Ak Bars vs Avangard. What will the current owner of the Gagarin Cup show in Kazan?
The most intriguing confrontation of the first round of the playoffs starts on March 2 in Kazan. Local Ak Bars and Omsk Avangard will start the confrontation with a match on the ice of Tatneft-Arena.
The Kazan club is one of the most titled teams in the KHL, having three victories in the Gagarin Cup. Last season, Barça reached the semi-finals, where the Omsk Avangard became the stumbling block, after all, in a seven-match confrontation, they nevertheless tipped the scales in their favor. In the current championship, Ak Bars did not particularly shine, by November it had practically withdrawn itself from the fight for the championship in the East. As a result, the Kazan club is in fourth place, five points behind the best team in the Eastern Conference, Metallurg Magnitogorsk.
Immediately, a number of Ak Bars hockey players took part in the Olympic Games in February, so the team gathered in full force just a few days ago. Nevertheless, the pause that appeared in the Barça championship was used to the maximum, having played 6 friendly matches at once. The results can be considered positive. Wards of Dmitry Kvartalnov scored four victories (over Lokomotiv 3-2 and three times over neighbors from Neftekhimik 6-2, 1-0 and 4-2). The team lost twice, to Siberia and Severstal 3-4, but here it is worth making allowances for the experimental squad, Kazan youth got their chance to prove themselves in these matches.
Avangard
The status of the current owner of the Gagarin Cup puts additional psychological pressure on the players of the Omsk club. Now any other result, except for another won cup, will be regarded as a step back. In fairness, it is worth noting that it will be extremely difficult for Avangard hockey players to repeat last year's triumph. Even during the summer off-season, the Omsk club, for various reasons, lost a number of key hockey players who made a significant contribution to the championship. The newcomers who replaced them could not fully replace the retired leaders, which is eloquently evidenced by the results of the Vanguard during the regular season. The team quickly fell off the leading quartet in the East, eventually finishing the championship only in fifth place.
Like Ak Bars, Avangard delegated a number of hockey players to various national teams in February. In a truncated composition, the Omsk club held three test matches, winning only one of them. The victory was won in the match against CSKA, when the defense of Omsk managed to win back to "zero", and the attack was able to hit the army gate twice. The defeats fell on games against other Moscow teams. Avangard lost to Spartak 3-5 and Dynamo 1-4.
Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on Ak Bars vs Avangard
Ak BarsThe Kazan club is one of the most titled teams in the KHL, having three victories in the Gagarin Cup. Last season, Barça reached the semi-finals, where the Omsk Avangard became the stumbling block, after all, in a seven-match confrontation, they nevertheless tipped the scales in their favor. In the current championship, Ak Bars did not particularly shine, by November it had practically withdrawn itself from the fight for the championship in the East. As a result, the Kazan club is in fourth place, five points behind the best team in the Eastern Conference, Metallurg Magnitogorsk.
Immediately, a number of Ak Bars hockey players took part in the Olympic Games in February, so the team gathered in full force just a few days ago. Nevertheless, the pause that appeared in the Barça championship was used to the maximum, having played 6 friendly matches at once. The results can be considered positive. Wards of Dmitry Kvartalnov scored four victories (over Lokomotiv 3-2 and three times over neighbors from Neftekhimik 6-2, 1-0 and 4-2). The team lost twice, to Siberia and Severstal 3-4, but here it is worth making allowances for the experimental squad, Kazan youth got their chance to prove themselves in these matches.
Avangard
The status of the current owner of the Gagarin Cup puts additional psychological pressure on the players of the Omsk club. Now any other result, except for another won cup, will be regarded as a step back. In fairness, it is worth noting that it will be extremely difficult for Avangard hockey players to repeat last year's triumph. Even during the summer off-season, the Omsk club, for various reasons, lost a number of key hockey players who made a significant contribution to the championship. The newcomers who replaced them could not fully replace the retired leaders, which is eloquently evidenced by the results of the Vanguard during the regular season. The team quickly fell off the leading quartet in the East, eventually finishing the championship only in fifth place.
Like Ak Bars, Avangard delegated a number of hockey players to various national teams in February. In a truncated composition, the Omsk club held three test matches, winning only one of them. The victory was won in the match against CSKA, when the defense of Omsk managed to win back to "zero", and the attack was able to hit the army gate twice. The defeats fell on games against other Moscow teams. Avangard lost to Spartak 3-5 and Dynamo 1-4.
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