Either the limit of sensations at the tournament has already been exhausted, or surprises have ended in the group where the Russian team is playing, but the last two days there have been no very interesting news from Sweden where the tournament is taking place.
Knowledgeable people, for example, scared the fans of the team that the national team of Yevgeny Popikhin would yield to the Czechs. And in the Czech Republic itself it was believed that they had brought the strongest team to the championship. As a result, this team may leave Division 1 altogether.
Then, people who watched youth hockey predicted the Russian team would have difficulty meeting against Switzerland. Those who watched this game, for sure, regretted the time spent. It is absolutely not interesting to watch how the team “carries” lovers. Porters got six goals into their own net.
They can be said to have bounced.
The third game of the Russian team was much easier than the first two matches. If someone had concerns about what we had to play without rest (they had to go out on ice on Thursday), then these people can be called reinsurers.
Firstly, at the youth level, two matches in a row is not perceived as a serious burden. Here, shifts do not last 40-75 seconds, as in adults, but much more (the captain of the Czech team mostly plays two minutes in a row). And nothing, everyone survives. Secondly, the Swiss did everything possible so that the Russian team did not strain, but felt like in a training session, and even quite unhindered. Thirdly, Belarusians were unlikely to initially count on points in this game. And they went out onto the ice, morally “losing” somewhere 0: 3.
Our unanswered goals were also spent in the first period, having removed all questions regarding the winner. No surprises. Goalkeeper of Belarus Valery Pronin predictably did not take lightweight goals. Russian attackers were expected to be densely located in a foreign zone, even in equal compositions.
A little more in this match was work for goalkeeper of the Russian national team Semyon Varlamov. Head coach Eugene Popikhin decided that the player of the Yaroslavl “Locomotive” does not need a break, and his replacement in this match will do more harm than good. Varlamov again played perfectly. He saved the team from the goal with the score 1: 0, and then at the beginning of the second period, when the Belarusians finally calmed down the trembling in the knees.
In these three victories, only one thing is bad so far. The Russian team holds the matches very cool, goes all out (at least from the first minutes), but all this is idle. Opponents do not deserve such an attitude at all. And it is not clear whether the forces and emotions will remain in the playoffs. That is, no one yet knows how the team will behave in an extreme situation.
But then the team is already in the quarter finals (in the worst case) or in the semifinals, if our pursuers lose points. The latter does not even have to doubt. In our group, not rivals, but some extras. All but Russia.
Alexey Shevchenko