper saved four shootouts Magnitogorsk Metallurg also prevailed in the second home match of the final series against Omsk Avangard. True, yesterday the Urals snatched victory in an absolutely equal and extremely nervous match, the logical conclusion of which was a series of free throws. After 70 minutes of net time, two “ones” were lit on the ice arena scoreboard, and in the shootout lottery the main character was the colorful Canadian goalkeeper of Magnitogorsk Norm Maracle. A real Indian, on whose body there are almost no places left that are not painted with tattoos, emerged victorious in all four duels with the Siberian forwards. Urals Alexander Koreshkov and Evgeniy Gladskikh twice beat Maracle's counterpart Maxim Sokolov. As a result, the “steelworkers” took a 2:0 lead in the series and tomorrow in Omka they can become the new champions of Russia.
“Magnitka” and “Avangard” are not only the most desirable pair of finalists for neutral fans. The duel between Magnitogorsk and Omsk evokes a feeling of nostalgia among hockey aesthetes, because the opponents are rightly called the two most “playing” teams in the Super League. Three years ago they fought in the battle for Russian “gold”, and that great confrontation is still considered the most dramatic and spectacular final in the history of our hockey. In the spring of 2001, the same main characters in the lineups of both clubs found themselves on the ice. The Koreshkov brothers, Ravil Gusmanov, Sergey Osipov, Andrey Sokolov - among the Urals, Maxim Sushinsky, Alexander Prokopyev, Dmitry Zatonsky, Dmitry Ryabykin - among the Siberians. And the figure of Valery Belousov is completely symbolic, who then led Metallurg to a second triumph in the Russian championships, and is now trying to repeat the golden route with Avangard along a familiar path.
That final is also memorable because it was the first in the era of the “war of purses” in the Super League. The surroundings were appropriate: a leapfrog of scandals, an atmosphere of mass psychosis and an extremely tough, and at times downright brutal, struggle, an epidemic of injuries. This same series also completed another stage in the development of our hockey: it became the last “purely Russian”. The following season, Czech coach Vladimir Vuytek came to Yaroslavl, and world-famous foreign players joined the team. Since then, for three years in a row, one of the finalist teams has invariably been led by a Czech - twice by Vuytek, and this time by Marek Sikora, who is now only one step away from triumph with Magnitogorsk.
So far, the script for the final episode repeats the events of three years ago with amazing accuracy. Magnitogorsk again achieved two home victories at the start. Moreover, in the opening match, the Urals won with a difference of the same three goals (5:2 in 2001 and 4:1 now). The second matches took place in a much more stubborn fight. True, then the “steelworkers” were able to put the squeeze on the Omsk team in regular time (4:3), but yesterday the denouement came only in a shootout.
As expected, the speeds in the second match of the final dropped significantly compared to the normal madness of the opening match. Only robots can “drive” around the site like this for two days in a row. Especially at the end of the season, when a lot of effort was spent on the difficult road to the golden confrontation. But it cannot be said that the entertainment value of the match was greatly affected by this natural process of player fatigue. Although scoring chances from both goals became more rare, goalkeepers remained key figures on the court.
Norm Maracle worked miracles on the court for the second day in a row, each time proving that the role of a goalkeeper in the playoffs cannot be measured even by the usual formula “the goalkeeper is half the team.” And he earned the right to a solo performance in a series of free throws, with which he completely discouraged Avangard’s star forwards. It seems that the fight against the “Maracle factor” will become the main headache for Omsk coaches before the next meeting. If they fail to reveal the secret of the Indian's reliability, the Russian hockey crown will go to Magnitogorsk for the third time. Perhaps tomorrow... Victor SHUMOV |
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