There were strengths and emotions
The fact that the Russian “youth team” has a tremendous advantage in the class and individual skills of hockey players over their peers from Switzerland was no secret for anyone - Valery Bragin’s squad won a big victory over uncompromising Europeans in the group round of the world championship, even making a lot of mistakes in defense and having received several optional goals. Nevertheless, doubts about the success for the national team of the outcome of the consolatory final of the MFM-2019 did arise. Too much strength and emotion Klim Kostin and his comrades left on the ice in the semifinal battle lost with the score 1: 2 against the Americans, and they simply could not be enough to start the fight for bronze in less than 24 hours.
Youth, however, won. In the actions of the Russian team at the beginning of the consolation finale, there was not the slightest hint of fatigue or lack of motivation: the Bragin team literally tore up an opponent during the starting period, having a tangible advantage in rolls (12 against six Swiss in the debut 20 minutes), and formed how It seemed a comfortable start in two goals for the first break. The strikers Kirill Slepets and Nikita Shashkov distinguished themselves in the national youth team, the latter striking the gates of Luke Hollenstein almost simultaneously with the release of defender Savely Olshansky from the bench for the fined.
The score 2: 0 in their favor, the Russian hockey players, however, were obliged not only to their activity, but also to the decision of the Swiss national team's head coach Christian Wolfe not to request viewing of the video replays of the first scoring attack of the Russian youth team. Indeed, for a few moments before the Blindman found a tiny loophole in Hollenstein's outfit, defender Alexander Romanov, who came to the aid of forwards, clearly climbed into the offside position, for some reason not fixed by the line arbitrators.
Kostin responded to the whistle of fans
In the second period, the Russians were noted by another abandoned puck - for the authorship of the captain of the national team Klim Kostin, who completed the lightning-fast counterattack after canceling the discount, who became nine points in the asset as the top scorer of the world championship Grigori Denisenko. The attacker who cursed the stands in Vancouver after being defeated by the USA in the semifinals, pointed out his exact throw in a very original way: he covered his ears, letting Canadian fans understand that the whistle and disapproving cries did not hurt him in any way.
- Captain of the Russian national team Klim Kostin
- © Joel Marklund
True, by the time Kostin recorded his surname in the minutes (this happened in the 33rd minute), the Swiss had already managed to align the meeting and revive the intrigue. Valentin Nussbaumer and Yannick Bruchweiler once again upset Peter Kochetkov at the Russian goal - the goalkeeper, for example, made two smart rescues right before the second puck, but didn’t get help from the field players who didn’t follow the annoying opponent on the top five, and once again proved that sharpness in the actions of Europeans can come not only from Philip Kurashev. Which, by the way, was again not noted by a single productive action in the meeting with the Russian “youth team” and dropped out of the group of leading scorers in the Canadian tournament.
Watching the development of events, it was impossible not to draw parallels with the group round duel, during which the Swiss were twice in the lead with a two-goal advantage (first 2: 0, and then 3: 1), but failed to withstand the pace they set to the final sirens. In the fight for bronze, the Russians were already in a similar position: before the final break, to which Bragin's wards were not easily retained a minimum advantage, it seemed that the youth team was about to restore parity on the scoreboard and make the question of the owner of the gold medal kit completely open .
Cherry on today's cake - as always, statistics 🍒
🇷🇺 VS 🇨🇭 (5: 2) pic.twitter.com/rLyWFZ9bew
Kochetkov endured the last assault
At the most inopportune moment, the team of Bragin again had problems with discipline - from 20 minutes of the third period, the team played in the minority eight, and the justice of each of the Russian removals did not cause any doubts (which, however, did not prevent the not too careful judges to punish Paul Shan with a four-minute penalty instead of striking an opponent with a club in the face of Ivan Morozov). Receiving a numerical advantage, the Swiss national team locked the Russians in their zone every time and organized a uniform assault on Kochetkov’s possessions, but the domestic goalkeeper acted above all praise. He reflected 17 shots at his goal only in the final segment - and 34 at the end of the entire duel, helping his comrades even in the most difficult situations.
The Russian “youth team”, in turn, for the entire third period, only three times hit the shots of the Swiss gate - but two of these shots were scored. Not implementing a lot of moments in the group round of the MFM-2019 Blind man designed a hat-trick in the battle for medals, having made another spectacular solo walk through the entire court and put an end to the duel two minutes before the final siren, when Hollenstein gave way to the sixth ice field hockey player.
Yes, the current version of the youth team was definitely capable of more than bronze awards, and the current eight-year series of the team without gold medals of the world championship among players under 20 years old is the longest in the history of Soviet and Russian hockey. But, taking the award for third place in the tournament in Vancouver and Victoria, Kostin radiated only positive emotions. After all, even such a result, which in the olden days at home might have been unsatisfactory, is already a step forward in comparison with the 2018 World Cup in Buffalo, where the Russian team did not make it to the medal matches at all.
🇷🇺 Bronze - win! The youth team of Russia made it in the match with Switzerland, this is exactly what the hat-trick of Cyril of Blind, the puck of Nikita Shashkov and captain Klim Kostin helped. Here’s how it was: pic.twitter.com/dELKgRAkEd
- Hockey of Russia (@russiahockey) January 6, 2019World Cup ended with a drama
And to the surprise of many, the winners of the MFM-2019 were not the Americans who won the “premature finals” from Russia a day earlier, but the Finns who came to Canada without three rising stars of European hockey - defender Miro Heiskanen, as well as forwards Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Christian Vesalainen. In the course of the decisive battle, the team of Jussi Ahokasa missed an advantage by two goals, but reaffirmed the reputation of the queen of the endings, marking the “golden” goal for a minute and a half before the end of normal time.
Its author, curiously, was Eeli Tolvanen, who did not fall on Canadian ice (the Finnish fans did not wait for the forward from the Nashville Predators system to have at least one abandoned puck, and in the finals, not so long ago, the hockey player who played in the KHL did not participate in scoring goals combinations), and the 17-year-old striker Kaapo Kakko, who raised his already high quotes in Vancouver and Victoria before the 2019 NHL draft. A very promising Finn, the year before winning the world championship among juniors, will compete for the common first number with American Jack Hughes and Russian Vasily Podkolzin, who committed their goal-assist in their last matches at the World Championships.
However, no matter how unexpected and dramatic the final victory of the Finns was, it can by no means be called undeserved. Yes, the guys of Ahokas did not shine on the main stage, going into the playoffs only from third place in the group and losing to other applicants for awards, but they stopped both Canada and the United States in fights to take off, largely due to the charge on the fight to the last seconds and depth of the composition, each link of which carried a serious threat to rivals.
It is natural that none of the Finnish national team players received an individual award from the tournament directorate - Russians Kochetkov and Alexander Romanov, recognized as the best goalkeeper and defender of the MFM-2019 respectively, as well as American forward Ryan Peeling, received them - and in the symbolic world championship team for only the goalkeeper Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who conceded to Kochetkov (and not only him) in all major statistical indicators, got into the journalists' versions. The Finns were very strong just as a team, and managed to win the third set of MFM gold medals in the last six years without vivid individual ideas from individual hockey players or a striking troika, as it was in 2014 and 2016.