Selection for the Olympic Games in hockey. The composition of the Russian team
The main thing about the format, calendar and composition of the Russian team at the Olympic hockey tournament
FORMAT
Hockey tournament at the Olympics in PyeongChang will be held at the Gangneung and Gwangdong Arenas from February 14 to 25, 2018. 12 teams are divided into three groups of four teams, and all participants of the first stage go to the playoffs. The three group winners plus the top runner-up automatically advance to the quarter-finals, while the remaining eight teams advance to the round of 16.
SCHEDULE
The Russian national team will play in group B with Slovakia (February 14 at 15.10 Moscow time), Slovenia (February 16 at 10.40) and the USA (February 17 at 15.10). The final of the Olympiad will take place on February 25 at 7.10. Note that the time difference between Moscow and Pyeongchang is six hours.
COMPOSITION OF THE RUSSIA TEAM
The composition of the Russian national team, whose head coach will be Oleg Znarok, will be announced on January 25: the application must include 3 goalkeepers and 22 field players. Due to the refusal of the NHL to take part in the Olympics in Pyeongchang, Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and others will not play Russian hockey players representing the ocean, so the main stars of the Znarka team will be representatives of the KHL - Ilya Kovalchuk and Pavel Datsyuk.
PARTICIPANTS AND FAVORITES
In the absence of Enkhaelites, the Russian team became the main favorite in the fight for the Olympic gold. The main competitors are Canada, Finland and Sweden. For the first time in the history of the Olympics, the Korean team will take part in the hockey tournament.
Among the many sports, hockey will receive the most attention at the 2018 Olympic Games, which will be held in Pyeongchang from February 9 to 25. 12 national teams will take part in the men's hockey tournament, which starts on February 14. Many of them, unfortunately, will not be able to bring to South Korea the strongest squads because of the refusal of the NHL to let athletes go to the Olympics.
Winter Olympics 2018 Ice Hockey Tournament Qualification
The South Korean team qualified as the host nation. Eight the best teams in the world ranking automatically entered the Olympic Games: Russia, Canada, Switzerland, Finland, USA, Czech Republic, Sweden and Slovakia.
Three more teams made it through the qualification - Germany, Slovenia and Norway. The selection, which included four stages, started on October 10, 2015. The winners of the final round groups received tickets to the tournament.
Hockey at the 2018 Olympics: format and regulations
Twelve participants are divided into three groups of 4 teams. In a round robin system, each team will play group stage three games. Based on the results of these fights, a general table is formed for all participants according to the following indicators in descending order: points, goal difference, number of goals scored, place in the IIHF ranking. The top four teams from this table automatically advance to the quarter-finals.
The remaining eight will play in the playoff qualification - 1/8 finals, pairs are formed according to the following principle: fifth with twelfth, sixth with eleventh, seventh with tenth, eighth against ninth. The winners of the pairs advance to the quarter-finals. Then the semi-finals, the match for third place and the final.
Participants and groups of the hockey tournament at the 2018 Olympics
- Group A: Canada, Czech Republic, South Korea, Switzerland. Canadians have the status of a favorite in this quartet. The Czech Republic has a good chance of reaching the quarterfinals. The hosts are clear outsiders.
- Group B: Russia, USA, Slovenia, Slovakia. Experts give the first place to the Russian team, the second - to the Americans. The Slovakian national team is expected to compete for a place in 1/4.
- Group C: Sweden, Finland, Germany, Norway. The Swedes and the Finns will fight on the ice for the first line in the quartet, while the Norwegians and the Germans will be spectators with the hope of the playoffs.
Hockey schedule at the 2018 Winter Olympics
- Group Stage - February 14-18
- Playoff Qualifier - February 20
- Quarter-finals - February 21
- Semi-finals - February 23
- Match for third place - February 24
- Final - February 25
Hockey at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics: bookmakers' favorites
Canada and Russia have the highest chances of winning, according to bookmaker analysts. Bets on the success of these combined teams are accepted with the same odds of 3.00. Good chances to win the tournament in Sweden - 5.00 and Finland - 7.00. Bookmakers believe less in the triumph of the United States - the quote is 10.00.
You can bet on the victory of the Czech Republic with a coefficient of 15.00, Slovakia and Switzerland - 50.00, Germany - 75.00. The absolute outsiders of the ice hockey competition at the Winter Olympic Games 2018 are considered by bookmakers to be Norway - 100.00, South Korea and Slovenia - 250.00.
Betting odds for hockey Olympics 2018
Hockey at the 2018 Olympics (admin) Alex Alex Rating: 4 out of 5Russian national ice hockey team defeated Germany in the final match Olympic tournament in PyeongChang with a score of 4:3 and won the gold medals of the Games for the first time since 1992.
The match turned out to be extremely tense: our team scored, but the Germans equalized the score every time, and once even took the lead.
“Winning in the finals of the Games is completely different compared to triumphing in the Stanley Cup. I tried to spend all 60 minutes on highest level and was not surprised that the Germans are such a serious opponent: we watched how they played before.
My goal? After such passes from Nikita Gusev, all that remains is to score.
Gusev came as a leader to the Olympics and proved it. American journalists tried to put pressure on me for the past? I didn’t pay attention to it, ”summed up Voinov, who was recognized a little later as the best defender of the tournament.
Three minutes before the end, our team lost 2:3, besides, forward Sergey Kalinin retired very inopportunely, leaving the Red Machine in the minority.
At the end of the match, Kalinin admitted that he was so devastated by his removal that he was unable to analyze it.
“Of course, this fine was optional, but I just didn’t think about it, because I was in shock. And then I was so happy that the guys evened the score that I had no thoughts left in my head. I saw the goal as if in slow motion, ”the special correspondent of Gazeta.Ru quotes the forward as saying South Korea Dmitry Okunev.
The national team took a risk by removing goalkeeper Vasily Koshechkin, returned the game to the five-on-five format and still equalized the score (3:3) 56 seconds before the end of the meeting
— tried Nikita Gusev, later recognized as the best striker of the tournament.
A winning goal The Russian national team in overtime (4:3) was held by 20-year-old Kirill Kaprizov, who scored four points in the final match (one puck + three assists). However, the striker refused to attribute to himself the greatest contribution to the victory.
“The main thing is that Russia won, and it doesn’t matter who scored. What did you feel before the throw? Everything was automatic. When I gave up, I just ran somewhere, and that's it.
Now I want to be happy and think about nothing. Probably, the whole team will be affixed in honor of our victory, Kaprizov suggested. - Moving to the NHL? I still have a valid contract with CSKA, so it's not quite the time for such conversations. But in general, I think every hockey player has thoughts about the NHL.
Kaprizov also appreciated the performance of the German national team.
“It was not in vain that the Germans defeated Sweden and Canada in the previous stages. Well done boys!
They played great with strong teams, and now with us. Did the Germans look stronger than the Czechs? I can't compare like that. I think the whole team will remember that we won gold medals, ”summed up Kaprizov.
The most valuable player of the entire tournament was recognized as an experienced striker of the Russian national team Ilya Kovalchuk. The forward himself reacted to this title quite calmly.
"I'm glad I was given the title best player but now it's all secondary. Everyone in our team could be called the best. For example, Gusev, who scored four points today and scored the winning goal in the semi-finals, Kovalchuk rightly noted.
- I went to the gold of the Games from the age of five - since I started playing hockey. This is my father's dream, God rest his soul.
It was my dream too. A very expensive medal. I dedicate it to my dad."
Another veteran of the Red Machine, Pavel Datsyuk, thanks to this victory, entered the Triple Gold Club as the owner of the Stanley Cup, world champion and Olympic champion.
"The dream came true, we became Olympic champions. And now I don’t have a dream,” the striker summed up.
- Won with God's help; when the score became 2:3, my heart stopped on the bench. There was a dream, I strove for it, but now it is gone, we have to come up with a new one. What's next? Wait, how will you be without me and my interviews?
The head coach of the Russian national team, Oleg Znarok, said in a press conference that the victory in the match speaks for itself.
“With this gold of the Games, I answered all your questions, gentlemen journalists. This match for me was the most important in my life.
It's hard to say what I felt two minutes before the end of the third period with the score 2:3, everything was there - the decision had to be made right in a split second. I was lucky that everything worked out, - said the specialist.
- After the match on the bench, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, Dmitry Medvedev and the President called me Olympic Committee Russian Alexander Zhukov.
It was very nice, congratulations. I serve Russia. Will I continue coaching the national team? I'll think about it. But I'm tired."
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