The championship began somehow serene. Not that it is generally imperceptible, but without a special pump. There are many objective reasons for this. Too noisy television and newspapers discussed what we expect and what we don’t expect from Tretyak, then there was the story with Spartak, the story with Malkin, Cheska Poyshtovna, the hasty assessments of coach Vyacheslav Bykov and the prospects of our team at the spring world championship in Moscow ... And by the beginning of the Russian championship, the fans seemed to be exhausted.
The start of the championship turned out to be calm for specialists. Too many prominent players will not have to participate in the tournament: almost all those who were promoted to run away from the teams. A similar resettlement of peoples takes place every year, but not on such a scale, and it’s now unsafe to talk about the stars of the season - there is a high probability of falling into trouble. A quiet desire to “just see” dominates.
But really, why make some noise? Is it not clear that “Ak Bars” with its first link will almost certainly become the most productive team? That even an experienced coach of “Magnitogorsk” Dave King will not be able to compensate for the simultaneous loss of two international players - Malkin and Kaygorodov? What is pretty, but not to the limit (Pyotr Vorobyev does not require an ideal composition in principle), will the strengthened Chemist be among the leaders? It is not a fact that he will close his gates to the castle from the first match, but soon enough he will reduce the average number of goals conceded per game to one or two. This is what distinguishes the Moscow Region club: four games, four goals conceded, four victories. (By the way, the four goals conceded by Chemist are not a record. Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik allowed to hit their goal only three times before the current match in Magnitogorsk.) And three points for three in fourteen (in total) games earned by new participants - Tractor "," Cupid "and" Wings of the Soviets "- not that they were predictable, but this option was not excluded.
Something, however, also causes quiet surprise. For example, the exploits of the HC MVD under the leadership of Nikolai Solovyov, who first saved the guest match against the well-equipped Salavat Yulaev, and in the last of the rounds he played gave a lesson in organizing the game to CSKA Bykov. Or the relatively bright start of Vityaz. Pleasant surprises, no doubt. However, even here I don’t feel like shouting “Give!”: Who knows how long this will be?
And certainly one cannot rush to conclusions about whether the reinforced Petersburg and not too intensified Moscow army men started well or poorly. There is no need to rush to predict whether Dynamo will show its former strength in motion and exclaim at every corner that the Omsk Avangard will demonstrate its agility for the next half century only in the playoffs. You can assume. Insist - no.
In a word, the championship began quietly. Nothing, it will uncover. Let's not rush things.
Yuri Rozanov