Slovakia vs Russia. How will the third match of the Russian national team at MFM 2022 turn out?
On the night from Wednesday to Thursday, the Russian youth team will play their third match at the World Championship. The game will be played by the Slovak national team in the Canadian city of Red Deer, on the ice of the Westerner Park arena.
The Slovak national team does not belong to the favorites of the championship, being content with the status of the middle peasant at any major international tournaments. The main achievement at the level of the youth teams is two bronzes, won in 1999 and 2015. The last six championships, the Slovaks overcome the group stage, but then are eliminated already at the stage of the quarterfinals. This was the case a year ago, when, after the fourth place in the group, the Slovak national team got into the playoffs against strong Americans, to whom, as expected, lost 2-5.
They do not expect a special breakthrough from the Slovaks at this championship either. The Slovak national team is one of the youngest in this tournament, in which nine hockey players have not yet turned 18 years old. Of the notable figures, it is worth paying attention to defender Shimon Nemec and forward Juraj Slavkovski, who, despite their youth, have already played for their main team at the senior World Championship 2021. After two starting rounds, the Slovaks have zero points, both games against the USA and Sweden Ivan Fenesh's charges lost. In the opening game of the championship, the Slovaks fought the Americans until the last, but in the end they lost with a score of 2-3. On the second day, the defeat to the Swedes was more sensitive 0-3, but in shots on target the Slovaks outnumbered their opponent by almost two times 48-27.
Russia
If for Slovaks the main task for the championship is getting into the playoffs, then the Russian team is traditionally considered as one of the contenders for gold. True, the last golden triumph of the youth team dates back to 2011, but since then Russian youth reached the final four times, eventually losing twice to the Canadians and once to the national teams of Sweden and Finland. Last year, Russian youth were completely left without medals, first losing in the semifinals to the same Canadians 0-5, and then losing to the Finns 1-4 in the bronze medal match.
The new coaching staff of the national team, headed by Sergei Zubov, should be rehabilitated for last year's failure. The first pancake, according to the Russian tradition, came out lumpy. The opening game of the championship against the powerful Swedish national team did not go well from the very beginning, resulting in 0-3 by the middle of the third period. In the future, thanks to Michkov's efforts, the Russian national team reduced the score to a minimum, but two conceded goals in the end set the final score 6-3 in favor of the Swedish national team. The Russian youth team scored the first points on the second day of the championship, when the Swiss national team was beaten with a score of 4-2. Thus, now the Russian national team has three points and the current third place in group B.
Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on Slovakia vs Russia
SlovakiaThe Slovak national team does not belong to the favorites of the championship, being content with the status of the middle peasant at any major international tournaments. The main achievement at the level of the youth teams is two bronzes, won in 1999 and 2015. The last six championships, the Slovaks overcome the group stage, but then are eliminated already at the stage of the quarterfinals. This was the case a year ago, when, after the fourth place in the group, the Slovak national team got into the playoffs against strong Americans, to whom, as expected, lost 2-5.
They do not expect a special breakthrough from the Slovaks at this championship either. The Slovak national team is one of the youngest in this tournament, in which nine hockey players have not yet turned 18 years old. Of the notable figures, it is worth paying attention to defender Shimon Nemec and forward Juraj Slavkovski, who, despite their youth, have already played for their main team at the senior World Championship 2021. After two starting rounds, the Slovaks have zero points, both games against the USA and Sweden Ivan Fenesh's charges lost. In the opening game of the championship, the Slovaks fought the Americans until the last, but in the end they lost with a score of 2-3. On the second day, the defeat to the Swedes was more sensitive 0-3, but in shots on target the Slovaks outnumbered their opponent by almost two times 48-27.
Russia
If for Slovaks the main task for the championship is getting into the playoffs, then the Russian team is traditionally considered as one of the contenders for gold. True, the last golden triumph of the youth team dates back to 2011, but since then Russian youth reached the final four times, eventually losing twice to the Canadians and once to the national teams of Sweden and Finland. Last year, Russian youth were completely left without medals, first losing in the semifinals to the same Canadians 0-5, and then losing to the Finns 1-4 in the bronze medal match.
The new coaching staff of the national team, headed by Sergei Zubov, should be rehabilitated for last year's failure. The first pancake, according to the Russian tradition, came out lumpy. The opening game of the championship against the powerful Swedish national team did not go well from the very beginning, resulting in 0-3 by the middle of the third period. In the future, thanks to Michkov's efforts, the Russian national team reduced the score to a minimum, but two conceded goals in the end set the final score 6-3 in favor of the Swedish national team. The Russian youth team scored the first points on the second day of the championship, when the Swiss national team was beaten with a score of 4-2. Thus, now the Russian national team has three points and the current third place in group B.
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