Overseas machinist

Paul Gardner won his eighth match in a row against Lokomotiv

In the regular Super League championship, teams have 7-8 matches left to play. It seems that there is no intrigue left in the fight for a place in the playoffs, where 16 out of 19 participants receive a pass. In the 51st round, Novokuznetsk Metallurg defeated Cherepovets Severstal at home - 5:0, and Chelyabinsk Traktor was defeated on its ice by Yaroslavl Lokomotiv - 0:2. Now Kuznya, which occupies the coveted 16th place, is seven points ahead of the Urals. This is too big a gap, and the “tractor drivers” are unlikely to be able to eliminate it, because they score points with great difficulty. So, in the last four matches, the Chelyabinsk team got only one draw.

Their next defeat simultaneously became the eighth consecutive victory for the “railroad workers” since the American specialist Paul Gardner took charge of the team. The unique series of the overseas specialist somehow fuels interest in the sluggish championship. The third round calendar for the Yaroslavl team turned out to be drawn up in such a way that first Gardner had to play against the top four, and then Loko found itself in a series of meetings with outsiders. Moreover, contrary to expectations, victories over Krylia Sovetov, Amur and Traktor were not easy for Gardner’s team.

In the Far East, at the end of regular time the match was recorded as a draw, and to continue the series they had to throw the puck in overtime. “Wings” were beaten on their home field with a modest score of 3:1, and the Muscovites were the first to turn on the red light behind the opponent’s goal. In Chelyabinsk, the Yaroslavl team managed to stop goalkeeper Gelashvili only at the beginning of the second period. Today Lokomotiv hosts Vityaz near Moscow, and Gardner has a great chance to continue his winning streak. But on Wednesday the “railroad workers” have a rather difficult game - on the Luzhniki ice against the capital’s “Dynamo”.

The current national champion and leader of the current tournament, Kazan Ak Bars, defeated the team of head coach of the Russian national team Vyacheslav Bykov in the capital of Tatarstan - 3:1. Canadian Leopards defender Raymond Giroud scored a brace in the match against CSKA. Alexey Morozov made two assists in this match. Now, to break his own scoring record in the Russian championships, Morozov only needs to score three points using the “goal plus pass” system. Now he has 72 points.

At the end of the match “Avangard” - “Salavat Yulaev”, the Omsk coach sharply criticized the actions of the main referee of the match, Polyakov. “Teams must sort things out among themselves. When the referee interferes with the game, it is very bad. Moreover, Polyakov seems to be an experienced referee and had no right to behave like that. The referee must be invisible on the ice, said Valery Belousov. - Polyakov was the most important thing on the court, and the fans booed not the teams, but him. We have already asked Polyakov not to judge us more than once, but there is no way to achieve this. I'll have to ask again. After the game, the match inspector came in and said that Kalyuzhny’s removal was unfair. When in such games they leave three players for two minutes... Although in no way do I want to belittle Ufa’s victory. The strongest wins. We always play hard at home against Salavat.”

Due to the home defeat from Ufa, Avangard's gap from Ak Bars increased from four to seven points. On Saturday in Omsk, the Hawks' streak of four consecutive victories was interrupted. It is interesting that after the onset of the new year, Avangard suffered failures three times, and all the time with a minimal difference in the score.

The capital’s “Wings” continue to be in a fever, from which no one has been expecting serious results for a long time. As a Vremya Novostey correspondent learned, the players of the team, which suffered 14 defeats in the last 16 matches, issued an ultimatum to the club’s management. If wage arrears are not repaid in the near future, the hockey players of the capital's team are ready to go on strike.

---

Super League

I V V N PO P S H O

1. Ak Bars	47	30	3	6	1	7	179--95	103
2. Vanguard	47	28	3	5	1	10	152--112	96
3. Metallurg Mg	47	27	2	5	1	12	128--85	91
4. Salavat Yulaev	46	25	0	11	1	9	127--95	87
5. Chemist	46	24	0	5	1	16	129--101	78
6. Locomotive	47	22	2	6	1	16	126--112	77
7. Siberia	46	22	2	4	2	16	123--119	76
8. Severstal	47	22	2	3	1	19	122--116	74
9. CSKA	46	22	0	4	1	19	127--119	71
10. Lada	47	18	2	6	0	21	103--108	64
11. Dynamo M	46	18	1	5	2	20	120--120	63
12. HC MIA	46	18	3	1	1	23	129--145	62
13. Neftekhimik	46	17	1	6	1	21	107--112	60
14. SKA	47	17	0	6	2	22	123--137	59
15. Vityaz	46	15	1	3	4	23	108--128	54
16. Metallurg Nk.	46	9	6	9	2	20	91--123	50
17. Tractor	46	10	1	10	1	24	88--122	43
18. Cupid	46	8	1	7	3	27	76--127	36
19. Wings of the Soviets	47	5	1	4	5	32	94--176	26

Ilya TRISVIATSKY