Nerve and spectacle: what to expect from the hockey team at the main tournament of the year

The Channel One Cup will take place in St. Petersburg from December 12-15, with the Russian national team playing against teams from Belarus, Kazakhstan and the KHL's Legionnaires' Team.

The dominance of SKA players on the Russian national team has constantly raised questions, but the upcoming Channel One Cup is not a case where it's worth emphasizing the coaching staff's excessive bias in determining candidates. In an ideal world, the lineup would be different. However, with the international isolation, the end of which is yet to be seen, such events are treated more leniently within the league.

Those who want to

It is known that some clubs were not at all eager to release their players to the national team. And this approach probably has its own logic, too. The busy KHL calendar is exhausting, and even iron men need a break. This is also connected with the natural reliance on young players - the average age of the team will be 24.5 years old. They recover faster and cope better with the stresses. The upcoming tournament is not a friendly get-together and an easy walk, remember what passions boiled on it a year ago.

Hence the large representation of SKA players. They agree to everything, and they don't need to fly halfway across the country. Inviting experienced Kuznetsov, Grigorenko and Plotnikov is also understandable. The tournament will be held in St. Petersburg at the most spacious hockey arena in the world, so the local public will be more willing to go to those who are closer to their hearts. From the point of view of advertising and promotion it is also the right step, taking into account the interests of sponsors. They need bright and recognizable persons on billboards.

In the Russian national team, in addition to SKA representatives, there are also enough bright players who perform well in the KHL championship. Lada goalie Vladislav Podyapolskiy works miracles in every game. Danil Aymurzin from Severstal will try to make a name for himself without his usual trio partner Kirill Pilipenko. The classy trio from CSKA - Abramov, Sorkin, Poltapov - is very noticeable. She greatly helped her team get through the crisis of the first few months with minimal losses. There will be someone to follow at the tournament in St. Petersburg.

However, even with the above circumstances, the total number of invited hockey players is somewhat disconcerting. The Russian team will play only three games at the First Channel Cup, so calling up four goalies, 11 defensemen and 18 forwards seems like overkill. This question will probably be answered better and in detail by the national team management. If this approach will help to beat all opponents with a big score and make a lot of noise in the media, then it will be justified. But at the moment we can't be 100 percent sure. Therefore, the tournament has one more intrigue.

Legionnaires' lineup

The Channel One Cup has suddenly taken on a new meaning and is becoming a potentially extremely interesting event. This became evident after the league released the lineup of the KHL World Team, which will be coached by the legendary Mike Keenan at the tournament. It's hard to call it an ideal team, considering that all the strongest players were not invited. But it raises the status of the tournament. There is nothing more fundamental and interesting than a match in the format "ours vs. not ours" in the most spacious hockey arena in the world. Intrigue, nerves and spectacle from the KHL World Team should be expected already in the first match against Russia 25, led by Roman Rotenberg.

The idea of KHL chairman Gennady Timchenko to create a team of foreigners initially looked beautiful. But earlier it was doubtful that the organizers would be able to quickly form a strong gang. They solved the problem promptly, not shying away from methods. It is not easy to persuade foreigners, who have long bought tickets and planned meetings with their relatives, but it does not mean that you have to break relations with everyone at once. The league managers should have taken care of the personnel issue well in advance.

However, in the end, the picture turned out to be more or less decent. Yashkin, Petan, Khmelevsky, Barak, Galchenyuk, Ruzicka, Shulak - bright players by KHL standards, who are always interesting to the public. And not only in St. Petersburg, but in the cities where their clubs are based. According to our information, the foreigners get bonuses for participation in the tournament and individual victories. This fact makes it clear that foreigners will go to the Northern Capital not only to study the menu of luxurious establishments on Rubinstein Street.

A year ago, one of the participants of the tournament instead of the Chinese who refused to participate was a team consisting mainly of WHL players and a few young stars from the KHL like Khusnutdinov and Gritsyuk. Their effort and dedication could not be denied. "Stars and VHL" even punished the Belarus national team for their self-confidence. But in terms of promoting the tournament and raising its importance, this team gave little. The KHL World Team solved this task automatically.