Russia at the 2012 World Hockey Championship

At the 2011 Ice Hockey World Championship, the Russian team took 4th place, which was recognized as an unsuccessful performance. In connection with this, the executive committee of the Russian Hockey Federation on May 26, 2011, dismissed Vyacheslav Bykov as the head coach of the Russian national team. Together with him, the team and his assistant Igor Zakharkin left. ^[1] . On June 25, 2011, Zinetula Bilyaletdinov was appointed to the post of national team coach with an aim to prepare the team for the hockey tournament of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014 . ^[2]

Thus, the 2012 World Cup was the first for a new coach of the Russian national team. As expected, in the process of preparing for the World Cup during his conduct, he could not avoid a comparison with the previous coach of the Russian hockey team - Vyacheslav Bykov, who twice led the Russian team to the gold medals of the World Cup. ^[3]

The main preparatory tournament for the World Cup for European teams is Euro Hockey Tour . During the tournament, the teams pursue different goals - some play the rosters for the World Cup, the second give young players to play at the international level, the third use the tournament for breeding purposes to select players for the national team. ^[4] One of the main complaints against the previous coach of the national team was low selection activity and the involvement of the same players in the team in order to practice their teamwork before the world championships. With the arrival of Zinetula Bilyaletdinov as head coach, it was announced that new promising players would be more often involved in the team in order to evaluate their game at the international level and to be included in the main team. However, in fact, during the Euro Hockey Tour, even fewer players were involved in the national team than with the previous mentor (45 vs. 48) and the lowest number compared to other teams participating in the tournament. True, the number of young players (up to 23 years old) who were invited to the team (7 vs. 5 in the previous year) increased, however this number was lower than that of some national teams of other countries. So, for example, 13 young hockey players took part in the tournament in the Swedish national team. ^[four]

In addition, with the change of the head coach, the playing style of the Russian national team has changed. Unlike Vyacheslav Bykov, who is a supporter of attacking hockey, Zinetula Bilyaletdinov professes defensive hockey, paying special attention to the game in defense. The change in the team’s playing style at the stage of preparation for the World Cup caused serious criticism from fans and journalists ^[5]

Finally, the results of the Russian national team in Euro hockey were also criticized. If the team won first place at the Karjala Cup in November 2011, having won all their meetings, then in the next three tournaments ( Channel One Cup , Oddset and Kajotbet ) the team did not rise above third place, and its game looked inconspicuous. The criticism of the head coach reached such an extent that after an unsuccessful performance by the national team in Sweden in February 2012, when he answered the journalist’s sharp question, he replied: “ If you don’t like it, return Bykov .” ^[6] At the same time, the president of the FHR, Vladislav Tretyak, said that even in the event of a failure at the World Championships, Bilyaletdinov would not leave the post of trainer in assembly, since his task was to prepare the team for the 2014 Olympic Games. ^[7]

Nondescript team also held friendly matches just before the World Cup itself. ^[8]

With the advent of the national team, Bilyaletdinov partially revised the composition of the national team. So, starting from the Karjala Cup, Ilya Nikulin was appointed the team captain by the sole decision of the coach, before that he had been playing in various clubs under the leadership of Bilyaletdinov for 10 years. ^[9] During the formation of the national team, the new head coach began to give preference to middle-aged players, ceasing to attract players over 33 years of age (the exception to the preparation for the World Cup was made only for Alexei Morozov ). ^[four]

On May 3, 2012, the coaching staff of the Russian national team announced the first 17 players (out of 25) to participate in the World Cup: ^[10]

• Goalkeepers : Semyon Varlamov (Colorado), Konstantin Barulin (Ak Bars).
• Defenders : Ilya Nikulin (captain), Evgeny Medvedev (both Ak Bars), Denis Denisov , Dmitry Kalinin (both SKA), Alexey Emelin (Montreal), Nikita Nikitin (Columbus);
• Forwards : Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit), Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh), Alexander Perezhogin , Alexander Popov (both Avangard), Alexander Svitov (Salavat Yulaev), Evgeni Kuznetsov (Tractor), Nikolai Kulemin (“Toronto”), Alexei Tereshchenko (“Ak Bars”), Nikolai Zherdev (“Atlant”).

Thus, 11 players from the Continental Hockey League (1 goalkeeper, 4 defenders and 6 forwards) and 6 players from the National Hockey League (1 goalkeeper, 2 defenders and 3 forwards) were initially invited to the national team. The Russian team announced 5 world champions (Nikulin, Kalinin, Perezhogin, Tereshchenko, Zherdev), 12 players have already participated in world championships, 6 of them (Barulin, Nikulin, Kalinin, Emelin, Kulemin, Tereshchenko) played at the championship World Cup 2011, 5 players (Medvedev, Nikitin, Popov, Kuznetsov, Svitov) for the first time played for the national team in an international tournament of such a high level.

On May 5, before the first game of the group stage with the Latvian national team, three more attackers were added to the team - for the first time Sergey Shirokov (CSKA), Denis Kokarev (Dynamo Moscow) and Evgeny Ketov (Severstal) were invited to the World Cup. ^[11] Three seats were reserved for players continuing to compete in the Stanley Cup . ^[12]

On May 10, before the game with the Danish national team, the national team’s coaching staff announced three more hockey players - the 2008 world champion goalkeeper Mikhail Biryukov (Ugra), as well as newcomers defenders Evgeny Biryukov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk) and Evgeny Ryasensky (CSKA). ^[13]

On May 13, it became known that at the playoff stage the team will be joined by world champions forward Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin ( Washington ), whose team completed the fight for the Stanley Cup . ^[fourteen]

Thus, in the final squad, the Russian team was represented by 17 KHL players (2 goalkeepers, 6 defenders and 9 forwards) and 8 NHL players (1 goalkeeper, 2 defenders and 5 forwards). 8 world champions played in the national team, 10 players played for the first time for the national team at the World Cup.

Other players

Of the 2011 Russian national hockey team, they were not invited to the World Cup: goalkeeper - Vasily Koshechkin (Severstal), defenders Vitaly Atyushov (Salavat Yulaev), Denis Grebeshkov (SKA), Nikolai Belov ( Neftekhimik ) , Fedor Tyutin ( Columbus ), forwards - Konstantin Gorovikov (Dynamo Moscow), Sergey Zinoviev (Salavat Yulaev), Dmitry Kulikov ( Florida ), Alexei Kaygorodov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk), Evgeny Artyukhin and Maxim Afinogenov (both - SKA).

Forwards were considered to participate in the World Cup, but the attackers Alexey Morozov and Danis Zaripov (both Ak Bars), Igor Grigorenko (Salavat Yulaev), as well as defender Nikita Zaitsev (Sibir) were forced to miss it due to injuries. . ^{[15] [16]}

Defender Anton Belov (Vanguard) and striker Maxim Rybin (SKA) were planning to participate in the World Cup, but the doping detected in the blood of hockey players two weeks before the start of the championship did not allow them to take part in the team’s game, which was, according to Zinetula Bilyaletdinov significant loss to the national team. ^[17]

4 players came to Sweden to train with the team, but were not declared in the main team and returned home: world champion defender Konstantin Korneev (Ak Bars) and strikers Vadim Shipachev (Severstal), Vladimir Tarasenko (SKA) and Alexander Burmistrov ( Winnipeg ). ^[18] Moreover, the sending home of Konstantin Korneev caused criticism of the former head coach of the Russian national team Vladimir Plyushchev , who considered that the declared team included defenders weaker than Korneev. ^[19] According to Bilyaletdinov, Vladimir Tarasenko and Alexander Burmistrov were not re-declared to the national team because of their unwillingness to play at such a high level. ^[twenty]

It was expected that world champion striker Alexander Radulov would join the team after his Nashville Predators club dropped out of the fight to own the Stanley Cup, ^{[21] [22]} but he refused to participate in the World Cup, citing injury. ^[23] In addition, goalkeeper Ilya Bryzgalov ( Philadelphia ), whose team also flew out of the Stanley Cup playoffs, was ready for arrival in the national team, but Bilyaletdinov decided not to invite him, as the team had already decided on the first number. ^{[24] [25]}

Criticism from sports observers was caused by the decision of Bilyaletdinov not to invite the best sniper of the Gagarin Cup Mikhail Anisin to the national team, as well as the most useful playoff player of goalkeeper Alexander Eremenko (both Dynamo Moscow). ^{[26] [27]} The head coach of the Russian national team himself explained this decision by the fact that he decided to call already verified players . ^[28]

Preliminary Stage

In the first match at the World Cup, the Russian national team confidently outplayed the Latvian national team. Despite the fact that the Latvians managed to open the scoring in the 12th minute and keep the lead, in the second half of the game the Russian team played out and scored five goals for the opponents, having received only one from the Latvians. ^[29] Already in the first match, the main problem of the Russian team was revealed - the beginning of the attack and entry into the opponent's zone. At the same time, Evgeni Malkin, who scored two goals against the Latvian national team, showed an excellent game. ^[thirty]

Despite the advantage in the first period (14-5 in the shots), the Russians failed to score in the first twenty minutes. The main intensity of the game came in the second period, when in response to two abandoned goals by the Russians, the Norwegians, playing five of them against three, were able to narrow the gap. Soon Pearl Oke Scroeder threw the puck into the goal of the Russians, but the referee did not count the puck. Until the end of the second period, the opponents exchanged pucks, and in the third period Perezhogin scored one puck into the goal of the Norwegians. ^[31]

Russia continued its winning streak, winning victories over the “second tier” teams. The main merit in the victory over the Germans belonged to third-level players. ^[32]

Russia easily defeated the Danes, continuing its winning streak at the World Cup. ^[33]

The match with the Swedes was initially called the head coach of the Russian national team in the qualifying group for the Russian team. ^[34] In addition, it was the first game with the first-tier team. At the beginning of the match, the Swedes managed to impose their game on the Russian team. As a result of the constant provocations of the Swedes, among which Juhan Franzen was especially distinguished, the Russian team remained in the minority three times and got the goals in their own goal. At the same time, it should be noted that the punishment of Alexei Emelin for hitting a club with Franzen was condescendingly small - two minutes of a fine. By the middle of the match, the score was 1: 3 in favor of the Swedish national team. The situation changed after the removal of the Swedes Johan Franzen, when the Russian team managed to score a second goal. After another rough game of the Swedes, the Russians evened the score in the match, playing five of them against three Swedes. At the beginning of the third period, Alexander Perezhogin scored a decisive goal against the Swedes. After that, the game of the Swedish national team finally crumbled and Malkin and Denisov spent three more goals against the Swedes. In the middle of the third period, in the zone of the Russian goalkeeper, Dmitry Kalinin rudely played against Franzen, who broke his nose to the Swedish striker. Franzen was taken off the court, Kalinin was removed before the end of the match. According to the results of the game, Alexey Emelin was disqualified for one game, and Dmitry Kalinin - for three. ^{[35] [36]} According to the results of the match, sports observers noted the game of Evgeni Malkin, who scored three goals and Aleksey Emelin, equalized and forced the Swedes to constantly foul on themselves. ^[37]

Despite the fact that the match cannot be called simple, the Russian team clearly acted in defense, following the instructions of the head coach of the national team and did not give the Czech strikers the opportunity to print their gates. ^[38]

The final match of the group stage, the Russian team held confidently and calmly. Thus, the team finished the group stage in first place, having gained seven victories in seven matches. ^[39]

1/4 Finals

Despite the difference in the class of teams by the end of the second period, the score in the match was 2: 2. And only in the third period the Russian team habitually added, and the Norwegians slowed down. As a result, three unanswered goals in the third period against the Norwegians and an exit to the semifinals. ^[40]

1/2 finals

The Russian team held a semifinal match in Helsinki against the tournament hosts - the Finns. The memory of the Russian fans from the offensive defeat of the Russian team from the Finnish national team in the semifinals of the 2011 World Cup was still alive in the memory of Russian fans. Despite the fact that the Finnish hockey players opened the scoring in the eighth minute, in the future they could not oppose anything to a clear-cut game in defense and aggressive attacks by the Russian national team. As a result, the Russian national team defeated the Finnish national team at their home 6: 2 and reached the final of the world hockey championship. The hero of the match was Evgeni Malkin, who made a hat-trick. ^[41]

Final

Despite the fact that the Slovak national team managed to score a quick first goal, in the future it could not oppose anything to the opponent’s game - both in the attack and in defense the Russian team outplayed the Slovak team, defeating it in the final 6: 2. ^[42]

Players of the national team dedicated their victory to the Yaroslavl hockey club Lokomotiv and his team, who died in a plane crash on September 7, 2011 .

Championship.com Internet portal compared the Russian national team with a heavy tank that passed and crushed the rivals. ^[42]

The sports publication Sport-Express called the victory of the Russian national team brilliant and logical. ^[43]

The best scorer and sniper of the World Cup was Evgeni Malkin, who scored 19 points ^[44] and scored 11 goals in the opponent’s goal. ^[45]