Last year, the Czech team under the leadership of Alois Gadamchik was not criticized unless lazy. The team looked uncontrollable: in fact, it ignored all stages of the Eurotour, half-heartedly made it to the playoffs of the Olympic tournament and the World Cup, demonstrated a high-quality game exclusively in the mood ... In addition, Czech stars - Jagr, Sikora, Kaberle, Vyborny - regularly expressed dissatisfaction with the coaching methods Gadamchik. It didn’t suit them that the trainer in the old fashion issues all the links in order to implement the majority, and does not create separate special teams. They were outraged by too strict instructions on the game in defense. That was suspicious of Gadamchik himself, who did not achieve much success as a player.
It was possible to give up on the Czechs a hand - they say, sort out your problems yourself - if not for their famous character. At the Olympics in the quarter finals, the Slav brothers defeated their Slovaks neighbors in a fundamental dispute, and at the world championship, Russians were sent home at the same stage. If we recall that in the match for the Olympic bronze, the Czechs also offended our team, then the principle of the duel at the Karjala Cup could not be announced once again.
But it is not so. Since spring, much water has flowed. The Russian team was led by a new coach, and the direct participants in those matches in both teams can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Only Gadamchik’s chair remained stable, which, despite streams of criticism, came out of the water dry and extended the contract with the Czech Hockey Federation.
Pan Alois brought a rather experienced team to Finland. Let there be few stars in it, but there are more than enough experienced players experienced in the experience of international meetings - these are the defenders Martin Čech, Lukas Zib, Petr Caslav, forwards Petr Gubachek, Yaroslav Glinka, Vaclav Skugravy, Tomas Divizhek and others. The names are all seemingly well-known, but the game of the Czechs, like a year ago, leaves questions: too many deletions, many goals were missed in the minority ...
Russia, fortunately, had no game problems before the match. Vyacheslav Bykov was tormented by only one personnel issue: who should be entrusted to a place in the goal - Alexander Eremenko or Vasily Koshechkin? As a result, the choice fell on the latter. I think there are two reasons for this. Firstly, Vasily had two days of rest after the game with Finland and managed to recover during that time, and secondly, Eremenko gave not the best match with the Swedes. This is not to say that he was guilty of all four conceded goals, but the fact that he did not help out, at least in two, is a fact. Bykov did not make other permutations, although the first two links were shuffled due to weak (but essentially zero) performance.
Bykov did not succumb to temptations, and the course of the game confirmed his innocence. Although the beginning was unconvincing. With Czechs, the most dangerous thing is to miss the puck first and give them a head start. Alas, ours have created trouble for themselves from scratch. With tangible territorial superiority, in the middle of the first period the Russians missed the Chaslava click from the blue line and naturally started from the center of the site - 0: 1. Favorite Czech trick - to close and play "in a row" - had an effect. Our team was completely bogged down in the opponent’s defensive web, and the Czechs, as expected, switched to 4-1, in which the extreme attackers strictly worked out in defense.
Bet Bykov on youth clearly did not bring success. Overall Czechs were excluded from the game Kulemin, Shishkanov, Nepryaev, Konkova on the outskirts of the penalty area, were not shy about randomly throwing the puck out of the zone. Our only chance was to realize the majority, which the five of Leshchev stubbornly approached. Goalkeeper Chekhov Roman Malek dealt with threats until the beginning of the third period, while Alexander Kharitonov did not dare to throw in touch from an acute angle - 1: 1.
And then it began ... The Russians accelerated, and the Czechs were frankly led, like a boxer after a knockdown. It was possible and necessary to achieve the shocked enemy at these minutes. But the ubiquitous Fantomas Nikolai Kulemin, easily defeating the defender and goalkeeper, failed to send the puck into the empty net. The Czechs immediately punished for extravagance: Ivan Guml scored - 2: 1.
The defeat categorically did not suit the Russians. A desperate assault in the last minutes still brought a saving draw: for the umpteenth time, Peter Happy was the team’s mascot, who scored all decisive goals at the Karjal Cup. Overtime came out boring, and the shooters were better executed by the Russians - the gates of Malek hit Kharitonov and Kulemin.
But this was no longer fundamental. The main result is the first won Karjala Cup. This trophy only once left the borders of Finland: nine years ago, the Swedes interrupted the winning streak of the Suomi team. Now it is the turn of the Russians.
CZECH REPUBLIC - RUSSIA - 2: 3 B (1: 0, 0: 0, 1: 2, 0: 0, 0: 1)
0: 1 - 07:58 Caslav
1: 1 - 40:27 Kharitonov (Antipov, Leshchev), Bol.
2: 1 - 50:21 Guml (Caslav)
2: 2 - 58:04 Happy (Vorobyov, Kondratyev)
Goalkeepers: Marek - Koshechkin.