Vladimir Krikunov

Head coach of the Russian national team at the 2006 Olympics

“At first glance, the absence of players from the NHL can be called a plus for the Russian team. After all, it was in this situation that the team won the 2018 Olympics - for the first time since 1992. But now the situation is different, ”said Krikunov.

The specialist noted that in 2018, the preparation of the national team for the Olympics proceeded systematically throughout the season, and now, in fact, it began only in December.

The Channel One Cup is the first tournament when Zhamnov got hold of the players who will go to Beijing. The new headquarters of the national team was confident that hockey players from the NHL would play at the Olympics. And instead of leading the team at the Karjala Cup (the first stage of the Eurotour took place in November - RBC), he went overseas. This is how an important stage of preparation for the Games was missed, ”the expert said.

“As for 2018,” continued Krikunov, “the composition of that team was, first of all, stronger. It included such masters as Pavel Datsyuk, Ilya Kovalchuk, Sergey Mozyakin, Kirill Kaprizov. Secondly, it is more playful. Remember, all hockey players, except for Vasily Koshechkin and Mozyakin, represented SKA and CSKA. Thirdly, head coach Oleg Znarok has been working with the team since 2014, not two months. Fourth, experience. After all, Zhamnov practically did not work as a head coach before being appointed to the national team. Fifth, the situation around the national team. Then everything was smooth, but now - incomprehensible purposes, throwing, scandals. Therefore, it is not worth comparing 2018 and the current one. "

Is the national team ready for the Olympics? The main results of the First Channel Cup Hockey Alexander Kozhevnikov

Two-time Olympic champion (1984, 1988)

“Look at the coaching staff of the national team. It contains our wonderful NHL players, stars - Alexey Zhamnov, Sergey Fedorov, Ilya Kovalchuk, Sergey Gonchar, Evgeny Nabokov. Why do you think they were put in charge of the team? Because they counted on the participation of players from the NHL, this headquarters was formed for them. Because they know the NHL and it will be more convenient for them to work both with our hockey players from overseas, and to analyze the actions of rivals who would be subject to NHL laws, ”Kozhevnikov said.

“But it turned out that the NHL refused to travel to Beijing,” said the two-time Olympic champion. - The whole preliminary alignment collapsed. We broke the system, but what did we end up with? I think the decision-makers have already regretted that they were not allowed to the post of head coach Oleg Znarka. After the Channel One Cup, it was said that Kovalchuk flies overseas to follow the NHL players. But even then it was actually clear that they would not make it to Beijing. Why did Kovalchuk go there? "

According to the expert, in the absence of players from the NHL, "you can find pluses." “It would be difficult for all the participants to win against the strongest composition of Canada not only for our national team. But I watched the Channel One Cup and did not see the advantage of Russia over the Canadians from Europe. Approximately the same can be said about the matches with the Finns and Swedes. I see the upcoming Olympic tournament as a competition of four roughly equal teams. It is now impossible to give gold to Russia in advance, as it was four years ago. But everything could have been different, ”said Kozhevnikov.

In Beijing without Ovechkin. Why even NHL stars don't want to go to the Olympics Hockey Vyacheslav Butsaev

Olympic champion (1992)

“For the Russian national team, the absence of players from the NHL is neither a plus nor a minus,” said Butsaev. - The team must be ready for any turn of events. It is not worth drawing conclusions about the readiness of the national team for the Olympics in the Channel One Cup. It was just a test - candidates, combinations, principles of the game that the coaching staff wants to see. We didn’t have a final line-up at the tournament. The team's coaches said there were other candidates. True, I don’t think that the rivals had line-ups supposed to participate in the Games ”.

According to the interlocutor, the Russian national team “played quite interestingly and left a good impression at the Channel One Cup”. “But this tournament cannot be compared with the Olympics in terms of atmosphere and tension,” the 1992 Games champion said. "In Beijing, there will be higher responsibility, demands, and slightly different teams."

Answering the question whether Russia, as in 2018, will be the favorite of the Olympics, Butsaev said: “The Russian national team is considered the favorite of any tournament. It is necessary not to dwell on this, but to gradually and correctly go towards the goal - victory at the Olympics. "

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