| Our young talents are lost on the way to the top of hockey Our team is the world champion in hockey! A fairly forgotten phrase is relevant again, as in the era of the almost endless victorious march of players with the abbreviation “USSR” on their chests. Only now the country’s “gold reserve” is replenished not by the main team, but by juniors and young people. As it was last Sunday, when the youth team played the melody of the anthem, so familiar to Belarusians, in honor of the triumphants of the world championship in Minsk.
Over the past three years, Russian "cadets" have celebrated success at four world championships - exactly the same as their peers from the rest of the world combined! It would seem like the right time to beat ourselves in the chest and shout that we are again ahead of the rest! But the problem is that the adult team cannot support the initiative of the “young lions” in any way, but the level of hockey is judged by the performance of the national team. And our best masters have not been able to bring the “golden cargo” from the world championship, it’s scary to say, since the spring of 1993.
It turns out that Russian “children” beat everyone at their level, but at the “crossing” from junior to adult hockey, almost all the best ones drown. And the notorious psychology of winners, and fighting spirit, and numerous “stars” that never grow into approx. A kind of crisis of adolescence. Despite the fact that the successes of our youth teams eloquently demonstrate that talents in Rus' have not disappeared at all. And the hockey “star factory” continues to work quite well. But its efficiency has decreased significantly compared to the USSR era. What's the matter?
We can talk for a long time about the total collapse of the system after the collapse of the Union, about the general flight abroad of all more or less skilled craftsmen in the early 90s, about the cessation of state support for hockey and other “charms” of the timeless period. But how long can chronic failures be justified by this? A decade has passed since then, and a new one was erected on the ruins of the previous pyramid. Although not as majestic as before, but, as they say, what grows, grows...
Of course, Russian hockey differs from Soviet hockey in about the same way as a market economy differs from a planned one. But in general, the structure of the club's economy remained the same: children's sports school - farm club - team of masters. At least in many clubs at the forefront of the Super League. But they came to leading positions only in the post-Soviet era, taking away hegemony from the capital. And naturally, it took time to build a personnel training system. Magnitogorsk, Yaroslavl, Togliatti, Omsk - in the new hockey centers they literally pamper and cherish their youth sports schools. The invested funds are slowly starting to pay off. Our youth are coming out of the “underground” and playing increasingly important roles. And in the North American market they are in great demand. Until they leave the tender age of childhood. NHL clubs willingly stake the rights to new Russians at the rookie draft, invite them to join them, sign the rights, but then most of our “stars” seem to disappear into an overseas “black hole.”
To illustrate, consider the fates of the most outstanding young players of recent times. In 1996, our junior team (players under 18 years of age) won the title of European champions for the first time in Russian history (world championships for this age group had not yet been held). The team in which the boys born in 1978 played was called the team of future stars. Sergei Samsonov was presented both here and overseas as the second Kharlamov, Andrei Zyuzin - the second Fetisov, grandiose prospects were promised to Andrei Petrunin, Oleg Kvasha, Denis Khlopotnov, Vladimir Antipov, and almost all the team players. But eight years have passed. The juniors have matured, become seasoned, and for the most part have gotten lost in the crowd. Samsonov, in his first season in the NHL, won the league's best rookie award. But there was no progress, and the most he could achieve was the status of one of the stars of Boston, but not of the league. Frankly speaking, it’s not a lot for a player who was unconditionally considered at one time almost the main hope of our hockey. The rest have even more modest successes. The former comparison between Zyuzin and Fetisov is now remembered only with a grin; Kvasha has just begun to take on the leading roles in the Islanders, others play in the Super League. With varying degrees of success. But the year of birth in 1978 was unconditionally considered the most fruitful. It is curious that the greatest success was achieved by their peer Pavel Datsyuk, who had no place in either the junior or youth teams.
The team of guys is a year younger. Maxim Afinogenov, Maxim Balmochnykh and Andrei Markov shone in it then. How they shone! But... Markov and Afinogenov play in the NHL, but, alas, they can be considered NHL stars only with too much desire and a disregard for objectivity.
Born in 1980. Goalkeeper Alexey Volkov, defenders Vitaly Vishnevsky, Dmitry Kalinin, Alexander Ryazantsev, forwards Denis Shvidkiy, Alexander Zevakhin...And where are they all now? Some settled in the NHL, some play in the Super League, but the stars did not shine again.
Born in 1981. An even more depressing picture.
1982 Anton Volchenkov, Alexander Frolov, Alexander Svitov each spent two seasons in the NHL. Actually, that’s all they can boast of for now. But they left Russia with the reputation of being one of the most notable figures in the Super League...
And only Ilya Kovalchuk, who celebrated his 21st birthday on April 15, managed to become what he was supposed to become - a new world-class Russian megastar. Perhaps very soon Nikolai Zherdev (born in 1984), Alexander Ovechkin (1985) and Evgeniy Malkin (1986), who won the prize for the best striker at the junior championship in Minsk, will join him. Moreover, Ovechkin and Malkin are tipped for the first two picks at the upcoming NHL draft at the end of June. Maybe the last wave of Russian young talent will be destined to return glory to our hockey? The previous generation has not yet succeeded in this. Victor SHUMOV |
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