| Super League coaches languished in anticipation of news from the NHL The coaches of the leading clubs, who took their teams onto the ice yesterday after a short break in the national championship, found themselves in a difficult situation. The first round of the Super League after the end of the replenishment period threatened to be the last playing day in Russia for hockey players with contracts with NHL teams. Some head coaches were thinking overseas, where approximately immediately after the end of the national championship matches, the question of whether the lockout in the North American League was over or whether the NHL season was finally cancelled.
The Ak Bars defensive line looked very indicative in this regard. NHL players Darius Kasparaitis and Ruslan Salei were not included in the match lineup. It seems that Kazan coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov was internally prepared for the worst-case scenario overseas, testing some defensive option in case the lockout was lifted, although he still let Alexei Zhitnik onto the ice. In this match, two foreign players made their debut for Ak Bars - Canadian Dany Heatley and Swede Mikael Nylander, who began the Russian stage of his career in St. Petersburg SKA. Heatley quickly got used to the company of new partners. As befits a great scorer, in the very first game of the Super League, Dani opened the scoring with goals. After goals from Alexey Morozov and his Atlanta teammate Ilya Kovalchuk, the Canadian secured a comfortable lead in the second period - 3:0.
“Severstal” and “Metallurg” seemed to continue their enchanting match of the third round, when together they set an absolute record for the Russian championship, turning on the red light behind the enemy’s goal 17 times. “Magnitka,” we recall, won at home with a score of 13:4, and yesterday in Cherepovets the score on the electronic scoreboard changed again with kaleidoscopic speed. If in Magnitogorsk, after conceding four goals in the 12th minute, the visiting goalkeeper, Czech Dusan Salfitski, was forced to go to the bench, then in Cherepovets, the Ural goalkeeper Andrei Malkov was replaced by Metallurg head coach Marek Sikora even earlier. Malkov gave up his place to Konstantin Simchuk, called up from Siberia, at the moment when the stopwatch counted 6 minutes. 50 sec. from the beginning of the meeting, and his team lost 1:2. The festival of scorers did not stop there; by the break, the referees recorded three more goals and equality in the score - 3:3, with Magnitogorsk Nikolai Zavarukhin (ex-Salavat Yulaev) and Cherepovets Ruslan Bernikov scoring with a tiny interval of 15 seconds.
The teams played almost according to a record schedule, and by the middle of the match the guests took the lead - 5:3. At this point, the pace of both scoring goals decreased. In the third period, the winners' striker and namesake of his coach Petr Sikora managed to score a double, and his new teammate, ex-Spartak player Fedor Fedorov, also scored, but the opponents' previous achievement remained unshakable. Northern coach Sergei Mikhalev will probably still remember the confrontation with Magnitka in his nightmares, because his team conceded 21 goals in two games with the Ural club.
“Dynamo’s helmsman” Vladimir Krikunov did not throw two newcomers into the battle. Sergei Samsonov, who returned to Russia from overseas, has not yet gained the necessary shape; former CSKA forward Alexander Frolov was given the opportunity to rest after playing for the national team at the Swedish Hockey Games. The CSKA team from the banks of the Neva, having lost hope of reaching the playoffs, pleased their fans with a victory over the leader of the regular season. Dynamo's lead from its closest pursuers was reduced from seven to four points.
Match results. Super League. 53rd round. "Severstal" - "Metallurg" (MG) - 3:8, CSKA - "Lada" - 0:1, "Molot" - "Salavat Yulaev" - 0:4, "Neftekhimik" - " Lokomotiv - 0:3, SKA - Dynamo - 5:2, Ak Bars - Spartak - 3:1. The leaders (50 matches played): Dynamo - 102 points, Lada - 98, Metallurg (MG) - 97, Ak Bars - 92. Vladimir ILYIN |
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