To spite anti-records

The Finnish national team is perhaps our most uncomfortable opponent in recent history. Since 1996, that is, ten years in a row, the Russian team could not win anything on Finnish ice. Complete defeats - at the World Cup, in friendlies, games of the Eurotour. The dry and outrageously weak-willed misfire in the Olympic semifinal - 0: 4 became an appendage to these sad statistics. How to deal with these hot Finnish guys? The new head coach of the Russian national team Vyacheslav Bykov found the answer in the opening match of the second stage of the Eurotour - Karjala Cup.

There is an opinion that the Eurotour is gradually becoming obsolete, becoming marginal and of little interest. Do not believe it! All these verbal solitaire games are far from life. Initially, the Eurotour was really conceived as an unofficial European championship among national teams, in which the strongest hockey players would take part. But gradually, as the calendar became saturated, the tournament began to solve other, less status tasks. Here the elite of tomorrow was formed, future stars were gaining experience - the Sedina brothers, Kovalchuk and Ovechkin, Malkin ... Finally, from the Eurotour games, we could and still can make an idea of ​​the strength of the European championships, which are available only in the video review mode.

Today Eurotour has matured and gained its own format. Winning it is prestigious, but even more important - to prepare for the 2007 World Cup in Moscow. How to do it? Each of the four European teams - Sweden, Czech Republic, Russia and Finland - decides independently.

The Russians do not set themselves the task of definitely winning the tournament or a single stage, but they are happy to experiment, play new links and combinations, and check the youth in business. This, of course, should not be taken literally. The strategy in the formation of the team, of course, exists. So, the head coach Vyacheslav Bykov summoned almost all the defenders who took part in the Ceske Poyishtovny Cup to the Karjala Cup, with the exception of Dmitry Bykov (who is injured) and Vitaly Proshkin. An injection of fresh thought in the person of Denis Grebeshkov and Andrei Kuteikin had a spiritual effect in the first minutes of the starting match with the Finns. Contrary to expectations, the Russians immediately ran forward and forced the owners to break the rules in the first shift. The hulking Bergenheim stopped the passage of the jet Kharitonov with his knee pointing forward. For the implementation of the majority, the Bulls released all the links in turn, until the third five nominally said their weighty word. The click of Kuteykin caught the Finnish goalkeeper Yani Hurme unawares, yawning a strong but unpretentious shot into the near corner.

The abandoned puck gave our team the necessary confidence that even the misconduct of the debutant-grenadier Evgeny Artyukhin did not shake. The forward of Lokomotiv rudely treated Jari Viuhkola, causing him serious injury (the Finn left the site not without the help of partners), and was rightly expelled before the end of the game. Thus, already in the middle of the first period, Bykov had to urgently redraw the links - in the fourth troika of the attack, Igor Volkov came out instead of Artyukhin. He paired with Ivan Nepryaev, who successfully fought on the spot, and built a second goal.

0: 2 in the first period - and the Finns were close to shock. Their vaunted defense regularly failed, creaking frantically, like an ungreased tram. For a second, even a thought flashed: Are the Finns playing against us? Get out of doubt! The composition of the Suomi team was close to the military: experienced Marco Kiprusoff, Janne Niskala, Jussi-Antti Niemi and Aki-Peteri Berg plowed in defense, Tomi Kallio, Riku Hal, Yanni Rita were constantly on duty at the gates of two-meter debutant ... On behalf of the rippled eyes. But for the time being, the Scandinavians could not do anything. Real threats took shape at the beginning of the second twenty minutes. Either the owners woke up, encouraged by the roar of the stands, or ours were taken aback from such a lucky start, but the Finnish debut of the period remained entirely. They realized the majority twice in two minutes and turned dull 0: 2 into acceptable 2: 2.

The hosts clearly added to the movement, and against our background, two of our leading links were a little lost. The best striker of the Czech stage, Anton Kuryanov, got bogged down in the Finnish defensive nets, and Alexei Simakov (who, by the way, changed the 9th number to the 12th) and Nikolai Kulemin did not rush to help him. The most experienced first link Alexander Kharitonov - Albert Leshchev - Vladimir Antipov did not look so bright, but it was useful. It was the calm and confidence of the leaders that allowed the Russians not to flinch at the most crucial moment, when the Finns wound up after the shock start of the second period.

The fate of the match-swing was decided at the very beginning of the third twenty-minute period. Russia was made happy by the person with the most suitable surname for this - Peter the Happy. His accurate throw, the armpit of Yani Hurme, brought the team under the leadership of Vyacheslav Bykov for the fourth consecutive victory in official matches. Our team has strengthened its leadership in the Eurotour (11 points).

In another match of the day, the Czechs on their own ice took revenge from the Swedes for an unfortunate defeat at the České Poyistovny Cup - 5: 4. The game was replete with goals in the second and third periods, while a minute before the end of the meeting, the hosts were three goals apart, but squandered a solid advantage. Today is November 10th - the Karjala Cup is a day off, but already on Saturday the Russians will fight with the Swedes, and the Finns with the Czechs.

FINLAND - RUSSIA - 2: 3 (0: 2, 2: 0, 0: 1)

0: 1 - 1:41 - Kuteikin (Grebeshkov, Vorobiev), in Bol.
0: 2 - 13:14 - Nepryaev (Kondratyev)
1: 2 - 25:41 - Niskala (Pirnes, Kallio), in Bol.
2: 2 - 27:42 - Pirnes (Kiprusoff), in Bol.
2: 3 - 42:06 - Happy (Nepryaev).

Karjala Cup