CSKA vs HC Sochi. Winner of the Gagarin Cup against the worst team of last season
The capital's army team will continue the series of home matches with a game against the Sochi hockey club. The meeting will take place on the ice of the capital's CSKA Arena on September 28.
The army team has not yet pleased its fans with stable results, not even remotely resembling itself from last year, when Sergei Fedorov’s team took the main trophy of the season – the Gagarin Cup – for the second time in a row. There are objective reasons for this; the army team returned from summer vacation later than other teams, so the team is gaining game shape during official matches.
At the moment, the army team has more defeats than victories in its baggage. In the starting 10 matches of the championship, CSKA hockey players have already managed to lose 6 times, and Kunlun and Lada were among the offenders of the capital club. While the army team's attack line is completely unproductive, the team's average performance is 2.3 goals per game, which is noticeably inferior to last year's figures. It’s hard for Ivan Fedotov to return to big-time hockey after a year-long break. The former goalkeeper of the Russian national team is now only 16th in the KHL rankings in terms of percentage of shots saved. All these problems are reflected in the army team’s tournament position, now CSKA is eighth in the West, seven points behind the leader.
HC Sochi
Surprisingly, the Sochi team is still ahead of the more titled army team not only in the number of points scored, but also in the number of goals scored. After last year's failure (final last place, only 11 wins in 68 matches played, three different coaches during the season), the Sochi team and the current championship began with two defeats in a row, immediately defining themselves as potential losers. But then came two away victories over Ak Bars 3-1 and Lokomotiv 5-0, which inspired a certain boost of confidence in the Sochi hockey players. At the moment, the Sochi club has achieved an unprecedented tournament stretch of five wins in a row.
The team's performance is amazing. In each of the five victorious matches, the Sochi team scored at least four goals per game, including against such defensive teams as Yaroslavl Lokomotiv and Novosibirsk Sibir. A series of victories allowed the southerners to make a serious breakthrough in the tournament and now HC Sochi, with 12 points scored, is already fifth in the West, ahead of both army teams from St. Petersburg and Moscow.
Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on CSKA vs HC Sochi
CSKAThe army team has not yet pleased its fans with stable results, not even remotely resembling itself from last year, when Sergei Fedorov’s team took the main trophy of the season – the Gagarin Cup – for the second time in a row. There are objective reasons for this; the army team returned from summer vacation later than other teams, so the team is gaining game shape during official matches.
At the moment, the army team has more defeats than victories in its baggage. In the starting 10 matches of the championship, CSKA hockey players have already managed to lose 6 times, and Kunlun and Lada were among the offenders of the capital club. While the army team's attack line is completely unproductive, the team's average performance is 2.3 goals per game, which is noticeably inferior to last year's figures. It’s hard for Ivan Fedotov to return to big-time hockey after a year-long break. The former goalkeeper of the Russian national team is now only 16th in the KHL rankings in terms of percentage of shots saved. All these problems are reflected in the army team’s tournament position, now CSKA is eighth in the West, seven points behind the leader.
HC Sochi
Surprisingly, the Sochi team is still ahead of the more titled army team not only in the number of points scored, but also in the number of goals scored. After last year's failure (final last place, only 11 wins in 68 matches played, three different coaches during the season), the Sochi team and the current championship began with two defeats in a row, immediately defining themselves as potential losers. But then came two away victories over Ak Bars 3-1 and Lokomotiv 5-0, which inspired a certain boost of confidence in the Sochi hockey players. At the moment, the Sochi club has achieved an unprecedented tournament stretch of five wins in a row.
The team's performance is amazing. In each of the five victorious matches, the Sochi team scored at least four goals per game, including against such defensive teams as Yaroslavl Lokomotiv and Novosibirsk Sibir. A series of victories allowed the southerners to make a serious breakthrough in the tournament and now HC Sochi, with 12 points scored, is already fifth in the West, ahead of both army teams from St. Petersburg and Moscow.
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