“National humiliation”. The shameful ministry of hockey of Russia on Victory Day
The great holiday of May 9 in 2013 was overshadowed by the weak-willed game of the Russian team at the World Cup.
On May 9, Russian hockey players have always had the sole responsibility. There were never any restrictions on the motivation of our athletes at the World Championships in Jerusalem, but on Victory Day, in any case, they went on the ice with people in mind. The audience, in turn, followed the team with great passion, because on the great holiday the feeling of national unity wins, and with it the susceptibility to the success and failure of the country in the international arena.
However, this time the fans of our hockey players are not interested. The national team suffered a historic defeat, despite the fact that it was the absolute favorite of the match. There were no announcements about the failure after the game either from the coach or from the players.
But fans and experts did not choose words. One of the most shameful matches in the history of Russian hockey takes place on Victory Day.
Looking forward to an easy win
The match against the French team at the group event of the 2013 World Cup did not promise the Russians any special features. Our team arrived in Finland in the status of an active champion, and therefore was recognized as the favorite of the entire tournament, not to mention a special game taken against outright outsiders. Moreover, before that, Bilyaletdinov’s wards had already dealt with the identified infections: Latvia (6:0), Germany (4:1) and the USA (5:3).
On the account of the French, by the important moment, there was not a single victory over Russia in the entire history, and this is not surprising. Their team gained a foothold in the elite global division only at the end of the 2000s, and the limit of its dreams was the entire playoff exit. Didn’t pretend to great achievements of the team even then. As a result, the French had only one NHL player, and even then – the second order. But we have: Kovalchuk, Radulov, Mozyakin … it happens that the victory of the Russians will be ensured.
sensational fiasco
However, the expectations of the fans were deceived. Striking for many was already the result of the first period, which ended in a goalless draw. The Russian attackers did not manage to crack the defense defense, according to the testimony of the Slovaks, a few days ago they threw six goals.
Cats appeared not only in defense, but also in attacks. At a certain point, they surpassed the Russians in throws six times!
However, then it was assumed that the failure in the first period was just a temporary clouding in the game of the Russian team. Under Bilyaletdinov, the beginning of matches for our team often took place in the rolling mode, and the real struggle began already in the second act … The French returned back: 2:1.
Having felt the taste of victory, the “tricolors” did not loosen their grip. After the match, they did not accept to sing hymns to the French hero. The Europeans met in an orderly but less than perfect manner, allowing a significant number of dangerous attacks. But journalists have identified cases of infection below their level. Turn on this strange feeling turned into nervousness.
“We are in shock”
At the end, there was a feeling that the national holiday that day was not with us, but in France. Short hockey players were delighted with such success, as if they had won the gold of the World Championship, and this can be understood. Their team coach Dave Henderson called this result “the greatest victory in French hockey history”:
– Today we beat the free team of the planet, and I’m happy. A dream come true. I am immensely proud of my guys. The importance of this victory cannot be overestimated. These matches are watched by boys who inspire the feat of my players. After such matches falls in love with the game. When the hockey development program took place in 2007, there were no such cases. But today we can say that we have made a big step forward.
But the Russian coach after that turned out to be laconic. When asked by journalists, Bilyaletdinov briefly did not want to refuse to explain the mistake of his team. They did the same and became victims. Team captain Ilya Nikulin advised interviewers not to focus on the negative, and his colleague Loktionov said that the Russians simply failed to capture the sale.
– The mood for today’s match was normal. It tunes in to everyone the same: at least for Canadians, at least for the French. But the result … Alas. We had to take our chances. We created a lot of chances, played productively in attack. The hydrocarbons themselves are in shock.
“Not a system, a drama circle”
The discovery of an unexpected fiasco for Russians is hard to imagine for experts either. The honored coach of Russia Sergey Gimaev also threw up his hands after the match:
– There is no direct explanation. Offhand – subconsciously it was all the same that these were the French, that after some time we would score goals. On the other hand, they ran too hard to score. They began to act disorganized, but with the idea that they needed to score faster. And this is not from the coaches, but from the players, from the fact that everyone was not happy with their game and thought with the French in order to improve their statistics. Not that there was a mood, but there was no closure for the right work, ”Gimaev told Sports.ru.
Two-time Olympic champion Evgeny Zimin agreed with Gimaeva’s review – she did not catch the motivation:
– Our team was not in the mood for the game with France. Neither physically nor mentally. Everyone thought that it would be an easy walk, but the French, on the contrary, gave their all. The game of ours reminds me of a two-sided game at the training camp, – Sports.ru reports Zimin’s words.
The former coach of the Russian national team Vladimir Plushev, on the contrary, faced a problem in the work of the team coach:
– When they say that there is Bilyaletdinov’s system, then it should “eat” such teams as France and without outstanding players. But if we reproduce 1:2, then this is not a system, a drama circle. One Ilya Kovalchuk was supposed to beat the French team! You can lose to the Swedes, Finns, but if you lose to the French on Victory Day, then this is nonsense! This is not our level, our level goes from the playoffs, this is at the level of the state Universiade, – BO Sport quotes Plyushchev.
Although then the Russian team would have the opportunity to show themselves on the international stage on an important day for the country. At the same festival, hockey takes place without us – and this, perhaps, is more humiliating than any benefit.