The strangest ice hockey world championship did not end and ended at the same time.

Our team more than confidently reached the quarterfinals against the Canadians, who were there by a miracle, suffered the whole game and lost in overtime.

As I wrote after the game, it is impossible to become a moral winner in a match against a young, experimental team of Canada.

Our expectations are too high.

I will even say this: these expectations were arrogant and arrogant in relation to our hockey players.

And not the first time, by the way.

"Millionaires have arrived!", "Yes, they wanted to spit on the Russian flag!", "Down with the autocracy!"

The last exclamation is from another proletarian opera, but it perfectly characterizes the level of criticism of our sport.

We will not notice all the good things, and God forbid someone stumbles - right on the scaffold.

I will remind all the "executioners" that not so long ago in our hockey there was no money for insurance for NHL hockey players. There were no normal conditions for preparation. And there were problems with the desire of hockey players to come. Now Tarasenko, Bobrovsky and Orlov are happily flying across the ocean, because the word "Russia" for them is not an empty phrase. If they did not feel the movement towards, support throughout the season in the NHL, they would bask in the Maldives or Miami. They earned their huge overseas contracts, but did not inherit them.

Yes, we had an excellent defense of very experienced and strong players.

But our attack was no less experimental than that of the Canadians.

One (!) Puck separated the victory from the defeat.

One (!) Removal separated our victory from a draw in regulation time.

Let's now count the number of cool emotions that our team gave at the group stage.

And in general, maybe we will take off the blinders and look at the situation without this embittered and useless doom?

In the semifinals, there will be neither Slovakia nor Sweden - the second most medals in the history of the world championships of the national team, nor the Czech Republic.

Yes, winning the World Cup is prestigious.

But this is a tournament in which there are always a lot of applicants, and there is only one winner.

What is the point of throwing so much slag on the fan?

So that the players think three times from now on before coming to the Olympics in Beijing or the next World Cup.

One must draw conclusions from each defeat.

Homon and shouts of "Shame!"

- not conclusions, but stupidity.

Personally, I sincerely and from the bottom of my heart say thank you to everyone involved in our team - from players and coaches to sponsors and administrative staff.

Because I love our team and together with it I experience its fall.

But the ups, which will definitely be, I will also fully experience with them.

The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.