Ice Hockey World Cup: The best comes last

Kurt Platter from Stockholm

On April 18, 1993, Italy caused a surprise at the World Cup in Dortmund: The “Azzurri” took a point from Russia in a 2-2 draw. In the remaining eight World Cup duels, “Sbornaja” always prevailed, having celebrated their biggest victory in 1983 with 11:1. In the final seventh and final game of the 76th title fights in Stockholm, Italy will face Yevgeni Malkin and Co today at 20.15:XNUMX p.m.

After yesterday's rest day, the “Azzurri” trained lightly for half an hour today at 11.45 a.m. Daniel Bellissimo was not there. The 27-year-old Italian-Canadian has recovered from his exhaustion (his body was dehydrated) on Saturday (0:4 against Sweden), but will take a seat in the stands this evening. This means that Thomas Tragust and Andreas Bernard will form the goalkeeper duo for the first time.

Andreas Bernard on the bench for the first time When asked three days ago whether Andreas Bernard would play at least a third of this World Cup, national coach Rick Cornacchia replied: “Definitely not. I don't want to burn him. It's already a great experience for him to be here in Stockholm.” Bernard had dreamed of a short appearance against Russia at the start of the World Cup. “It will remain a dream,” Cornacchia said after Saturday’s game and Bellissimo’s exit due to injury. How quickly times change: Finally, Bernard's dream could come true tonight.

The “Azzurri” want to say goodbye to this World Cup with honor and limit the damage. In addition to Bellissimo, the injured defenders Armin Helfer and Christian Borgatello will also be missing. World Cup tourist Thomas Pichler trained for the last time today and is just happy that the World Cup is over. Compared to the previous games, Cornacchia will not change anything in the lineup.

Dimitri Kalinin is suspended

Dimitri Kalinin will be missing from the Russians, who can no longer take victory in Group B. The defender received a match penalty for a violent crosscheck against Swede Johan Franzen in the 7-3 win against hosts Sweden on Friday. The Swede broke his nose. Kalinin could play for the Russians again in a possible semi-final at the earliest. His teammate Alexej Jemelin also stabbed Franzen and was taken out of action for one game by the world association IIHF.

Jemelin already served the ban yesterday in the 2-0 win against the Czech Republic. The star of coach Zinetula Biljaletdinov's team is Yevgeni Malkin, who has collected 13 points (7 goals) in the six games so far. In addition to NHL veteran Pawel Datsjuk, there are 17 cracks in the squad who earn their money in the domestic KHL.

Alexander Ovechkin is coming on Wednesday From Wednesday, another superstar will join the Russian team: After the Washington Capitals' play-off exit in the NHL, the Russian association invited Alexander Ovechkin and his teammate Alexander Sjomin to Stockholm. After all formalities have been completed, the storm duo is scheduled to play for the first time in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

Washington failed on Sunday night against the New York Rangers. Ovechkin was the fifth best scorer in the entire NHL in the main round. Ovechkin, who was voted the best NHL player in 2008 and 2009, is taking part in his eighth World Championship. Together with Sjomin, who is playing in his sixth World Cup, he became world champion in Canada in 2008.

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Ice Hockey World Cup: The best comes last

Italy will face Russia in the last World Cup game today, Monday at 20.15:XNUMX p.m., and will continue to hope to stay in the league.

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