Hockey Novel: Rotenberg's team defeated Kazakhstan, but lost to Belarusians

In parallel with the heated battles in the KHL playoffs and the Stanley Cup, the Russia 25 national team's May tour is underway with Roman Rotenberg as head coach. Under his leadership, the team, which consists of 12 SKA players, has already played two matches in Astana: on May 1, they beat Kazakhstan (4:1), and the next day they stumbled over a fraternal team from Belarus (2:4). The national team's matches in Tolyatti and Minsk are ahead.

Serious sparring

The Belarusians looked much more active in the first two periods and made the necessary difference (3-0). Rotenberg's team, adding momentum in the third 20 minutes, tried to make a comeback, but despite all their efforts, they failed.

— It wasn't hot in the locker room, we had a heart—to-heart talk, - said the head coach. — You know, you don't wave your fists after a fight. We searched for these emotions during the match. Not only physically, but emotionally it is not so easy to play such two games in a row with serious opponents. One fresh opponent is the national team of Kazakhstan, the next is a fresh opponent. This is very serious sparring. Let's be stronger, hold the punch, go ahead!

Dmitry Kvartalnov's team scored four goals: only KHL representatives Andrei Belevich (Torpedo), Ivan Drozdov (CSKA), Sergey Kuznetsov (Dinamo Minsk) and Alexander Skorenov (Severstal) scored. The Russians scored goals for the Severstal players — defender Vladimir Grudinin and striker Danil Aimurzin.

— We couldn't score goals. I can only say for myself: in principle, it was fine to play two games in 21 hours. They did not follow the coaching instructions to win. The attitude for the remaining matches is to take away and win. There can be no other attitude. We will try to make three out of three in the remaining matches," Mikhail Vorobyov, striker of Russia 25 and SKA, told Izvestia after the game.

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Next, the Russian national team is scheduled to play three matches with Belarus from May 5 to May 8 (the day off will be on Wednesday, May 7). It's a pretty busy schedule, but Roman Rotenberg has put together such an impressive application for a reason. Surely it's worth waiting for the coach's favorite rotation. Both games that will be held in our country will be held in Tolyatti. Of course, it's worth waiting for full stands at Lada's small home arena.

Special progress

Rotenberg himself notes the importance of keeping the national team busy during the suspension. And even before the May tour, he highlighted the main mission — the development of hockey in Russia.

— Many colleagues from Canada and the USA envy us because we are developing, — Roman Rotenberg emphasized. — I want to wish everyone good luck and thank the sponsors for the support they provide to the national team. This is important to us. Thanks to such support, we have the opportunity to develop. We promise to play bright hockey, in the best traditions of our hockey.

Of course, the main difference between the current games of the national team and everything that happened in previous years is that the Gagarin Cup games continue in parallel. Partly because of this, interest in the national team's matches is also falling. But it would also be strange to hold games after the end of the KHL playoffs, in June.

For the young players who form the basis of our national team, these matches acquire special value. It is unlikely that in the previous conditions many of them would have had a real opportunity to wear a sweater with a coat of arms on the chest. Now they are fighting for the national team with great motivation, even if they are tired after an unusually long season.

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The national team of Kazakhstan will continue to prepare for the World Cup, and the Russians will have to take revenge on the Belarusians. Kvartalnov's team is worth noting in particular: recently, many Belarusian players, including under the guidance of a specialist at Dinamo Minsk, have made serious progress. If we add Sharangovich, Protas, Kolyachonk and Kolosov, who perform overseas, to this composition, then the optimal roster of Belarusians looks very decent. And I want to believe that both at the next World Cup and at the Olympics we will see both the Russian and Belarusian national teams.

Notably, Kvartalnov's team won the Qazaqstan Hockey Open, defeating Kazakhstan (2-0) on the last day of the tournament. Alexander Skorenov scored the puck in the first period, Vadim Moroz hit an empty net at the end of the match. Russia 25 took the second place (4:1 with Kazakhstan, 2:4 with Belarus). The national team of Kazakhstan is in the third position. (1:4, 0:2).