“The deletions broke the game”: Oleg Znarok about refereeing in the World Cup semi-final with Canada. The fatal third period. The Russians lost to Canada in the World Cup semi-finals. Who did Canada play in the final?

The defeat by the Canadian national team will be included in the list of the most painful and offensive failures of the Russian national hockey team. After the second period, no one had any doubts that Znarka’s team would beat their main rival for the first time in six years and reach the World Cup finals. The Maple Leaves, having conceded twice in less than three minutes, frankly fell apart.

But what happened in the final period defies any analysis. After talking with the coach in the locker room, the Canadians returned to the ice in a completely different mood and simply swept away the Russian team. Four missed goals became a death sentence for the domestic team. A team that demonstrates really good hockey at the World Cup will, at best, receive bronze awards.

The first member of the national team to speak out about the game was the President of the Russian Hockey Federation, Vladislav Tretyak. The legendary goalkeeper criticized the refereeing team, which, in his opinion, removed Russian athletes too often.

“We played well for two periods, but because of the deletions the whole game broke down. I think when they played against the goalkeeper, it was an accidental sending off, and everyone else was on point. We could have beaten Canada, we were leading 2:0, the game was in our hands, but the deletions broke everything,” Tretyak is quoted as saying by “Championship.”

Another legendary hockey player, two-time Olympic champion Alexander Kozhevnikov, spoke much harsher to the judges.

“The team fought and played, but the referees did something incomprehensible. They did unique things! So the guys were great, they fought, but they weren’t allowed to play. I'm tired of all this. Something needs to be done with the implementation, it was a bit difficult. Well done guys, they played great!” - Kozhevnikov added.

But two-time Olympic champion Boris Mikhailov did not blame the referees for the defeat of the Russian team.

“You need to ask the head coach and staff what happened in the third period. But we had to manage to lose with a score of 0:4,” Mikhailov noted.

“I have nothing to reproach hockey players with”

In turn, the coach of the Russian squad, Oleg Znarok, who again failed to beat the Canadians, did not miss the opportunity to criticize the judges and said that he had no complaints against his hockey players.

“To Canada - with victory. We played a good game, I have nothing to blame my guys for. They fought to the last. Somewhere unlucky. Getting ready for the next game. The deletions broke the game, we made such mistakes. There is nothing common in Canada's defeats. They gave unjustified deletions. They probably started trimming. Today I hoped that we would win. When it was 2:0, they could still score. What kind of psychology is this if they give such deletions to Evgeny Kuznetsov?! We will try to recover and fight tomorrow. We have a very good team, this is a very disappointing defeat,” the coach said.

Znarok also said that the condition of Vladislav Gavrikov, who left the court in the third period after a collision with an opponent, leaves much to be desired.

“Everything is very bad,” the specialist said briefly.

Znarka's counterpart John Cooper noted that the game between Russia and Canada turned out to be incredible.

“Great hockey game. Happy to have been part of this match. This is incredible. Both teams played great. Yes, there was a plan to put Pareiko against Kuznetsov’s line. It worked. We forced the opponent to retire and were able to score. I can’t single out any of the players from the Russian national team - all the guys played to the limit of their capabilities,” said the coach.

“We could have been on a horse, but ended up under a horse”

But the Russian national team hockey players had no time for comments after the game. They all simply refused to believe what had happened. Perhaps the most succinct assessment of the situation was Artemy Panarin, who does not mince his words.

“It’s a nasty defeat - even though we were leading, we lost. We could have been on the horse, but ended up under the horse,” Panarin complained.

According to the hockey player, the Russian team started playing too early to hold the score and paid for it.

“We tried to play every shift, but sometimes it happens that when you’re leading, you start to get nervous and throw yourself off. Complete bad luck, really. It’s a triple shame that we played the entire game and were constantly sent off. But tomorrow we'll play. The Canadians scored a quick goal at the beginning of the third period, then the game became slippery, everyone was worried - and they lost. We played well, at the beginning we had the initiative, at the end we didn’t need to shoot on the boards, it didn’t work out,” Panarin noted.

Forward Evgeny Dadonov could not even find the reasons for the failure of the Russian team in the third period.

“I can’t answer what happened in the third period. I don't think we were worried. The deletions may have started. I don't discuss refereeing. The game worked out for two periods, but not in the third. I wouldn’t say that Canada was invincible,” the striker said.

But defenseman Dmitry Orlov tried to carefully analyze the unsuccessful period and emphasized that the course of the match was turned around by the Canadians’ first goal on the power play.

“We conceded in the minority at the beginning of the third period. This probably caused uncertainty. If we had survived, then maybe there would have been a different game. We knew that Canada would run to win back, the coaches told us about this, but we did not fulfill their demands. We tried, fought for the puck. There were two unsuccessful rebounds, after which the Canadians scored goals. We should have played better and not given them chances. Were there any deletions in the third period? May be. Judges judge differently, you can’t change anything,” Orlov noted.

According to the hockey player, the domestic squad should have acted more calmly when the score was 2:0 in their favor and not made stupid mistakes.

“We try to defend. The mood was for the majority, we could still score, but we didn’t succeed. Some guys sat and lost the pace of the game. It's hard to realize that we lost. With the score 2:0, we had to play calmly and not make mistakes, so that they would attack and fail, and we would act on counterattacks, but this did not work out. The bronze medal match, of course, must be won. There is one more game left, we need to go out and fight. We play for the national team, full stands come to watch us, we can’t just go out,” Orlov added.

Almost all Russian hockey players refused to comment on the refereeing, but forward Sergei Andronov expressed his opinion.

“Biased refereeing? There were a lot of deletions, but I don’t know whether it was biased or not, although often it’s not even clear for a moment why they were deleting. Equalized? Who knows? We understand that we missed a big chance, and it’s a shame for the fans, they supported us well,” he shared.

“Russia is the most difficult opponent we have played with”

While the Russian hockey players, for obvious reasons, were not eager to talk to the media after the game, the Canadians, on the contrary, were very welcoming. And they can be understood, because after the second period, few believed in the salvation of the Maple Leaves. To their credit, the Canadians have consistently noted that Russia is a very strong competitor.

“I think that the Russian national team is the most difficult opponent of all whom we played at this tournament. A very fast team, moves the puck well, a lot of good hockey players. When the score was 0:2, we said in the locker room that we had to continue playing according to the match plan. When we scored the first goal, we felt that the game was going well and we needed to increase the pace,” said forward Colton Parayko.

Team partner and defender Michael Matheson supported him, who especially liked the play of Kuznetsov, who opened the scoring.

“As for Russia, Kuznetsov is one of the best strikers in the tournament. But after the second period we continued to believe that we could get back into the game and win,” the Canadian emphasized.

“I think we accomplished the mission. We had chances and we converted them. Luck was with us, I was lucky when I scored. The guys played great. At a certain point, we stopped thinking about anything else and just started playing hockey. We managed to win duels, and our chances increased. We had confidence and we had 20 minutes to come back. We believed in each other,” the striker noted.

In turn, goalkeeper Calvin Picard said that his partners felt calm after the second period, and admitted that he didn’t care who he played in the final.

“There was no panic in the locker room when the score was 0:2, everyone was in a fighting mood. From the very beginning of the third 20 minutes, we seized the initiative and were able to turn the tide of the match. Who to play with in the final? Personally, I don't care. Both Finland and Sweden are great teams. Maybe we’ll watch the second semi-final,” the goalkeeper said.

Before the super match there was no shortage of forecasts and opinions. Here are some of them.

The President of the FHR, when asked by journalists whether he was embarrassed by the fact that Oleg Znaro Having never beaten Canada, he replied: We haven’t beaten them since 1972 either. We have a good team. Two equal opponents will meet. Everything will depend on discipline, the match with the Americans showed that deletions break the game.”

A famous coach also spoke about deletions Yuri Novikov. “We need to play more with puck control and we need to increase the number of shots. Particular attention must be paid to discipline. Unnecessary deletions should simply be burned out,” he told the “Championship”.

On May 19, the Russian team, which returned from Paris back to Cologne, held a training session, which the striker missed Vladislav Namestnikov. Instead of him in a link with Nikita Kucherov And Artemy Panarin played Evgeny Kuznetsov. The Russian coach explained the situation. “There was no point in allowing Namestnikov to practice injections. But we are all ready to go out at any moment. Most likely, we will play with 13 attackers and 7 defenders.”

Vitolins also spoke about the upcoming semi-final. “The main thing is to play simpler in your own zone, not to look for unnecessary complex passes. The team that plays more reliably from behind will win. Both we and they are masters in attack. If we play like we did against the Czechs, we’ll score our own goals,” he said.

The ex-coach of the Russian national team shared his opinion regarding the Russia-Canada game Vyacheslav Bykov. “It all depends on how the opponent allows us to play and on our ambitions. Ours will impose their hockey on the Canadians!” - he told the Championship.

Russian national team forward Evgeny Kuznetsov spoke in a very original way about the upcoming game. “Am I ready for a tough game? Well, I’m from ChTZ (one of the districts of Chelyabinsk - author’s note), so is it possible to intimidate me with something? I wouldn't say that they have some tough guys there. The guys are all playing, who skate well and can play with their bodies. Moreover, on a large platform it is not so easy to catch someone,” he told R-Sport.

As Harijs Vitolins said, our team entered 13 attackers and 7 defenders for the match with Canada. The combinations of links remained the same as in the last training session before the match. Evgeny Kuznetsov entered the trio with Nikita Kucherov and Artemy Panarin. Vladislav Namestnikov was announced as the 13th striker.

There were no changes in the Canadian team's lineup compared to the quarterfinal match against Germany.

Canadian comeback

Canada – Russia – 4:2 (0:0, 0:2, 4:0)

Despite the starting protocol, the Canadians were nominally the third line in the lineup for the first face-off Matt Duchene, Sean Couturier And Alex Killorn. And then this trio created a dangerous moment at the gate Andrey Vasilevsky– the puck suddenly bounced right onto the patch. However, the Russian team responded by attacking the goal Calvin Picard.

In general, in the first period it was an approximately equal game with a slight advantage for the Russian team, but the Canadians did not allow any truly dangerous moments to be created. Five minutes before the siren, the first penalty in the match happened - Mark Scheifele dropped Sergei Andronov. But in the next two minutes, the Russians had nothing to write home about, except, perhaps, a failed shot Vadim Shipachev.

Immediately after the lineups leveled off, Andronov again came under force - this time he was attacked Braydon Schenn, and so much so that our team’s doctor had to put a bandage on the player’s broken face, and the arena workers had to remove drops of blood from the ice. However, this time the judges did not record any violation. At the end of the period, the teams exchanged dangerous attacks, our spearhead was Valery Nichushkin.

The second period began with two consecutive deletions from the Canadian team. In the first two minutes there was a luxurious moment Evgeniy Dadonov, whom his partners brought out to shoot in the center of the goal. However, the puck changed direction at the last moment, hitting one of the defenders. The shelling of Picard's goal continued, but apart from a significant improvement in the shot statistics, the Russian team failed to achieve anything. The Canadians defended quite calmly, not allowing our team to play effectively in the final stage.

In the middle of the second period, for the first time, the Russian team remained in the minority, and Anton Belov, pushed Travis Konecny, went to the penalty box immediately for 10 minutes - the judges ruled a blow to the head. Ours held out, and soon the first goal took place. The combination of the Russian team turned out to be luxurious. The Canadians looked, enchanted, as Kucherov, Panarin and Kuznetsov weaved lace in their zone. As a result, Kuznetsov, standing in front of the empty corner of the goal, had plenty of time.

And two and a half minutes later, the Russians finally converted the majority. The combination was similar to the one after which the first puck ended up in Canada's goal. Only this time everything was performed by Panarin, Shipachev and Gusev. Moreover, the puck came off the stick of the SKA forward during the final scoring shot.

At the end of the period, Andrei Vasilevsky had to demonstrate all his skills, and the Russian national team goalkeeper coped with several dangerous attacks by the Canadians, including at the moment when ours were left in the minority. Removal Artyom Zuba flowed into the third period, but the Canadians had 17 seconds to seal Vasilevsky’s goal - Mark Scheifele effectively put his stick under the throw Nate Mackinnon. But this, as it turned out, was only the beginning of major troubles for the Russian team.

The inspired Canadians attacked Vasilevsky’s goal, and Tanya managed to “burn out” the removals, as the Russian coaching staff had planned. One by one they went to the penalty box Anton Belov, Artyom Zub, then touched the Canadian goalkeeper Evgeny Kuznetsov. And five minutes before the siren, the Canadians’ advantage was embodied in Mackinnon’s goal. To top off all the troubles, Vladislav Gavrikov was injured and went to the locker room.

But the nightmare third period for the Russian team did not end there. Another attack by the Canadians ended with the puck off the skate Sergei Plotnikov To Ryan O'Reilly, who finished it into the net - 3:2 three minutes before the siren. The coaching staff almost immediately replaced Vasilevsky with an extra player, but it all ended with the Canadians’ fourth goal – into an empty net.

The Canadian team will play in the World Championship finals, the Russian team will compete for bronze. Their opponents will be determined in a few hours.

Statistics

0:1 Evgeny Kuznetsov (Artemy Panarin, Nikita Kucherov) 32:16

0:2 Nikita Gusev (Vadim Shipachev, Artemy Panarin) 34:50, sick.

1:2 Mark Scheifele (Nate Mackinnon, Colton Paraiko) 40:17, b.

2:2 Nate Mackinnon (Travis Konecny) 55:07

3:2 Ryan O'Reilly (Mike Matheson) 56:58

4:2 Sean Couturier (Ryan O'Reilly, Colton Parayko) 58:53 – p.v.

Goalkeepers: Calvin Picard – Andrei Vasilevskiy

Znarok: “There is nothing to blame the players for”

Head coach of the Russian national team Oleg Znarok, FHR President Vladislav Tretyak and team players commented on the defeat in the semi-finals.

“We played a good game today. I have nothing to reproach my guys for. They fought from the first to the last minute. Somewhere we were unlucky, this is sports. Getting ready for the next game. I wouldn't say that moving from Paris was a factor. We arrived in a good mood,” reports the words of Znarka “R-Sport”.

President of the FHR Vladislav Tretiak believes that the fate of the match was predetermined by the removal of the Russian team.

“We played well for two periods, but because of the deletions the whole game broke down. I think when they played against the goalkeeper, it was an accidental removal, and everyone else was on point. We could have beaten Canada, we were leading 2:0, the game was in our hands, but the deletions broke everything,” Tretyak’s “Championship” reports.

Evgeniy Dadonov, forward of the Russian national team:

I can’t answer what happened in the third period. I don't think we were worried. The deletions may have started. I don't discuss refereeing. The game worked out for two periods, but not in the third. I wouldn't say Canada was invincible. (Championship).

Dmitry Orlov, Russian national team defender:

A disappointing defeat... You saw the third period yourself. We played poorly and were sent away. They let them score one and they started to get nervous. Then there were deletions, and this became the main reason for the defeat. Everyone wanted to win this game, and the match turned out to be very good, we were very close to winning. We shouldn't have played like that in the third period. (R-Sport)

The Swedes are in the final

Sweden – Finland – 4:1 (1:1, 2:0, 1:0)

The second semi-final began with massive attacks from Tre Krunur, but the first goal was not the result of a combination of the Swedes, but the result of an unexpected throw Alexandra Edler. And what a throw! Not only that, neither Edler himself nor the Finnish goalkeeper saw the puck in the goal Harry Syater And. Only the ringing of the rod indicated that the puck should be looked for more carefully. As a result, the referees barely managed to remove the “projectile” stuck in the net.

However, the Swedes failed to build on their success. Almost the first moment at the gate Henrik Lunkvist ended with a goal. Made the goal Juhamati Aaltonen, who managed to leave three opponents out of work, obviously relying on each other, and throw the puck under the throw Joonas Kemppainen. The forward, who became a Salavat Yulaev player this off-season, did not miss a beat.

In the second period, the Swedish press continued, with the only difference being that Tre Krunur did not allow themselves to make any more mistakes, and they themselves brought the score to 3:1, clearly taking advantage of the opponent’s deletions. Only the heroic play of Sateri allowed the Finns to go into the break without losing more - several times the Vityaz goalkeeper saved the team in almost hopeless situations.

In the final third, the Finns tried to turn the tide of the game and produced an impressive five minutes, during which Henrik Lunqvist had to work hard. The Swedish goalkeeper coped with it, and the turning point was Joakim Lundström's puck in the 54th minute.

As a result, tomorrow the gold of the World Championship will be played by the national team of Sweden and Canada, and the teams of Russia and Finland will compete for bronze.

Statistics

1:0 Alexander Edler (Niklas Bäckström) 1:49

1:1 Joonas Kemppainen (Juhamati Aaltonen) 4:45

2:1 John Klingberg (Oliver Ekman-Larsen, William Nylander) 24:36, sick.

3:1 William Nylander (Niklas Backström) 34:52, sick.

4:1 Joakim Nordström (Marcus Kruger) 53:52

Goalkeepers: Henrik Lunqvist – Harri Sateri.

The Canadian team won the semi-final match of the 2017 World Hockey Championship over the Russian team, the meeting ended with a score of 4:2. The Canadians made it to the finals, Oleg Znarok's team will compete for bronze medals.

In the second period, the Russians scored two goals - goals were scored after beautiful combinations by Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nikita Gusev. At the start of the third period, Canada converted a power play, with Mark Scheifele scoring the puck. The last five minutes were decisive - Canada scored two goals through the efforts of Nathan MacKinnon and Ryan O'Reilly, turning the tide of the match. The last goal, into an empty net, was scored by Sean Couturier - 4:2.

The skating rink was beautiful. Canada left Russia without a final

The Russian team led the semi-finals of the 2017 World Cup with a score of 2:0, but could not hold on to the victory and missed Canada into the final.

“Happy to have been part of this match”

At the post-match press conference, the head coach of the Canadian team gave a fiery speech.

“I was very lucky to coach both the NHL and the World Championship team. This is one of the best games I've played. Great hockey game. Happy to have been part of this match. This is incredible. And whatever the result, it doesn't even matter because both teams played great. The meeting turned out to be quite interesting and unique. Both teams have a strong majority. This incredible match will live long in the memory of many and it deserved to go to overtime.

There was a plan to put Pareiko against Kuznetsov’s three. This is a very dynamic unit, and they are excellent personalists. Are you satisfied with the play of the Russian guys from Tampa? I can’t single out any of the players from the Russian national team - all the guys played to the limit of their capabilities,” Cooper said.

“There was no panic in the locker room when the score was 0:2”

Team Canada goalkeeper Calvin Picard stated that the team did not panic, losing after two periods with a score of 0:2.

“Our team managed to have a good third period. We regrouped our forces, each of us was able to improve, and this brought good results. I think we performed well in the first two periods. There was no panic in the locker room when the score was 0:2; everyone was in a fighting mood. From the very beginning of the third twenty minutes we seized the initiative and were able to turn the tide of the match. Who to play with in the final? I don't care. Both Finland and Sweden are great teams. Maybe we’ll watch the second semi-final,” Picard noted.

How to lose the third period - 0:4. Znarok did not win against Canada again: video

The Russian national team lost to Canada for the second time this season at major international tournaments - video review of the 2017 World Cup semi-final.

“Everything was like on a swing, up and down”

Team Canada defender Colton Pareiko admitted that Russia was the most difficult opponent for his team.

“It was a good match, very interesting. Everything was as if on a swing, up and down. We managed to play the ending better and snatch the victory. This is the first World Cup for me, and I am very glad that I was entrusted to play for the national team and defend the colors of the national team. It's a special feeling. I think the Russian national team is the most difficult opponent we played against at this tournament. A very fast team, moves the puck well, a lot of good hockey players. When the score was 0:2, we said in the locker room that we had to continue playing according to the match plan. When we scored the first goal, we felt that the game was going well and we needed to increase the pace,” said Paraiko.

“Russia has a good team”

Team Canada forward Wayne Simmonds praised his opponent.

“Today I played in my style, tried to attack as much as possible. I tried my best to support the guys. We found ourselves in difficult situations more than once, so we were not at a loss when we lost - 0:2. I think we were pretty good, we played decently in the first period. Russia has a good team, in the second period the opponent beat us, and we needed to improve our game,” said Simmonds.

"Mission accomplished"

Team Canada forward Ryan O'Reilly stated that he was confident of victory.

“I think we accomplished the mission. We had chances and we converted them. Luck was with us, I was lucky when I scored. The guys played great. I think at some point we stopped thinking about other things and just started playing hockey. We managed to win duels, and our chances increased. We had confidence and we had 20 minutes to come back. We believed in each other," O'Reilly said.

“In the second period, two minorities were ‘killed’”

Team Canada forward Jeff Skinner noted that the start of the meeting was unsuccessful.

“The start of the match wasn’t very successful: the puck didn’t move, no scoring chances were created, and, as you know, it’s impossible to win without goals. But we have a good team, we were able to overcome the situation. In the second period, two minorities were killed, which helped to gain confidence. We did a good job today and we will try to play well in the final,” Skinner said.

Canadian national team defender Michael Matheson noted the game of Evgeniy Kuznetsov.

“Pareiko is an excellent, large defender. He doesn't look like anyone else. Colton is a great addition to our team, especially on the power play. The guys did a great job. As for Russia, Kuznetsov is one of the best strikers in the tournament. After the second period we continued to believe that we could get back into the game and win. Now we need to focus on the next game,” said Matheson.

Without a win over the Canadians since 2011. Russia's defeat to Canada in the playoffs

The Russian team lost to Canada in the semi-finals of the 2017 World Cup. This is the fourth time the Russians lost to the Canadians in the playoffs.

The skating rink was beautiful. Canada left Russia without a final

The Russian team led the semi-finals of the 2017 World Cup with a score of 2:0, but could not hold on to the victory and missed Canada into the final.

There haven't been semifinals with Canada since the days of young Ovechkin

When they say “dream final,” you won’t be mistaken: we are definitely talking about the Russia-Canada match. This hockey classic is so steeped in history that it even has traditional stages. This is not only the final, when the best teams on the planet butt heads, as was the case in Quebec, Bern and Prague, but also the quarterfinals. And go and figure out where there is more drama: to lose in a decisive match to a fundamental opponent or to prematurely lose the chances of at least some medals, falling from the heights of ambition? If Quebec is usually remembered as the best final in the history of the World Cup, then Vancouver and Turin are, first of all, the tragedy of one team. The Olympic splinters are still firmly in my heart.

But the semi-final is the rarest stage for Russia-Canada matches. Not every fan, even with experience, will remember all the incidents. Before our teams met at the World Cup last fall, the Russians and Canadians had not played in the semifinals for more than ten years. 2005 year. Vein. The Russian team, led by Vladimir Krikunov, squeezed into the semifinals through the Finns, and with Canada they played a match that was somewhat reminiscent of the battle with the Americans in Salt Lake. By the 22nd minute, the Russian team was losing - 0:4, but did not give up, won back three goals and kept the great Martin Brodeur spinning in the goal until the last. The Canadians then advanced further, but, being battered by our team, lost to the Czechs in the final.

Prague 2015 - like a thorn in the side of seven players and Znarka

Then the very young Ovechkin and Malkin were rocking in Vienna. Over the course of 12 years, a generation has changed, and now the Russian national team is being brought to the battle with Canada by those who watched the 2005 World Cup semi-final almost from the sandbox. The leaders of the Russian national team recently competed at the youth world championships, at times acquiring the habit of beating their peers from Canada. In fact, this semi-final is the first truly big match for the generation of Kucherov and Kuznetsov. Each of them has already played in major tournaments, but has never been someone whom their partners and the whole country look up to with anticipation of a feat. It's time to come out from behind Ovechkin and Malkin. When, if not now?

Seven players from this team suffered the most painful defeat of their lives two years ago in Prague. Six goals from the Canadians in the World Championship final left a mark on the careers of Antipin, Mironov, Shipachev, Panarin and others. But above all, that fiasco undermined the coaching reputation of Oleg Znark. Even the success of Minsk after that failure was looked at from a different angle, remembering that negligibly few stars came to the capital of Belarus for the post-Olympic tournament. Canada has since become an unconquered peak for Znark. To say that what was happening at the Lanxess Arena was a challenge for him would be an understatement.

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Namestnikov could not miss the battle with Canada

As you know, even the dead play in the playoffs. And even more so in the World Cup playoffs with Canada. Vladislav Namestnikov, who took over the puck in the match with the Czechs, returned to the game with injections, but missed training with the Russian national team upon his return to Cologne. It was not completely clear whether the Tampa forward would be able to take the ice, and Harijs Vitolins assured that a decision on him would be made on the day of the game. Vladislav was eventually announced as the thirteenth striker, and in the first line, as during the quarterfinals, Kuznetsov played with Panarin and Kucherov. After sitting on the bench for the first couple of shifts, Namestnikov began to periodically appear on the ice with the fourth line, replacing either Tkachev or Barabanov. Only after the tournament will we find out how severe our striker’s injury was and what every minute on the court, played through pain, cost him.

Even the Czechs started out more powerful than Canada

Looking at how the Canadians made twenty shots per period in the match with Germany, it was time to expect something similar from them in the semifinals. Canada and strong start are almost synonymous. Instead, having created one chance in the first minute, the “Maples” hid. They turned on only sporadically, occasionally locking our guys in the zone for one or two minutes. Even such a great defender as Orlov sometimes reached a dead end when trying to start an attack. Otherwise, in the first period, Znarka’s team had the advantage.

Everything was good both with the number of shots (11-7) and with the quality, but every time luck was not on the side of the Russian team: somewhere a rebound would work for the Canadians, somewhere Picard would pull it down, and sometimes the Russian forwards were let down by a banal lack of skill . If the conditional Panarin had been in Tkachev’s place, the cross to the far post would probably have resulted in a goal, and not a miss on an empty goal. Andrei Vasilevsky was also not bored, but the opponents he faced were not at all the same “gorillas from the cage” that jumped out in Vancouver and then in Prague.

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The Russian team will beat Canada, and the skill of the Swedes will help them beat the Finns - this is what experts say.

The hunt for Andronov is an attempt to intimidate Russia

When Vlasic attacked Andronov at the beginning of the first period, they didn’t pay much attention to it. When the CSKA forward was brought in by Scheifele, some kind of trend was already visible. And after Schenn, in his only shift during the period, “split” the center of our power trio, there was no doubt left: the Canadians declared a hunt for Andronov. It seems that the purpose for the furious power moves was not accidental: the Canadians always find the biggest and strongest guy in the opponent’s lineup and begin to systematically beat him. So that other, smaller comrades would be discouraged. It would be good if, as a result of such attacks, it would be possible to send the big guy to the infirmary, but the main thing is still psychology. By catching Andronov, the “maple” tried to intimidate the entire Russian team. It didn't work out. After another hard hit, Sergei got up and continued the game, and the Russians did not even think about hiding on the bench from the angry Canadians.

Gusev’s hands were shaking, two people were watching Kucherov

Literally everyone, from coaches and players to Tretyak, repeated before the match: the main thing is to play with discipline and avoid penalties. What destroyed the Russian team in the match with the Americans could in no case be repeated with the Canadians. And the Russians held out for almost half of the match without a single deletion. But the “Maples” grabbed penalty minutes on an unforgivable scale for such a match. Moreover, they were given all sorts of fouls, including for violation of the number of players. Why not freedom for the best majority in the championship? However, both of our special teams, which had previously used more than half of their attempts, had problems when meeting with Canada.

Kucherov became the main striking force in the majority for the Russian team. Nikita was brought out to throw over and over again, but he didn’t even think about being modest. But not after every shot did the puck reach the goal. The Canadians, realizing that in front of them was one of the best snipers in world hockey, guarded Kucherov in twos, trying to block everything that was possible and impossible. Another problem immediately emerged: Canada gives much less time and space on the power play than any other team in the tournament. Our special teams had to move the puck faster, which the Shipachevites were not used to. And Gusev, for whom this was the first major tournament, sometimes his hands simply shook. When a technical forward misses the puck every now and then and makes the wrong decisions, nothing but excitement can explain it.

Beauty in Russian, or Simply “Kuznetsovshchina”!

Throughout the tournament, the Russian team plays in such a way that one would like to call it a “red machine” without irony. And it’s not even that the Znarka team swept the Danes and Italians out of the way. What matters is how the guys did it. From the first match to the semi-final with Canada, the Russians plunged us into deep nostalgia for the USSR national team - the hockey played by our team was so aesthetic. Diagonals, clever discounts, a constant search for partners - these are things that have always distinguished Soviet hockey, and in Cologne they became the signature style of this team. However, it is one thing to mock outsiders; it is quite another to do the same to Canada. But that’s why this team consists of guys who regularly beat their founders at the youth level, without feeling the slightest reverence.

Kuznetsov is one of those people who don’t feed him bread – let him abuse the Canadians. Remember his “Something like that” to young North Americans at the World Cup? There is about a ton of symbolism in the fact that it was he who found himself in front of an empty goal when our strike team drew a deadly beautiful geometric figure in the Canadian zone. Zhenya would have had time to eat those sweets with liqueur, the smell of which he smelled the day before from one of the Russian journalists, such chocolate conditions were created for him by Kucherov and Panarin. Well, pure “Kuznetsovism”! Less than three minutes had passed before Shipachev’s troika, for the most part, realized something similar, but also unique in its own way. The Russian team showed the Canadians the qualities for which our hockey has always been famous.

A period of patience that has burst

If the Russian team had scored everything they created, they would have gone into the second break with a score of 5:0, no less. But Picard, seasoned by playing in the hopeless Colorado, played almost the best match of the season, and our forwards, after two masterpieces, began to openly show off. Add a little composure - and for Canada this match would have ended long before the final siren. The one who would hammer the nail into the lid of the Canadian coffin was supposed to be the Viceroy, who played shots, but the goalkeeper stood in his way. And then the inexplicable began...

The entire third period took place in the Russian zone. The maximum that our hockey players could do was get to someone else's blue line and throw the puck into the zone without much hope of success. Znarka's players spent half of the decisive period in the minority, which literally drained all their strength. The team was first let down by captain Belov, for some reason Kuznetsov violated the rules in someone else’s zone, and Scheifele scored the first goal when young Zub was serving a fine on the bench. You can point at the judges who began to equalize the deletions, but in fact the Russian team was let down by the same discipline.

In the third period, Team Canada outscored our team five times. It was a period of patience, a period of clenched teeth, a period of the magnificent Vasilevsky, thrown to the wolves. The taut thread broke five minutes before the siren, when Nathan MacKinnon equalized the score from the spot, and two minutes later Ryan O'Reilly sent the puck under the crossbar. Canada played at its best for only one period, but it was enough to make a comeback and break the hearts of millions of Russians.