THIS TEAM IS CAPABLE OF WINING THE OLYMPICS

SPORTS

After the unsuccessful Turin debut of our hockey players in the match with the Slovaks, it became somehow alarming. Therefore, at random, we decided to watch the next game with the Swedes in the company of the living legend of Dynamo, Olympic champion Stanislav ...

After the unsuccessful Turin debut of our hockey players in the match with the Slovaks, it became somehow alarming. Therefore, by chance, we decided to watch the next game with the Swedes in the company of the living legend of Dynamo, Olympic champion Stanislav PETUKHOV.

Stanislav Afanasyevich kindly agreed to come to our editorial office. And I didn't guess. Having shown a fantastic game, the Russian team defeated Tre Krunur with a score of 5:0. And the best on the ice were hockey players who gave part of their lives to Dynamo.

- To begin with, I want to say that I very carefully watched the game of ours with the Slovaks. I was worried… The Slovaks, what can I say, looked more streamlined, more attuned to the end result. The Russians looked mostly the first link Kovalev-Datsyuk-Kovalchuk. The latter, however, often fell out. But I did not see the cheeky, assertive game on the part of the Russians. There was no good rudeness.

Why are there so many deletions?

- This is not rudeness. But after all, it was said that the ice arenas are European, and refereeing is Canadian. With these hooks clubs just trouble. Hooked on the leg - everything, removal. At the same time, here the referees made it possible to carry out power moves, when hockey players were simply imprinted on the sides. And for small dirt punished mercilessly. And the defense played, frankly speaking, it doesn't matter.

We can say that all our players have not passed the acclimatization period. But the sleepy state begins on the third or fourth day after arriving at a new place. I remember when we flew to America and Canada, on the third or fourth day, Tarasov picked us up in the bus and made us turn our heads to drive away sleep and stretch.

- How do you like Kovalev as a captain? Can he start a team?

- Completely. He really has authority.

- So, he can start a team, as Nikolai Sologubov and Boris Mayorov did in your time?

- Tarasov could have turned us on rather than the captain. When the game was not going on, he could start singing the "Internationale" during a break in the locker room. It even sent shivers down our bodies. We got up and went to the game with a completely different mood.

— What can you say about the opponent?

— The Swedes have always been superbly technically equipped. If we talk about the current game, then, in my opinion, the first period was left for the Swedes. They had scoring chances, but Nabokov played. It is worth noting that the first period began with deletions. The game is breaking. Note that we played attacking hockey with the Slovaks. And now the game is still on defense. Here the merit of Krikunov and Yurzinov. Boris Mikhailov does not like to defend. He has army tactics: in the first period, score, strangle the opponent, try to score as many goals as possible, and then play calmly.

Well, look, the second period began again with our deletions ...

Go-o-ol! Kovalev! Young Lesha. All in the mind. And assistant Datsyuk - well done. Now you don't have to go all the way back.

Another one! Ovechkin. Well, that's it, Tatyana Ovechkina - mother - jumps from happiness to the ceiling, I guess.

Now we need to increase the pressure while the Swedes are dumbfounded.

It's not evening yet - I'm telling you for sure ...

Three!

- Look, Sundin is bullying our player again. It came down to hand-to-hand. Tell me, have you ever been trained for boxing on ice?

“We didn’t really own this business. We had the same installation - do not answer. Although once I had to take part in a serious brawl on the ice. We played with Spartak. Prior to that, in the previous match, my teammate Valerka Vasiliev had all his front teeth knocked out. We're playing, so... Valerka is on the left, I'm on the right. And in the course of the game, waving the club away, the opponent hits right on the spot where not so long ago Valera had teeth. I - to this very opponent ... In general, the fight was "all for all" - a real massacre. I, as the instigator, was then disqualified until the end of the season.

- Is Malkin really as talented as they say about him: they say, will he build muscle mass and become a real star?

- With the mass, I think he is in order. He lacks speed. His hands are slow, and it is very difficult to fix this now ...

Everything, the third period is the moment of truth. It all depends on what kind of setup the coach will give. Play in the third to zero or play like the previous two periods.

To be honest, we got a little lucky. Nabokov rescued. Just saved. If he missed it, everything could go according to the Slovak scenario. This once again speaks of what a good goalkeeper means for a team.

Goal! The fourth link was noted. Well, now it's definitely a win. Although, I assure you, there will still be moments.

- For some of the players of our team, this is the last Olympics. They will soon leave big sport. They have solid bank accounts, their own business... Tell us, how did you leave?

- Big problems with leaving the big sport were, let's say, the hockey players of the "first wave". Discoverers. They often did not have a normal education. Who had four classes, who had seven. It was hard for them to settle into a new life. Although many of them had officer ranks. We, hockey players of the "second wave", left with much less problems, because we had the opportunity to get a normal education.

- Another goal!

- Well, we can sum up the results of the match. Our guys performed well, playing collective hockey. A team is visible, which has four powerful links. And she is quite capable of winning the Olympic Games.

- Do you have any special feelings from the fact that the players who scored goals plus the goalkeeper are all somehow connected with Dynamo?

- You know, no. I have never divided people by their club affiliation.