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Canada remains the top favorite of the MFM / Photo local – twitter.com/HC_WJC
The quarterfinals of the World Junior Championships are traditionally played on the same day, and it is always the most eventful of the entire tournament. Also, this is the first stage, when the competition suffers serious losses: the first big teams drop out of the race. This cannot be helped, for everyone there will be no place in the top four, and someone is always forced to go home without a chance to fight for the medals. But the beauty of the MFM is that until the end you don’t know who will enter the coveted four and who will leave the tournament, incessantly.
Russia – Germany 2: 1 (1: 0, 1: 0, 0: 1)
The Russian national team has been doing without the gold medals of the youth world championship for ten years, and each new campaign is associated with special hopes, supposedly here it is, at that very moment.
Also, a new head coach is working with the team: Igor Larionov– which he is trying to instill in his “children’s hockey”, which will please the fans and bring results. Paradoxically, technical thinking fails in this tournament only in matches with teams that are obviously inferior to the Russians in their class.
So it was with Czech Republic in the group stage it happened with Germany in the quarterfinals, but with the only difference: this time the result was achieved. After the match, Larionov also drew a parallel between the two games.
“The Germans played the same game as the Czech Republic,” said the specialist. – They practiced tight defensive hockey and expected counterattacks. They were on par with us in the fight for the album and they didn’t give us many chances at the door. It was a tough game, as always in the quarterfinals. ”
The forwards of the fourth link of the Russian team once again became one of the main creators of the victory. Vasily Ponomarev, who in general in this tournament is almost the main character of the team, despite the abundance of many star artists in the composition. Because of his debut disc in the match, he scored playing in the minority.
“The most important thing is that we won, now we have to prepare for the next game,” he admitted after the game. “It was a similar match to the one we lost to the Czech Republic, we have to be more rational to take advantage of our opportunities.”
By the way, Russia had never experienced such problems with Germany in the MFM; Before that, he had eight wins in eight games with a goal difference of 5:43. And this tough game is rather a confirmation of the progress of the Germans, who, despite major personnel problems during the tournament, played it more than decently and played the playoffs for the first time.
This generation of young German hockey players can well be considered golden, and their leader: Tim stutzle – Immediately after the tournament, I took a ticket to Ottawa, where, as part of the Senators, he will rise to the top of the NHL.
“We can really be proud of our performance,” he said after being defeated by the Russians. – It is unfortunate to lose such a match because we had opportunities, but I had the honor of being the captain of this team, a fantastic feeling. A 1: 2 defeat for Russia can be considered acceptable. ”
Now, in the semi-finals, Russia will face an early meeting with Canada, and many are happy about that. Larionov’s team in this MFM plays best with teams that don’t intend to stay out on defense, and a meeting with the Canadians is always a separate emotion that neutralizes absolutely everything that came before.
Canada – Czech Republic 3: 0 (2: 0, 0: 0, 1: 0)
Canadians, by the way, also suffered under the intransigent Czechs. Given their power in the group stage and the crushing defeats of the Czechs against the Swedes and the Americans, it was quite possible to expect a defeat. Also, the command Karela mleineka they missed two quick goals and it looked like it was possible to end this but, unlike the aforementioned matches, the Czechs did not fall apart in the middle of regulation time and kept the intrigue until the end. It is interesting that as a result of the match, the Czech Republic even overtook their stellar rival.
However, over the course of the match, it became clear that the Canadians were in control of what was happening on the ice and were confident in their scoring, and the moments in their goal emerged only at the end, when Mleinek replaced the goalkeeper with the sixth player. field.
“They did what we expected of them,” Canadians head coach Andre Turiny said after the game. – They worked hard in their area, blocked shots, each of our discs was delivered to us with difficulty. We had to work hard on defense, at the right times Devon saved us [Леви]… They may not have the depth of the roster like other teams in this tournament, but they have heart. And for us it was the perfect game. ”
Despite the abundance of skilled performers in the lineup, in the Canadian strikes again the most notable was Dylan Cosens, who scored 2 (1 + 1) points in this match, having scored, among other things, the winning disc. The team’s dependence on their game is quite large, and in decisive matches, Canadians have to be careful about this. Cozens now has 13 points in the tournament and is his second scorer.
Well, the Czechs once again held a faded tournament, coming out with the quarterfinals of turn. In the last 16 years, they have passed this stage only twice, and the last medals date back to 2005. The crisis in Czech ice hockey is evident and the light at the end of the tunnel is not yet visible.
Finland – Sweden 3: 2 (0: 2, 1: 0, 2: 0)
The most intriguing match of the quarterfinals was the match between Finland and Sweden. It was the only one in which it was difficult to choose a favorite. The Swedes in this tournament interrupted their winning streak in the group stage, having suffered two defeats in a row at the same time, so they were not in a good mood for the quarterfinals. However, the Finns could do nothing with the Canadians in the head-to-head battle for first place.
However, it was they who emerged victorious in the quarter-final showdown, having recovered from 0: 2 and scored the winning disc in the last minute of regulation time. The Swedish leaders could not help at all, and indeed that Lucas raymond, what Alexander holtz he kept the entire tournament below his level, but of course the coronavirus outbreak in the team must not be forgotten even before the start of the tournament, which is why he lost his head coach. Thomas montaigne and multiple players, although it is also incorrect to attribute all problems to this alone.
“We focused on the guys who were here,” Swedish forward Arvid Kostmar said after the game. – This is what we have nothing to do with. We were a close team and we never raised this issue. ”
By the way, like the Russians, the series without gold at the MFM for the Swedes also dragged on: the last time they felt the taste of victory was in 2012. However, this tournament stands out for them by the fact that it stalled not only in the playoff stage, but immediately after the first few games of the group stage.
Finland, in a traditional hard-working way, reached the semifinals, where they will play against the United States. The team again does not have an impressive selection of artists, but it can create problems for absolutely everyone. Furthermore, it has a brilliant and well-played first bond, which is consistently implemented by the majority throughout the tournament, and its leader Anton Lundell – the true star of a new generation of Finnish players, combining power and drive Patrick Laine with agility and vision of the site Sebastian Aho… It is clear that the Americans will be the favorites in the semifinals, but a possible victory for the Finns at this stage will probably no longer be able to surprise anyone.
U.S – Slovakia 5: 2 (1: 0, 2: 1, 2: 1)
The Americans in the quarterfinals did not easily beat the Slovaks. Probably, even before the start of the match, there was some underestimation of the opponent by the team. Nate liman, but his players immediately took the initiative and quickly opened the scoring. The Slovaks, unlike the Czechs in the game with Canada, did not sit in defense and put in regular efforts Spencer knightNot surprisingly, they were the ones who broke their “dry” streak at around 158 minutes.
However, the lack of brilliant attacking players is the main problem for the Slovak national team in this tournament, and the Americans cannot win with dedication alone.
The states played on the sidelines, and even as the Slovaks in the third period narrowed the gap to a minimum, there was a feeling in the air that a surprise was impossible here. Once again the game is worth highlighting. Trevor zegras, who scored two service points and remains the tournament’s top scorer, as well as Dylan Cosens – the main contender for the MVP title.
Zegras has solid support: he scored in the quarterfinals and Artur kaliev and so far holding a vague tournament Cole Cofield… However, everything will be forgiven him if he fully reveals his potential in decisive matches. So far, the American majority is doing well, probably the team’s main trump card.
“The quarterfinals are a tough time,” Lyman said after the game. – I watched other games: Canada, Russia and Finland have passed difficult tests. But you have to eliminate someone from the tournament. Now we have to reorient ourselves to Finland. It will be a great game, they were the ones who knocked us out last year. ”
Both North American teams are favorites in their semifinals. However, we have already reached the stage where teams have to show very “pure” youth hockey, which we love the most. Medal matches traditionally give unexpected results, but at this stage no one will call them sensations.
MCHM-2021 semifinal schedule
January 5
01:00 Canada – Russia
04:30 United States – Finland
All the decisive matches of the tournament will be broadcast live on the XSPORT television channel.
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