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As soon as the foreign garbage was removed from the KHL and the championship stopped, the league took a deep breath

Date: March 29, 2024 Time: 00:11:24

The playoffs in the USSR took root difficult. Then no one simply knew about him, and the Russian language had not yet been enriched with such a word. The NHL, with its four winning streaks, was a different planet to us. Zero information. Until the Super Series-1972. In addition, in hockey and football we have always had our own knockout tournament – the USSR Cup. Highly respected, by the way.

However, at the end of the 50s an attempt was made to dispute the title of national champion with the participation of 18 clubs in a scheme of various stages through playoffs. Or, as they said in 1960, according to the Olympic system. It didn’t work.

Another attempt was made in the 1988 Olympic year, when the IIHF did not hold the World Championship. To lengthen the season, they organized semifinals with a streak of up to three wins and a final of five games. The permanent champion of the country, CSKA, miraculously did not overcome Krylia Sovetov in the semifinals. Therefore, at the request of the coach of the national team and CSKA, Viktor Tikhonov, the playoffs were abandoned. On the pretext of not overloading the collections unnecessarily.

Only with the collapse of the Union and the mass departure of our players to the NHL, the cup final became an indispensable attribute of the national championship. Everyone understood that the playoffs are the most interesting thing in club hockey, the pinnacle of the season. In addition, the final parts of the World Cup began to be played according to the cup system, and not the one of all against all. And where, if not in your own league, gain experience in battles without the right to make a mistake! That’s what we missed in both the 1972 Super Series and the 1987 Canada Cup three-game final.

In a word, for thirty years we have been identifying the best team in Russia through the playoffs. But there has never been such a collapse of sensations on the opening day of the Cup, as on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

What do I personally associate it with? Various factors.

First, the hard salary cap gives a return. Nobody can now collect, relatively speaking, Kazan Rangers or CSKA Canadiens. Yes, the rich keep taking out the player market first. But something still goes to others.

Competition has clearly increased. There are no notorious outsiders, except for HC Sochi. In the East, the fight for playoff tickets continued until the last round. Also, the placement in the top 6 was not entirely clear, with the exception of Ak Bars in first place. In the West, Spartak let us down. Yes, and “Kunlun” was impressed all the way to the finish line. But anyway, the time has come when nothing is guaranteed for the leaders, now anyone can beat them.

More. For the first time in the regular season, 68 rounds were played. And most importantly: for six months of a smooth tournament, there was only one general pause – in mid-December for the All-Star Game and the traditional Moscow Channel One Cup. This is a fundamental difference from all previous years, when we slowed down the national championship three times on the Eurotour stages: in November, December and February. The youth team also played in these breaks. In addition, every year in November he went on a tour of Canada, and on New Year’s Eve he participated in the World Championships. In the Olympic season, the stop in February reached almost a month!

It is clear that all this took players and teams out of their usual measured pace. Do not forget that many legionnaires from Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, North America, who were also regularly withdrawn from the clubs for the Eurotour, the Spengler Cup or some other national team games, registered with us on the cunning

Now there is none of that. And oh, miracle! We immediately got the most interesting competitive competition to the NHL! For seven months (including the pre-season) of systematic, calm and purposeful work, competent national coaches – “Spartak” and “Tractor” will be ranked as bitter exceptions! – he even managed to form combat-ready equipment from average material. At full speed, in top shape, they stormed into the playoffs and shocked all the giants! At least on the opening day of the Gagarin Cup.

Someone tell me that Admiral’s victories over Salavat (2:1 OT), Dynamo Minsk over SKA (6:4), Vityaz over Lokomotiv (1:0 OT), Neftekhimik » over «Ak Bars» (3:2 OT ) – undeserved, random. No, absolutely everything! If one of the favorites is not in tune with seemingly unrated opponents, then this is only the problem of losers.

I am especially pleased with the abundance of Russian surnames among the heroes of the initial matches. Finally, the KHL came to its senses and, under pressure from the FHR of the Ministry of Sports, leaked these crazy tons of legionary garbage, spat out from NHL farm clubs, but carefully lifted from overseas landfills for the money of millions. of people through cash. young reformers. On average, we no longer have more than three Varangians per team, and from next season it will be the law for everyone. And it’s great!

“Admiral” Tambiev, “Torpedo” Larionov, “Neftekhimik” Leontiev, “Severstal” Razin, “Vityaz” Butsaev make it clear to all apologists for foreign sludge that a strong team can be created from their guys in the shortest possible time and with adequate money.

Keep in mind that even at Dynamo Minsk, where for reasons I personally don’t understand, there are always plenty of Americans, the game in St. Petersburg was made by their hard-earned bulbash. The goalkeeper Shostak saved 31 shots, the defender Sapego – a pass with utility “plus 3”, the forwards Alistrov – a double and “plus 4”, Gorbunov – a goal, a pass and “plus 2”, Pinchuk – a goal and “plus 3 “, Pyshkaylo – the first goal of Belarus. For many of them, these are the first points in the Gagarin Cup.

Or take the Tatarstan derby, where Neftekhimik defeated Ak Bars for the first time in Gagarin Cup history. For two teams that were previously full of foreigners, there was only one landsknecht from abroad – Canadian Kamara. He helped Poryadin open an account, and then the 26-year-old striker set up two goals for the 23-year-old Chivilev. The latter has the first points in the playoffs, and Poryadin scored 3 (1 + 2) points in his entire previous career in Nizhnekamsk.

In Ufa, the winning goal at the end of the first overtime was skillfully scored by the 20-year-old Korbit. This is Prokhor’s debut in the Gagarin Cup, and he skated for Admiral that night for only 7 minutes and 18 seconds. However, at the decisive moment he took the initiative and did not let us down.

And what is 24-year-old Dorozhko doing at the gates of Vityaz! Until this season, no one knew Maxim at all: he was not seen in the KHL. And what a debut – 5 crackers in the regular season and not a single lost puck in the first cup battle in Yaroslavl!

His 23-year-old railway colleague Isaev also did not put a single hole in 60 minutes. Everything was decided by a ridiculous rebound from the Lokomotiv defender Rafikov, when at the beginning of extra time, 23-year-old Vityaz Yaremchuk from the middle zone threw the puck into Isaev’s goal. He abruptly changed his trajectory and jumped right into the owners’ penny: the forward of the Moscow region team Galuzin turned out to be the most agile.

This is exactly the kind of hockey we need! What will please us on the second day of the Gagarin Cup-2023?

* This website provides news content gathered from various internet sources. It is crucial to understand that we are not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented Read More

Puck Henry
Puck Henry
Puck Henry is an editor for ePrimefeed covering all types of news.
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