Belarusian ice hockey team suffers historic defeat in qualification match with Poland
On August 26, in the first match of the Olympic qualification in Bratislava, Slovakia, the Belarusian ice hockey team unexpectedly lost to Poland 0-1.
Belarusian ice hockey team has not played at the Winter Olympics for 11 years. The last time the hockey team, which had been most honored by the authorities, appeared there was in 2010. The team went to Vancouver, Canada, without qualifying, based on the ranking, and was placed ninth there.
Belarusian ice hockey players have taken part in the Olympics three times, and the best result was fourth place in 2002, but these achievements were made thanks to the Soviet school of ice hockey. Under Lukashenka, billions of dollars have been thrown into his beloved sport, but it’s not yielding a corresponding return.
Today, according to the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) rating, the Belarusian team ranks 14th.
What is needed to go to the Olympics in Beijing?
In China, 12 national teams will perform at the Olympics. Now there are qualifying tournaments in several cities. Belarus is in Bratislava, Slovakia to play against Poland, Austria (August 27), and the favorite of the qualifying team, Slovakia. As for the hosts, Belarus will play with them at the end of the qualification on August 29. Only one team of this quartet will go to Beijing.
But even if Belarus makes it to the Olympics, it may be forbidden to play under the red-green flag. Executive Director of the Sports Solidarity Foundation Alyaksandr Apeikin believes that after the IOC sanctions, Belarus might have to play under a neutral flag. Russia, which was punished for doping fraud at the Olympics in Sochi, is playing under this flag at the moment.
Who is the new coach of the team?
This spring, the Belarusian team went to the World Cup under the leadership of Lukashenka’s ardent fan, Mikhail Zakharau, and the tournament ended in total failure. The team lost five out of six games with a goal difference of 10:29 and finished in 15th place. But the team was lucky: No one went to the weakest division this year. However, Zakharau was kicked out of the team: his loyalty to the president did not help. All power in Belarusian hockey went to 51-year-old Canadian Craig Woodcroft.
He came to Minsk in 2019 to lead the Minsk Dynamo, now he not only manages the club, but also the national team of Belarus. The Canadian is not very fond of hockey players from the championship of Belarus, in Bratislava will not have a single player who played in the home championship. Nine people represent Woodcorft’s club, Dynamo Minsk, playing in the KHL tournament, actually the Russian Open Championship, and the rest play overseas in the NHL.
Almost 20% of the team’s players are naturalized hockey players: Danny Taylor, Jeff Platt, and Francis Pare are Canadians, Nick Whalen and Shane Prince are Americans. The hockey team of Belarus does not enjoy great support of the Belarusians, as most of its hockey players do not react in any way to the events of the last year in our country. So, there is no love of the people.
Ales Lyauchuk/belsat.eu
