The Russian team won the Channel One Cup

The Russian team regained the Channel One Cup, which it gave to the Belarusian team last year. Playing under the name “Russia 25” and thereby setting a limit on the age of hockey players, she won three victories in three matches. The Russians beat their main rivals from Belarus and Kazakhstan 5:3 and 5:2, respectively.

Although Russia 25 ended the Channel One Cup with a Sunday match against Kazakhstan, the key, of course, was its confrontation with Belarus, which took place the day before and fit the definition of a “hidden final.” After all, even earlier, at the start of the tournament, the Belarusians beat the Kazakhs big time – 6:2, and the Russians defeated the “Stars and VHL” hodgepodge team – 5:2.

By the way, the team, assembled on the basis of clubs of the second highest rank of the All-Russian Hockey League and reinforced by several players from the Continental League, successfully replaced the Chinese national team that refused to participate. “Russia 25” broke its resistance only in the third period, it also lost to Kazakhstan in a bitter fight – 1:3, and in the end it completely defeated Belarus in overtime – 5:4.

Apparently, the winners of last year’s Channel One Cup were mentally and physically crippled by the match with the Russian national team. After all, they were very close to victory, they led three times during the meeting, time after time punishing Roman Rotenberg’s charges for gross mistakes. For example, Stepan Falkovsky scored after an interception in the opponent’s zone, and Roman Gorbunov and Vadim Moroz realized two-on-one and three-on-one opportunities. The hosts rebounded largely thanks to the controversial sending off of the same Falkovsky, when they also removed the goalkeeper and in the six-on-four format, defender Alexander Nikishin equalized the score. This happened in the 57th minute, and soon the Belarusians still had Maxim Sushko crouched in the penalty box, and Sergei Tolchinsky scored the fourth puck, which successfully ricocheted into the net from the stick of visiting defender Daniil Bokun. Then Ilya Safonov hit the empty goal and established the final result – 5:3.

However, some sediment still remained. Rotenberg’s team seemed to be trying to be active and constantly build up pressure, but it lacked creativity and, in some cases, skill.

Only the first line of Mikhail Vorobyov stood out against the general background, and it is not surprising that the coaching staff gradually shuffled all the other attacking threes in search of the most combat-ready combinations, and a number of forwards generally had to be placed in deep reserve. On the other hand, in the current composition of “Russia 25” only three hockey players appear in the top 30 best snipers of the current KHL regular season, and only Tolchinsky and Nikishin are in the top thirty scorers. Moreover, the most productive forwards of this team, according to Kakhael statistics, Maxim Shabanov and Vasily Atanasov, never adapted to its playing style, even though the second still managed to make his contribution to the victory over the Belarusians.

Meanwhile, in light of the unexpected defeat of the Belarusian national team from Stars and VHL, the Russia 25-Kazakhstan match acquired decisive status, since both teams had the opportunity to win the Channel One Cup.

The hosts seemed like clear favorites, but they also gave their best on Saturday and had a hard time getting into the game. As a result, the Russians again gave their opponents a head start, allowing the leader of the Kazakhstan national team Nikita Mikhailis to shoot unhindered, and then did not use the double majority “five on three”. True, when one penalty box had already appeared on the ice, Safonov managed to substitute his stick for a shot from the blue line by Bogdan Konyushkov and level the situation.

In the opening of the second period, the Kazakhs already played out the odds, when Russian forward Marat Khairullin helped defender Adil Beketaev to score by changing the flight of the puck. So this match also developed according to the Belarusian scenario, according to which, like the day before, Vasily Glotov made up for the second missed goal. But then the owners decided to abandon it and no longer tempt fate. Maxim Sorkin, after a penny pass from Safonov, and Valentin Zykov, from Khairullin’s pass, created a fairly comfortable advantage – “plus two”.

In the third twenty-minute period, Zykov scored a double and completed the intrigue. “Russia 25” won 5:2 and brought home the Channel One Cup, which the Belarusians took away from the national team last year and, in general, has not won since 2020.

Alexander Ilyin