Russia (bbabo.net), - The group stage of the Olympic men's ice hockey tournament has ended. The Russian national team, despite the defeat in overtime of the final match from the Czechs - 5:6, took second place in its quartet under the letter "B". In the quarterfinals, the team of Alexei Zhamnov will play on February 16 with the winner of the Denmark-Latvia pair.

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We expect more from Shipachyov

After the victories over Switzerland (1:0) and Denmark (2:0), there were no questions to our team except for the absolute number of points scored. Actually, the hockey that the Russian team plays in Beijing did not impress. Alexei Zhamnov, head coach of the Russians, agreed with this: "It's good that we have two victories. But for us, the most important thing is that there is a game. Then the rivals will be more difficult. We need the guys to create more chances. These nuances need to be edited."

That is why the meeting with the Czechs was important even in the absence of a tournament subtext: the Russians guaranteed themselves a place in the quarterfinals ahead of schedule. "This match was crucial for us. We needed to prove ourselves in the attacking zone. It's puck control plus pressure on the net. In previous meetings we had a lot of shots, but there was no traffic. Now, if you look at the game, the guys climbed on the net, were hungry for the puck," Zhamnov summed up after the match.

But first, the coaching staff edited the composition of the units. The main change affected the first three: Zhamnov broke a bunch of Vadim Shipachev and Nikita Gusev, who seemed intimidating for rivals, but in fact did not score a single point in the first two matches. This step worked halfway. Gusev, who found himself in the second link with Vladimir Tkachev and Arseniy Gritsyuk, scored an assistant hat-trick and generally reminded himself of his former self. I especially remember Nikita's cool pass to Gritsyuk and an equally gorgeous finish from the 20-year-old forward.

- Standard situation, - Arseniy was modest. - The same moment was in the last game, but then it was not realized. Everyone knows that Nikita Gusev needs to give the puck and open up. So today it happened: he just scattered. Masterful player. Everyone understands perfectly how to use it correctly. Fortunately, we succeeded in this "chemistry". I realized a long time ago that I was playing with a wizard.

But the reshuffle has not helped Shipachev yet, although Stanislav Galiev, his usual partner in Dynamo Moscow, has been put in his top three.

- We expect more from Shipacheva, - Zhamnov agreed with the claims to the captain. And here you can not argue. The top scorer of the regular season of the Continental Hockey League is the most important reserve for strengthening.

Discipline is needed

It's great that ours broke through at the most necessary moment, when the score in the match became 2:4 in favor of the Czechs. In five minutes, they built three goals, the same number as in the previous two matches. Another positive: finally, on the 11th attempt, our team converted the majority.

There are plenty of negatives too. There will be no discipline. In the first match, Anton Slepyshev, who butted the Swiss, could not restrain himself, now Dmitry Voronkov recklessly played, who received a removal before the end of the match for hitting Lukas Sedlak. Although our judges did not agree with such a verdict.

- We know all these people from our league. The saddle lies, rolls around, and in the next shift comes out and runs. I think that if such deletions are given, then a person should also leave to the end and not play, ”said the defender of the Russians, Yegor Yakovlev.

Aleksey Zhamnov: The match with the Czechs was fundamental for us. We needed to prove ourselves in the attack zone. The guys were hungry for the puck

One way or another, after the removal of Voronkov, the Russians spent five minutes in the minority. The element that we had at its best in the first two games failed this time. The Czechs scored twice in this period of time and converted another majority.

- It's good that this happened right now, - stated the head coach of the national team. - We have special teams to which we show videos of how other teams play. At some point, they lost concentration. Somewhere they did not fulfill what was asked of them. But in general, the guys fought and went under the puck.

Positive shifts in the game of our team are visible. The same Zhamnov, even despite the defeat, came to communicate with journalists in a much better mood than after the winning game with Denmark. The main thing now is to preserve and increase this progress.

Princes of Denmark

Surprising, but true. Having beaten the Russians, the Czech team took only third place in Group B. Above were the debutants of the Olympic Games, the Danes, who were predicted to be the hopeless outsiders of the tournament. And in the opening match they “slapped” the Czechs (2:1), fought with ours (0:2), and then got the scalp of the Swiss, who were quoted very highly in Beijing - 5:3.In group "A" the US team appeared as a hurricane. Looking at the rather ordinary semi-student composition of the Stars and Stripes, many are slowly starting to talk about the second “miracle on ice”. After a predictably easy victory over China (8:0), the “Stars and Stripes” finished off with the more skillful Canada – 4:2. In the last match, the Americans beat the finalists of the last Olympiad of the Germans - 3:2.

By the way, the Chinese, who are newcomers at the home Olympics, after the defeat from the United States gathered and resisted the Germans to the last - 2:3. Yesterday, the owners of the ice quite adequately lost to Canada - 0:5.

Perhaps the least surprises happened in group "C", where the fate of the first place was determined in the match between Sweden and Finland. The Finns lost 0:3, but snatched the victory - 4:3. In the match for third place, the Slovaks beat the Latvians - 5:2.

When will we play with Canada?

A distinctive feature of the men's Olympic hockey tournament is that none of the teams are eliminated at the end of the group stage. Based on the performances in quartets, a consolidated rating was formed. The first three are the winners of the groups, the second are the teams that took second places, then the third and the three outsiders. Here's what it looks like.

1. USA - 9 points (puck difference - 15:4)

2. Finland - 8 points (13:6)

3. Russia - 7 points (8:6)

4. Sweden - 7 points (10:7)

5. Canada - 6 points (12:5)

6. Denmark - 6 points (7:6)

7. Czech Republic - 4 points (9:8)

8. Slovakia - 3 points (8:12)

9. Germany - 3 points (6:10)

10. Switzerland - 1 point (4:8)

11. Latvia - 0 points (5:11)

12. China - 0 points (2:16)

The winners of the groups plus the best team of those who finished second went straight to the quarter-finals. These are the USA, Finland, Russia and Sweden. The remaining eight will compete for quarter-finals in an extra round of the playoffs. Here is what the tournament grid looks like.

Quarterfinals

USA - Slovakia/Germany

Finland - Czech Republic/Switzerland

Russia - Denmark/Latvia

Sweden - Canada/China

The semi-finals will be re-seeded based on the composite ranking.

Thus, the Russian team can meet with Canada in the semi-finals if the following conditions are met: 1) both teams will make it to the top four; 2) either the US or Finland will not qualify for the semi-finals.

Meanwhile

The Russian women's team failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the Olympic hockey tournament. In the quarter-final our girls lost to the Swiss team in a bitter struggle - 2:4. Girls are hard to blame. In Beijing, they had to overcome not only rivals on the ice, but also circumstances.

Since our arrival in the capital of China, our team has been in quarantine due to several positive tests, all of them among the team leaders. The girls began to train only a week later, which, by the way, did not save them from further infections. But even in such conditions, the Russians beat the same Switzerland in the opening match, adequately fought with the mega-favorites of the tournament, Canada and the United States. Moreover, the meeting with the Canadians was in jeopardy due to the eccentricities of the International Ice Hockey Federation. As a result, the match was played, only the girls had to go on the ice in medical masks. The dignity with which our hockey players reacted to all hardships is respectful. In the mixed zone, journalists did not hear a single complaint. With this approach, our team will still take its toll. Even if not at this Olympics.

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