In October "SE" runs a special section, dedicated to Russian hockey. In this material we present our own version of the 10 best teams in the history of the Kontinental Hockey League
Two Gagarin Cups in a row is a record. So far only Dynamo Moscow has been able to repeat it. Kazan dominated in the first years of the KHL's existence - fortunately, the strong core that achieved success back in the days of the Super League has not gone away.
The most important thing is that it was a great connection and worked like a clock. In the first final, Lokomotiv had a game advantage throughout the entire series, but Ak Bars managed to pull out a victory on character. Just look at the second match, when the Kazan team was losing 0:3 at home by the 14th minute, sent the match into overtime 74 seconds before the end of regular time, and in the very first attack in extra time they brought the game to victory with a score of 4:3.
But there was also the fifth match of the quarterfinal series with Avangard, when the Omsk team lacked 15 seconds to advance to the next round. Nikulin equalized the score after a throw-in won by Niko Kapanen, and the veteran scored the winning goal in overtime.
The second title was remembered for the fact that Ak Bars stopped the powerful Salavat, led by , in the semifinals, and in the decisive series put the squeeze on HC MVD, losing 2-3 and losing Alexei Morozov due to injury.
The first club trophy of the coaching tandem of Vyacheslav Bykov was wonderful in everything - both with a dramatic background (defeat to Ak Bars in the playoffs in the 2009/10 season) and a joyful ending. In the fall of 2010, the duo narrowly avoided retirement when the team was feverishly ill. But from the middle of the season, the Ufa team, led by the team and, gained impressive momentum.
In a head-to-head confrontation in the second round of the playoffs, they dethroned the two-time Cup winner and their number one rival in the KHL in the person of Kazan Ak Bars, which makes the final success even more significant and brighter. The toughest final of the East and the 1:0 victory in the seventh match over Magnitogorsk became a real test. In the decisive series, the sensational team of that playoffs, Atlanta, simply did not have enough strength and emotion to stop Salavat.
Head coach Vyacheslav Bykov, brilliant, a crazy trio - -, Norwegian scorer Patrick Thoresen and a dozen other KHL stars - with such a wonderful set, SKA had no right to lose in that playoffs.
Although in previous years the St. Petersburg team were also considered favorites, they stumbled over and over again on the way to the main trophy in their history. The brightest series that went down in the history of Russian hockey came in the Western Conference finals. SKA managed to get even, having suffered defeats in the first three matches from CSKA, where Alexander Radulov himself went on a rampage. After that, Vyacheslav Bykov’s team dealt with “Ak Bars” in the final without any problems.
It’s hard to imagine when we’ll be able to see a “Traktor” like this again, playing classic Soviet hockey with an emphasis on rolling, the ability to play a pass and create a masterpiece of combinational rather than power play.
We have to remember those times with nostalgia. The classic story about hockey’s Cinderella looked especially impressive five years ago, given the fact that this squad under the leadership of Oleg Znark didn’t even make it to the playoffs the season before!
The team of “downed pilots,” as the club’s general manager Andrei Safronov put it, stopped one step away from the loudest sensation in the history of Russian hockey. Character and willingness to fight for each other turned out to be stronger than the individual skill of the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv stars. In the Western finals, the team from Balashikha beat a formidable opponent in seven matches. And I fought with dignity against Ak Bars and even led the series 3-2.
HC MVD was disbanded the following season, and its management, coaching staff and leaders formed the backbone of the renewed Moscow Dynamo. Two years after that success of the “policemen,” the blue and white, betting on all the same trump cards, won the Gagarin Cup. And then another one.
Before the appearance of the HC MVD, “Atlant” performed for a year in the rank of Cinderella, which did not reach the queen of the ball. To be fair, the Moscow region team had in its ranks such eminent players as Sergei Mozyakin, Dmitry Bykov, Zbynek Irgl, . The team started the season neither shaky nor weak. Nikolai Borshchevsky was dismissed in October.
With the arrival of the charismatic Milos Rzhiga, Atlant got out of the tournament swamp and made some noise in the playoffs. In first place is the victory over SKA in the second round. Then the Moscow region team fought back from a 1-3 score in the series, losing 1-2 in the seventh game a little over five minutes before the end of the third period. The defeat of Yaroslavl's Lokomotiv led at the next stage was impressive, and the 8:2 score in the sixth match, which became the final one, is impossible to forget. Another thing is that victory in the final over a fully staffed Salavat Yulaev turned out to be an impossible task.
This team did not win the Gagarin Cup, but forever won the hearts of picky and demanding Omsk fans. The head coach of that Avangard, with all his frantic character, became the favorite of Omsk until the end of his life. Even now they are ready to welcome him with open arms in any popular place in this city. Under him, the team, with such stars as a Finnish goalkeeper and a Czech striker, played flashy hockey with an emphasis on attack and pressure. In the 2010/11 season, the Omsk team became first in the regular season, reaching the conference finals in the playoffs, and a year later they led the decisive series with Dynamo Moscow 3-1, but missed out on the title, believing in their ultimate success too early.
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Every year, after the World Cup, we publish the rankings of national hockey teams. This year will be no exception. We will also compare the progress of the teams compared to the last update. Team Canada, which lost the gold medals in 2019, remained at the top of the world rankings. She has 3705 points. The team at the World Championship held the maximum number of meetings (10), achieved 8 victories and lost twice. It’s just not interesting to look at the rating. We have added a column to track the position of national teams over the past 3 years. In fact, the Canadians have held the lead over this period. Let's talk about the legend and how points are awarded. The results of the last 4 World Championships and the last Winter Olympic Games are taken into account here. For winning the tournament, a maximum score of -1200 points is awarded. Here's a good example. We see 16 teams and their places at the last world championship. Finland is the champion, they will get 1200 points. Canada is the vice-champion and will receive 1160 points. Russia, which took third place at the end of the tournament, will replenish its treasury by 1120 points. The Czechs have +1100. The following teams receive 20 – 40 points less. Since the teams did not hold official matches after the last tournament, Russia was in third position all year. And now, thanks to the championship in Slovakia, the bronze medalist of the tournament regains second place in the world rankings. It should be noted that even in the event of a defeat in the match for third place, Russia would bypass the Swedes. The team has 3640 points, the gap from the leader is 65 points. The Russians have 9 wins and one loss. In 2017 they were second, in 2018 - third. When was the last time the team was in 1st place? In 2012, and the next World Championship in Switzerland, it is unlikely that it will return the world leadership, which has been held by the founders of hockey for 5 years. There is little joy in this. A very interesting championship, a very interesting movement in our table. Finland, having received, or rather won the cup, is compared with Sweden in the table of countries, both teams have 3615 points. Suomi is rising, and their neighbors are losing ground. The Finns, like the Canadians, won 8 matches and lost two. In 2017 they were 4th, then fifth, and now share 3rd-4th place with the Swedes. Sweden, having changed places with Russia in three years, returned to 3rd place. This team had 8 fights, 5 victories and 3 fiascoes at the world forum. The Czech Republic, after spending two years in 6th position, has finally moved up, it is fifth (3465 points). Out of ten games, the team from the capital Prague managed to win 7 times and lose three times. The US team lost two positions (3430 points), the gap from the leader is 275 points. Recent rankings of the United States: 5, 4, 6. The team played 8 matches, 3 losses and 5 wins. The German team moves up one step (3355). The last two years this team was in 8th place. The Germans, like the US team, were eliminated at the quarterfinal stage; they had 8 matches in the tournament (5 wins and 3 fiascoes). Switzerland has lost one position, although the gap from Germany is 30 points; at the next home championship, they may change places again. The Swiss have taken root on the 7th floor for the last two years. They had 8 official games in 2019 (4 wins and 4 losses). Actually, they ended the championship with a series of 4 losses. Let's find out in blitz mode about the other participants in the Slovak tournament. The elevator brought the championship hosts to the 9th floor (3040 points). We see a positive trend, the national team rises one place every year. In 7 games they have 4 wins and 3 losses. 10th Latvia (3025 points). Latvians are also improving every year, from 12th place they have risen by 2 places. During the group stage they had 4 losses and 3 celebrations. Norway is in 11th place; it dropped 2 places compared to the last update, and in 2017 it was on the 9th place. In 7 matches in the group, the Norwegians managed to lose 5 times and win twice. Denmark remained in 12th place, 10 points behind its nearest competitor. The team showed that it can win, having done it twice, and knows how to lose, it did it better (5 times). France, despite relegation from the elite, has not moved anywhere from 13th position; two years ago this team was right there. But now in the lower division she will receive much fewer points, this will affect her rapid decline. The team lost everything it could at the World Championships in Slovakia. The Belarusian team, although it did not participate in the last tournament, has a good lead in points, which allows it to stay in 14th place. In 2017 they were 10th, and in 2018, as now, they were 14th. Austria is 15th, the team was not saved from relegation, it has 2635 points. 7 fiascos out of 7 possible. Even despite this, the team moved up 2 places. Marvelous. Two years ago they held the 16th position, then dropped to 17th. Italy is a newcomer to the elite; next season it will move into the category of “experienced”. The team's progress was +3 places, this is the best result. But two years ago they were guarding the 18th floor. The team defeated Austria, but lost the remaining matches. Great Britain, which also guaranteed itself a place in the elite for the next season, scored 2480 points and moved up 2 places (20th place). In 2017 it was 24th. Victory over France in overtime and 6 fiascoes. There are 52 countries in the ranking, here is the full list, down to newcomers Kyrgyzstan and Thailand. You can explore their places yourself, and then like them for their work. There will also be 2 issues dedicated to hockey on “Sports”. We'll hear you.
Hockey is one of the most popular sports in our country. Surely many will be interested in what place the Russian team currently occupies in the ranking of the best teams and who is opposing it.
The ranking of hockey teams is calculated by the IIHF organization; the place depends on the last performances at the Olympic Games and World Championships. At the moment, Russia is in second place in the ranking. On the first...
Canada
The legendary founder of hockey is in first place in the ranking of world hockey teams. The team openly dominated the international arena until 1954, until the moment when the Soviet Union team appeared on it. Nevertheless, even after this moment it remained one of the strongest, and after the collapse of the USSR it again took a dominant position. It was for her that famous hockey players Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky played. The first is a French Canadian who suffered from spinal diseases, but at the same time went on the ice and showed amazing results, the second is the best player of the National Hockey League of all time. The national team consists of the strongest hockey players in the world, which it successfully proved in recent meetings with the Russian team at the 2010 Olympics and the 2015 World Cup, ending the confrontation with a devastating score.
Russia
Our team takes second place in the ranking. The heir to the legendary “Red Machine” still demonstrates good hockey. It would seem that every year the best hockey players on the planet perform in it, capable of showing breathtaking hockey, and victories at the world championships happen regularly - but the mechanism malfunctions no less regularly. At the same time, hockey players lose not only to eminent opponents, there are also very disappointing defeats - for example, at the 2014 championship, the team lost to the French on May 9. Despite all this, the Russian team is considered one of the strongest, and there are Russians among the best players in the NHL. Unfortunately, Russia, despite its high place in the ranking of countries in hockey, cannot boast of having Olympic medals of the highest standard.
Sweden
In third place is the Swedish team - another team that has long been in the lead. Tre-Krunur is one of the most stable teams, which regularly receives awards at various competitions. It is noteworthy that despite consistently high results, the team took prizes relatively rarely. The Swedes were twice Olympic champions. The symbolism in the form of three crowns is well known to all hockey fans; they also know the playing style of these athletic Scandinavians very well.
Finland
The team settled in fourth place in the rankings. While the first three representatives of the list have been among the strongest for quite a long time, the Finns have been outsiders for a long time. In the second half of the twentieth century, with great difficulty they managed to break into the middle peasants, but they were far from medals. At the moment, their team is a two-time world champion. They managed to win their first awards at the Olympic Games only in 1988 - in a very difficult struggle they beat almost all their opponents - they managed to beat everyone, including even the champions - the USSR. The point is that at that time there were still no playoffs, and the Soviet hockey players, who won seven matches in a row and secured victory in the tournament, did not have much motivation, which led to defeat by the Finns. Since the 90s, a sharp rise began, and Finland quickly got into the top ten in the ranking of ice hockey countries. For this they should also thank the Soviet players - after the collapse of the Union, some of them went to train Finnish players. The Finns are still playing beautifully, competing with the leading teams in the world.
The ranking of national teams is based on their performance at the last four World Championships and four Olympics. The winner of Olympic gold medals and world champion receives 1200 points, the difference between first, second and subsequent places up to tenth is estimated at 40 points, then 20 points.
An important role in assessing the performance of a particular national team is played by the results of the last international tournament, in particular the World Cup. The last championship is taken into account in full, the penultimate one by three quarters, etc., and the results of the Olympics play the same role. The rating of the International Ice Hockey Federation is compiled not only out of idle curiosity, it is used to select and seed teams participating in the upcoming Winter Olympics and the World Championship; the first places in this rating are occupied by the strongest hockey teams.
Which is the strongest hockey team?
It is not surprising that the first place belongs to the birthplace of hockey - Canada. The second place is deservedly taken by the successor of the “Red Machine” - the Russian team, the following places are the USA, Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Slovakia and Belarus, the German team closes the top ten best teams.
Top 5 hockey teams:
- The Canadian national team is the founder of hockey, which until 1954 had no equal. The best hockey players in the world play for the national team, as evidenced by its performances at the recent world championships.
- The Russian national team is the heir to the famous Soviet team, which practically never knew defeat until the collapse of the USSR. Despite the unstable play, the Russian team shows excellent results and deservedly takes second place.
- Team USA is a national team that has never fallen below 6th place at the Olympics and below 7th place at the World Championships (the exceptions are 12th place in 1998 and 13th place in 2010).
- The Finnish national team is a fairly young team for a leader, but for a long time it was among the outsiders. It demonstrates the ability in just a few years not only to rise to the top positions of the rankings, but also to gain a foothold there.
- The Swedish national team is one of the most stable teams. The team's achievements do not include many gold medals, but it regularly wins awards at international competitions at various levels.
The scoring system for ranking national hockey teams according to the International Federation was approved at the IIHF meeting in September 2003.
