It became known which of the Russian hockey players will go to the 2021 World Championship, which starts on May 21 in Riga. The preliminary composition involves the change of the captain of the national team, as well as the calculation for the arrival of players from the National Hockey League.

The composition of the Russian national hockey team for the world championship in Riga has been announced

The list of candidates for a trip to the 2021 World Hockey Championship as part of the Russian national team was announced a few hours after the end of the Czech stage of the Euro Hockey Tour, where the Russians lost to the Czech Republic with a score of 0:4 in the final match.

Goalkeepers: Alexander Samonov (SKA, St. Petersburg), Ivan Fedotov (CSKA, Moscow);

Defenders: Artem Zub (Ottawa Senators, NHL), Ivan Provorov (Philadelphia Flyers, NHL), Vladislav Gavrikov (Columbus Blue Jackets, NHL), Nikita Nesterov (Calgary Flames, NHL), Nikita Zadorov ( Chicago Blackhawks, NHL), Grigory Dronov (Metallurg, Magnitogorsk), Igor Ozhiganov (SKA), Rushan Rafikov, Alexei Marchenko (both – Lokomotiv, Yaroslavl);

At the same time, goalkeeper Ivan Bocharov, forwards Ilya Safonov and Vasily Podkolzin will be preparing with the team, but they will not be included in the application yet. Two more hockey players – defender Kirill Kirsanov and forward Kirill Marchenko – will undergo individual training in Riga.

Thus, the application included 26 hockey players out of 28. Two more places were left for the players of the National Hockey League, said the head coach of the Russian team Valery Bragin.

“We leave in the application one place for the goalkeeper and one place for the attacker from the NHL. We will wait for the completion of the first round of the playoffs in the Stanley Cup, ”he said.

One of the most interesting and important changes was that the team captain Egor Yakovlev was not included in this list. He received the captain's armband after Vadim Shipachev left the national team, and in an interview he emphasized that he was glad and proud of this circumstance. At the Euro Tour in the Czech Republic, although the hockey player did not shine, it cannot be said that he failed the matches. However, for example, in the final match, Yakovlev retired twice in the third period.

Everything went to the fact that he would go to the World Championship in the status of captain, but in the end the hockey player was completely out of the squad. Yakovlev himself declined to comment on what happened.

The captain's armband will go to CSKA forward Anton Slepyshev. Nine people will become his assistants at once – Anton Burdasov, Mikhail Grigorenko, Igor Ozhiganov, Artem Zub, Vladislav Gavrikov, Alexei Marchenko, Evgeny Timkin, Konstantin Okulov and Maxim Shalunov.

It is worth noting that not only Yakovlev was excluded from the composition, the defenders Dmitry Yudin (Ak Bars), Daniil Pylenkov (Vityaz, Moscow Region), Mikhail Naumenkov (Salavat Yulaev, Ufa) also remained “overboard” of the world. , Kirill Kirsanov (SKA) and striker Denis Zernov (Vanguard).

Questions are also raised by the application of goalkeepers. Fedotov did not in the best way in the final match of the Europeanchocketing with the Czech Republic and was replaced during the game after he missed three washers. The first number at the World Cup will probably become Samonov, and Bocharov will be included in the application only if one of the two goalkeepers is injured. At the same time, the coaching staff of the national team leaves a place under the goalkeeper from the NHL.

However, a serious question arises here – is it worth the game of candles? When departing from the first round of the Stanley Cup, the NHL goalkeeper will have time to come only to the quarter -final or the semifinals of the World Cup. In addition, the aspect that the Russian team still needs to be reached, this goalkeeper will have a difficult season, a long flight from the USA, acclimatization and weekly quarantine. Will he be able to show the same level on the world championship as in the National Hockey League?

A similar question arises with a place for an attacker from the NHL. At the same time, two attackers who could be included in the application are already sent with the team to Riga.

The World Cup starts on May 21. On the same day, the Russian team will hold the first match of the group stage, where he will meet with the Czech team.