“Tsar” in the stands, the absence of American fans and Ovechkin's silence: how was the Russia-USA match at the World Hockey Championship

The Russian national hockey team very successfully conducted the group stage of the World Cup, winning all seven games, but this did not prevent it from meeting the formidable opponent at the quarter-finals stage. Ilya Vorobiev’s ward was confronted by one of the most principled rivals, the US national team.

Fans from Sweden and Switzerland staged whole shows before the matches, and therefore everyone was looking forward to the American fans. However, the entire space around the “Ondrei Nepel Arena” was flooded exclusively by an army of Russian fans. At the access zone, one could see hockey fans from Sweden, Finland, Great Britain and even Italy, but not from the United States.

Initially, the impression was that the Star-Striped support group decided not to come to Bratislava. On the eve of the meeting, few people considered Jeff Blashill wards as favorites. You could blame the lack of fans on this.

However, closer to the starting whistle to the stadium, still a few groups of fans of the North American team began to push. Many of them were initially skeptical.

“I think the Russian team will win. The US team performs well at this tournament, but even close does not reach the level of the "red car", - the fan from Los Angeles admitted.

It is noteworthy that the match between the national teams of Russia and the USA was also attended by fans from Canada, although at the same time their national team met with Switzerland in Kosice during the quarter finals of the tournament.

So, several natives of Edmonton explained their arrival to Bratislava by buying tickets to all stages of the world championship in advance.

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“In this tournament, the Russian team has a very powerful team. She demonstrates great hockey and should beat the US team. Best player? Alexander Ovechkin, ”said the fan.

Russian fans did not doubt the success of their idols. After seven victories in the group stage, among which is the defeat of the formidable Swedes, they refused to accept any result other than a win.

“Expectations from the match? Only victory. In this we do not doubt. Today, Americans are not competitors. Have you seen them at the stadium? No, ”said a fan from Togliatti.

In this case, the fans could not agree on who should be considered the best player in the national team. Most preferred the best scorer of the “red car” at the tournament to Nikita Kucherov, while others highlighted his partner in the link, Nikita Gusev, and goalkeeper Andrey Vasilevsky.

“Everyone is good. We have three stars. It’s hard to single out one person, ”said one fan.

With the onset of the playoffs, the World Cup has noticeably lost in brightness. Drummers from the support team of Latvia were poisoned at home, and eccentric Switzerland fans moved to Kosice. In their absence, the Russians had to come to the fore. Two of them attracted everyone’s attention by depicting the flags of two states on their beards, and the most original fan of the day was a man in the form of a king.

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By the beginning of the game, it became clear that only a few dozen Americans had come to support the US team. This is another confirmation that in the United States this tournament is not taken seriously.

Jeff Blashill’s wards were saved only by the fact that viewers from other countries supported their team. So, with star-striped flags were seen fans from Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

However, after the first period, they practically had no reason for joy. Russian hockey players are noticeably superior to their opponents on the ice. Each attack of the “red car” was accompanied by a deafening roar of domestic fans, while the responses of the Americans passed in almost complete silence.

Despite a solid advantage, they were not in a hurry to rejoice over the second period on the bench of the Russian team. The head coach of the team Ilya Vorobyov frowned at the ice, as if he foresaw what would happen in the match. His excitement increased even more after two and a half minutes after the starting whistle, when Brady Shea reduced the difference in the account.

Wards Jeff Blashill noticeably strengthened and no longer seemed to be whipping boys, but the Russian fans did not attach particular importance to this. So, one of them said that the team of Ilya Vorobyov only relaxed a little, but in the third segment he would definitely take his own.

“The ending promises to be hard? I am sure that we will win. Who will decide the outcome of the meeting? Gusev or Kucherov, ”one of the spectators expressed confidence.

In the course of the third period, the Vorobiev wards restored the status quo twice, setting the difference in two goals on the scoreboard, but could not avoid the validol end. The US team stepped up and reduced the lag in the account to the minimum, which caused a strong reaction from neutral hockey fans. To the surprise of the Russians, they sided with the North Americans, starting to chant: “USA! USA! ”The domestic fans, who were pretty calm by this moment, had to switch on again and drown out the opponents' fans.

The ending was held in the best traditions of the playoff matches. The Russians led by a single goal, while the Americans, charged with the support of the stands, staged a real assault on the Vasilevsky gate. Each shot performed by Patrick Kane and the company met a deafening shout, but Vorobyov's wards managed to survive and secure a ticket to the semi-finals.

The Russian national team with great difficulty was able to maintain the difference in the score and achieve victory. According to the behavior of hockey players, it was noticeable that this success helped them to shrug off a huge burden of responsibility, which appeared after an ideally conducted group stage. True, even such an important victory did not make Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeny Malkin stop in the mixed zone and answer a few questions.

In addition to the unusually positive-minded Vorobiev, Vladislav Gavrikov, Dmitry Orlov and Yevgeny Kuznetsov came out to talk with journalists. Despite fatigue, each of them seemed very relaxed, and the striker of “Washington” thanked the fans for their support in their playful manner. So, he admitted that he was glad to see the crowds of Russian fans in the stands, and also noticed that they would be even more cheerful if they poured beer for free.