The 2012 Ice Hockey World Championship took place from 4 to 20 May. The games were held in two neighboring countries: Finland and Sweden, more precisely in their capitals - Helsinki and Stockholm.
The 16 national teams were divided into two groups: Rappu N, who played the preliminary stage matches on the ice of the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, and Group S (which included the Russian national team), which played the preliminary stage at the Globe Arena in Stockholm. According to the results of the matches, the following teams reached the playoffs: from Group H - the national teams of Canada, the USA. Finland and Slovakia, from group S - teams from Russia, Sweden, Czech Republic and Norway. The Russian national team was the only one to win all 7 games of the preliminary stage.
Then our team consistently played matches with the Norwegian national team in the quarterfinals, having won with a score of 5: 2, and with the Finnish national team in the semifinals, having won with a score of 6: 2. In the final final meeting, she was to play with the Slovak national team, which defeated the Canadians in the quarterfinals (4: 3), and in the semifinals - the Czechs (3: 1).
The match for the gold medals took place on May 20 on the ice of the Hartwall Arena. The stadium was filled to capacity. The Russian national team was considered the unambiguous favorite, but the Slovaks should never have been underestimated. The very fact that they reached the final, beating such formidable rivals as the Canadians and Czechs, said a lot.
And the Slovaks immediately proved that they are very determined. Already in the second minute of the first period, they opened an account! The captain of their national team Z. Haro took our goalkeeper by surprise with a powerful throw from the blue line. Such a start could have discouraged anyone, but, to the credit of our players, they did not get confused, seized the initiative and began to create dangerous moments at the gate of the Slovak team. At the 10th minute, Datsyuk made an accurate long-distance pass to Ovechkin, he burst into the zone and made a pass from the left side to Semin, who threw the puck into the goaltender Laco's goal. The second part of the period was held in double-edged attacks, the teams left for the break with the same score 1: 1.
In the 6th minute of the second period, our hockey players scored the second goal, Perezhogin scored. And on the 14th minute the score became 3: 1, when Tereshchenko and Shirokov skillfully implemented a two-to-one exit. After just two minutes, the puck again flew into the gate of Laco after a throw from Semin, who came out one on one with the Slovak goalkeeper.
Our hockey players “caught the courage,” and although the Slovaks stubbornly resisted, counterattacking, the outcome of the match was already clear. In the third period, the Russian national team scored two more goals for the Slovaks, conceding one in response when playing in the minority. The final score is 6: 2 in our favor. It was a very beautiful and well-deserved victory! All sports commentators unanimously noted the high level of our team, which did not leave the opponent any chance.
