“It was hell!” The Russian national team experienced a shame in America: the great Mikhailov wanted to escape, Semak was almost crippled

The tournament that I want to forget about. There are many tournaments that the ordinary fan of the Russian national team will not want to remember. In such a top there is definitely a place for the Olympics in Sochi and the World Cup in Vancouver. But from modern hockey lovers, most likely few people will remember the 1996 World Cup. At this tournament, the Russian team was nominally one of the main favorites. That is not the surname in the composition, the star of the world hockey. But in fact, the capital truth was once again confirmed – not individuals achieve the result, but the team. The Russian team from the third place left the group and deafeningly lost the US team in the semifinals. Later, the head coach of the Russian team, Boris Mikhailov, admitted that he wanted to delete the World Cup from his memory. And not because of the result. And because of the attitude of the players. “It was hell! I don't really want to remember. Why? Because for the first time in my practice, players chose coaches. In composition, it was the strongest team. I say so not because I managed there. Did not lead. I wanted to fly away from America twice. I don’t want to talk about the game either. Why? Because there was no one, there was no unity within the team. Everyone fought for himself. Just players did not want to do what they should. They were sure that they appointed me, supported my candidacy and now they can do whatever they want. And I categorically do not accept this approach. I always said and will say that the coach should respect the players, and players must respect the coach’s opinion and make his decisions, ”said the long -term captain of CSKA and the USSR national team.VideoMikhailov is not the only person who would like to forget about the tournament as a terrible dream. Alexander Semak went to the World Cup with a desire to win another medal as part of the national team. By that time, he already had a complete set of awards from the world championships. Therefore, the new title of personal collection would definitely not hurt. But for Semak, the performance at the tournament ended already in the first match against Canadians. The leader of the founders of the hockey and the legend of Detroit Brendan Shanein naturally almost demolished the Russian head. “I and the Russian team were in two large tournaments. And at the 1996 World Cup, it was amazed at how difficult it was outside the ice to achieve anything from the organizing committee. The first match was then lost to the Canadians – 3: 5, and Brendan Shaneen Hell hit Alexander Semak with a club. No one saw this, and the chief representative of the NHL Brian Burka, who did not want to view anything after the game, had to almost forcefully bring it to the locker room and show the video. He saw this – and went out, slamming the door, ”said Igor Kuperman, former general manager of the Russian national team in an interview.VideoLater, Shaneen himself admitted that according to the results of that episode, he earned maximum disqualification. After all, the legendary striker’s club passed millimeters from the Russian temple! If it weren’t for the helmet that took on the blow, this whole situation could have ended in a fatal outcome. “Then the clubs were three times heavier times. Brendan broke my bone, but then I recovered in just a few weeks. The rules were different, disciplinary analysis of the video is not so common, and the tournament was unofficial. If this happened in the NHL match, another thing. Now the trade union is asked in advance not to zeal in the power struggle on the preseason, ”the victim said in an interview. Also more stories about Soviet hockey players: