Russians swiftly eliminated the KHL legionnaires' team from their path.

The performance of our national ice hockey team always garners keen interest from both the press and ordinary fans. This is especially true lately, as there are not many matches and tournaments where we can see the best Russian hockey players due to the disqualification imposed by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Aside from the traditional pre-New Year tournament for national teams, the calendar includes only the spring tour of "Russia 25" across Russian cities, with stops in Kazakhstan and Belarus.

Essentially, this wraps up all the public appearances of the "Red Machine" for the entire year. Domestic fans of the most popular sport in Russia, as confirmed by a survey from VTsIOM, which was detailed by MK-Sport in its article "Russians Named Hockey as the Main National Sport", have been eagerly missing the annual May World Championship. Even the Eurotour, which faced relentless criticism, is now something they would be thrilled to see.

At the press conference preceding the start of the First Channel Cup, the leaders of our hockey community, President of the Russian Hockey Federation Vladislav Tretiak and head coach of the "Russia 25" team Roman Rotenberg, tried to reassure domestic fans of the coldest game on earth, stating that discussions are underway about hosting several matches with the sport's originators, the Canadians, in Dubai. For this occasion, or perhaps to seize this opportunity, the hockey federations of Russia and the UAE signed a joint memorandum of cooperation.

Additionally, Roman Borisovich shared an important secret: the largest Canadian television company, TSN, which has been broadcasting the junior world championship matches for many years, is demanding the IIHF to expedite the return of the Russian junior team to the world stage. Without us, they claim, their crocodile isn't caught, nor does the coconut grow: "I know that the Canadian TV company insists that the International Federation bring back the Russian junior team to the tournament. Yes, this is sensational news, but it is so. For details, refer to the Canadians," Rotenberg advised.

While sharing secrets about others, what surprises has Roman Rotenberg prepared for the tournament opponents with the national team now named "Russia 25"? Not particularly any. The fully packed stands of the 21,000-seat "SKA Arena," which even hosted a mini-concert by Grigory Leps, who performed the Russian anthem, saw the familiar lineup of SKA, bolstered by a few players from other KHL clubs.

In goal, the most valuable player of the 2024 playoffs, Illya Nabokov from Magnitogorsk, took his place, while the second pair of defensemen consisted of Illya Karpukhin from Chelyabinsk and Alexander Yelesin from Yaroslavl. This lineup of our team in the opening match against a team of KHL legionnaires, assembled for this Cup, started slowly and cautiously in the first period, then sped up in the second, scoring three goals, and comfortably rolled to the finish in the final twenty minutes.

4:1 – a more than confident victory for our guys, but it must be honestly acknowledged that it was against a rather unmotivated opponent, who only truly engaged in the game towards the end, when Libor Shulak managed to score with a long shot past Nabokov, preventing the "Magnitka" goalie from achieving a shutout for the national team. It's pleasing that four players from three different clubs scored for "Russia 25" – the St. Petersburg army men Marat Khairullin and Mikhail Grigorenko, as well as defender Yelesin from "Lokomotiv" and forward Illya Safonov from "Ak Bars."

After the match, our team's coach staged yet another personal performance. Instead of calmly and thoroughly analyzing his players' game, he lashed out at the journalists attending the post-match press conference, demanding they check passports of their colleagues and undergo a lie detector test: "Do you cheer for Team World? Confess! It's time to introduce a lie detector for journalists. We have known you for 20 years, and you haven't asked a single positive question. You could pose a question for the show 'What? Where? When?' and they would respond. We won't answer provocative questions anymore!”

In the next match, our team will face the Belarusian national team, which triumphed over Kazakhstan in the opening match (3:1), and a full house is expected both in the stands and in the press center. The new show presented by Roman Rotenberg's team, as well as himself, is something that simply cannot be missed.

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