Nostalgia with the taste of victory: Sports Palace remembered the famous 1998
Morozov and Zinoviev were torturing the rival's defence, Chupin and Zhdan were on the ice of the Sports Palace again and a hat-trick by Rustam Minnikhanov. A match of celebrated veterans of Tatarstan and Czech hockey took place on Sunday in Kazan. The sports staff of Realnoe Vremya tells about what else happened in the celebration of elite sport on Tatarstan's Constitution Day.
Every person has his own nostalgia
There was a handful of spectators in the stands of the Sports Palace 30 minutes before 11 o'clock, according to the announcement. The silence that was broken by music in the foyer made think about only one thing: 'No spectator, no celebration'. However, when a showman famous for his performances in Ak Bars matches Maksim Kurolesov 'joined the game' by the promised time, the stands were full like it used to be when Ak Bars was going towards its first titles in the Russian Superleague. As Sports Palace has a capacity of 4,600 people, 75% of the capacity were occupied by fans of Tatarstan hockey.
But it was impossible to feel the nostalgic atmosphere – there were very different people who were mainly young. I bet that many spectators did not know that the Barses won their first champion title in this small palace. Yakubov, Chupin, Balmin and Garifullin did it. Alas, generations of fans change too, it is a natural process. This is why neither Chupin nor Balmin heard that deafening applause from the stands that a lasting captain of Ak Bars Aleksey Morozov received. When he appeared last for the ceremony, fans shouted for a long time: 'Lesha Morozov! Lesha Morozov!'
'Of course, I am glad to appear on the Kazan ice again. There is such respect here,' said Morozov after the game. 'I'm happy that I managed to score, make the fans happy. It is very pleasant because I started here. And this palace is very close to me. I played my first season for Ak Bars. For this reason, it is very pleasant to play on this ice.'
After the match, Aleksey Morozov handed out his autographs and took photos with fans during an hour – such an opportunity won't arise soon.
Friendly match with personal ambitions
Due to some circumstances, several players of the Czech national team could not come to Kazan. As it turned out later, they did not have the time to apply for visa. For this reason, organisers had to look for a substitution for them among the local veterans. But the Czech team had people to boast about. Former NHL players Milan Chalupa from Detroit and Marek Posmyk from Tampa appeared on the ice this year. An Olympic bronze medallist Bedřich Serban also was here.
As a tradition, President of the republic Rustam Minnikhanov had the kit of the captain of our team. The stands greeted him as loud as they welcomed Morozov. The number 99 shirt handled the symbolic face-off with Marek Melenovský.
'It is the third match we have played together,' said the captain of the Czech team Bedřich Serban. 'It has already been a real tradition. Every time we come here and feel that we come to our good friends' house. Thank you.'
Timur Bilyalov who did not manage to join the first team of Ak Bars suddenly was in goal of the Tatarstan team. How the 21-year-old goalkeeper changed his qualification and became a 'veteran' remains a secret. But we should admit during the pre-match warm-up and shots Timur did not make concessions to anybody, including the team captain Rustam Minnikhanov. Moreover, Bilyalev helped many times during the very battle.
It was difficult to not to notice that it was not just a friendly match for him, especially in the light of the last rumour about his soon move to Nizhnekamsk. To lose a whole bunch of old stars of Czech hockey is not what would be a positive background while looking for a new team. This is why this year only two pucks visited the Tatarstan goal instead of last year's eight. Bilyalov did not allow to score after several one-to-one meetings and saved penalty shots (one-to-one meetings changed with penalties, and the periods lasted for 15 minutes).
'Our several people played there, this is why the score looks this way'
Meanwhile, Chupin, Zinoviev and Morozov approached the Czech team's net. The latter flew on the ice with a speed that even today's players don't show. Aleksey shot his puck with Zhdan's assist. The chances he created caused a nostalgic sigh in the stands. Rustam Minnikhanov sent three pucks to the net as the captain should do. The 99 th number shot pucks to Marcel Kučera's goal, performed slapshots from the centre of the rink and ended in the goalmouth.
'I think the game was even. We would like to thank our guests for beautiful hockey, for supporting Tatarstan hockey, visiting us. We are very glad, of course. Our several people played there, this is why the score looks this way,' Rustam Minnikhanov diplomatically joked after the match.
Almaz Garifullin was good on the ice too. He tortured the defence of the guest team and make excellent assists, including the successful ones, at times. Another 'hero of the 90s' Sergey Zolotov was active in the third period. The final score was 5-2 in favour of Tatarstan. This time it was a real celebration! Aleksey Morozov, Sergey Zinoviev and Rafik Yakubov were the best players in the Tatarstan team. And Marcel Kučera, Bedřich Serban and Milan Chalupa were the best among the guests.
'I am satisfied, of course,' said Aleksey Morozov after the game. 'The most important thing is that the team won. I know we lost last year. This year we have taken a kind of revenge. We prepared for this game. Thanks to many players who came to support Tatarstan hockey. They played well. The team is very interesting. They moved well. They are strong on the puck. They created many chances. But our goaltender played very well. This is why we are starting a new working week positively.'
'Last year we brought a good team and managed to win,' said kind Jaromír Latal told without almost any accent. 'This year we have lost because of visa problems. This is why now the score is 1-1 for now. Guys, now you should come to the Czech Republic, we will try to take our revenge there. I congratulate you on this victory.'
What impressions of the atmosphere in the palace and the city do you have in general?
I always tell myself: if I leave Prague, I will go to only Kazan because the cities are very similar. I am very glad to be able to come to Kazan and live here. It is the second city I would like to live in. It is good that there are direct flights from Prague to Kazan – you are here in 3 hours.
