| The Russian national team at the World Cup of Hockey showed its strengths and weaknesses in the first two matches. The Russians defeated the US team with a score of 3:1, but then lost to the Canadians. And what’s a shame is that with the same score – 1:3.
Contrary to restrained forecasts on the eve of the match between the Russian national team and the USA, Bilyaletdinov’s team outplayed their opponents in all respects. Perhaps for the first time in the last 12 years, the Russians demonstrated play in the best traditions of the Soviet hockey school. First of all, our team surprised Robert Ashe with an incredible number of shots on goal - 45 versus 21 for the Americans. “We achieved the result not due to the play of our stars, but due to team play,” commented Alexey Kovalev on the results of the match. Let us remember that it was Kovalev’s goal that was later called a hockey masterpiece, and the forward himself was recognized as the best player of the meeting. Even American coach Lou Vairo noticed after the game that Americans, when describing this kind of hockey, usually say: “They played with their hearts.” Russian hockey players really gave it their all. And although, according to the same Kovalev, they “showed what they are objectively capable of,” alas, they failed to sustain the next game with the Canadians on a high note and with the same fervor.
It is clear that after such a brilliant start, everyone expected new miracles and sensations from the Russian team. And, apparently, many young players failed to cope with this psychological pressure. It is not without reason that, when analyzing the results of the last Olympic Games in Athens, sports doctors and psychologists noted that Russian athletes often lose precisely because of psychological instability. Previously, many mentors dismissed this factor as far-fetched.
Although there were objective reasons for the defeat by the Canadians - for example, changes in the composition of the Russians. Markov replaced Volchenkov, Kalinin replaced Vishnevsky, and most importantly, Maxim Sokolov stood in goal instead of Ilya Bryzgalov. It is possible that the replacement of the goalkeeper played a fatal role in the match. Sokolov's excessive nervousness apparently rubbed off on the players. However, there is no sufficient reason to blame one goalkeeper for everything. Commenting on the outcome of the meeting with the Canadians, Russian national team defender Darius Kasparaitis said: “We had two good periods, and then deviated from the coaching plan for the game, for which we paid.”
Vladimir Plushev, former head coach of the Russian national hockey team, agreed to comment on the matches played for Vremya Novostey:
- In the opening match with the Americans, our team looked preferable. The guys worked to the fullest, and the Americans objectively looked weaker. The fact is that our first opponents have an older team, and because of this it is more difficult for them to recover after games. They have had several difficult meetings up to this point, and the season does not start so early for the overseas pros. Therefore, it was harder for them to get involved than for our players. On the contrary, the Russian team had a lot of young people: Afinogenov, Volchenkov, Kovalchuk, Frolov and other guys. And this is further proof that we need to rely on young players. If our young people were trusted more and they had sufficient playing practice, the situation in our hockey would be different. In general, the result of the match with the Americans, in my opinion, is logical.
If we talk about the game with Canada, the founder of hockey, of course, they were helped by the fact that they were playing at home. This was a powerful trump card in their motivation. In addition, the Canadian team is an organic fusion of experience, skill and youth. Again, I want to emphasize that the Canadian national team has many young players whose names are well-known. It is these factors that have become the prerequisites for the success of Canadians. They took advantage of all the Russians' mistakes and deservedly won. It is possible that our coaches did not take note of the small size of the site. In any case, it seemed to me that this factor negatively affected the nature of our team’s play.
If we talk about the tournament prospects in general, the match with the Slovaks will put everything in its place. No matter who our team meets in the quarterfinals, neither the Americans nor the Canadians will be a gift for us. After the first defeat, the Americans will try to mobilize one hundred percent. And in the Russia-Canada derby there is no need to expect leniency. Olga ERMOLINA
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