Ice HockeyWith a numerous and incredibly enthusiastic public, all the ingredients were present to provide a tournament of the highest level
As it is the case for all Universiades, before the start of the hockey competition, there was a lot of speculation as to the strength of the teams present. This year again some extremely strong teams had planned on competing and most of them were entitled to hope for a place in the finals. After Kazakhstan finally decided not to participate, nine teams were split up in two groups. Group A consisted of five teams (SVK, RUS, CZE, JPN,CRO) who played a "Round Robin", whereas the four teams of the B Group (UKR, CAN, FIN, KOR) were competing amongst themselves.
In the A Group, the local Slovakian team came first and this was no surprise. Indeed for its second participation in a Universiade, the team proved to be well prepared and in great shape. In Slovakia there are no special competitions for students, so all team-members are active in the normal competition. For this tournament, 5 players had been selected from the Extra Division A, which is the strongest one, 12 from the Extra Division B, and 5 from the First Division. The Slovak team participated in the Morgess Minerales Cup in Switzerland and finished third. Before the Universiade, the players had also participated in a preparatory training in Slovakia. Most of them are between 21 and 25, and they have gained enormous experience.
Russia took second place, and that may have been due to the lack of experience of its young players. However, we have to admit that this Russian team was not so strong as the one which participated in the 1997 Universiade in Korea. In fact, the Russian game depends on its rhythm. It is based on the whole team acting as a single unity. This year, the Russians have had some problems to impose their rhythm.
In Group B, the young Ukrainians took first place. Their solidarity and collective game made the difference. In fact, the Ukrainian university hockey players very frequently play together, and this gives them a clear advantage over the others. All players belong to the SOKOL KIEV club which is the most well-known one in Ukraine. On top of that, the team also counted 4 players of the national team, and 4 of the junior national team. In spite of this, everybody was surprised at the outstanding level they displayed during the tournament.
The Canadian team came second in this group, and they developed a totally different style. Indeed, the Canadian way of playing ice hockey is based on individuality, and it gives the players more chances to express themselves. The Canadians especially tried to break the rhythm of the other teams, but they seemed to lack proper training. The players did not know each other well enough, as they do not usually play together.
We should also add that for the first time in the Universiade, the offside rule "two line pass offside" has no longer been applied. The novelty was introduced in the beginning of this year, in order to considerably open the game as it becomes much more difficult to control the middle of the field. Although the Canadians had been using the new system for some time in the inter-university divisions, they could not take advantage of this.
In the fight for third place, we witnessed the traditional match between Canada and Russia. The Canadians were determined to take the upper hand in this one, and they were helped by a lucky goal in the first heat. The team showed their best play of the tournament in the second heat, which they finished with a 4-1 lead. Especially goalkeeper Luc Belanger was unbeatable and he helped his team to preserve their advantage. The Russians never managed to come back and they finally lost 1-5. After the game, the Canadian trainer declared: "Our goalkeeper was outstanding and if we won, we owe it to him. We managed to score in the beginning and afterwards everything worked out splendidly."
Slovakia-Ukraine, a superb game
In Poprad, la finals of the ice hockey competition were the prelude to the closing ceremony which was to take place in the same ice rink. This final game was undoubtedly one of the finest we have witnessed in recent years. This kind of derby lifts the game to a higher level and that is what happened here too. The entire match was a kind of pursuit race for the Ukrainian team. Indeed, Slovakian Kovacik opened the score in the 14th minute, but 3 minutes in the second period, Ukraine scored the equaliser which allowed them to relax a little. However, only 2 minutes later, the Slovakian team took the lead again after a superb goal.
Then it was Vasyl Bobrovnikov's turn. The Ukrainian scored in the middle of the second period and so the game was tied again. Also the third period looked like the previous ones, since the Slovakians quickly took a headstart again with a goal by Michal Stastni in the sixth minute. This was followed by a Ukrainian equaliser in the 14th minute after an enormous offensive. With only 6 minutes to go, tension was tremendous. The score however did not change anymore until the end, and so an extra time of 10 minutes would decide over the gold. Neither of the two teams managed to score, and so it was time for the penalties.
Slovakia were the first to score during their second attempt, while Ukraine only scored in their third one. However the game turned because Ukraine also scored in their fourth try, and this was the first time they actually managed to take the lead in this game. Indeed, the fifth Slovakian player missed and so Ukraine got the gold medal with 4 goals against 3.
In the presence of the Slovakian Vice-Prime Minister Lubomir Fogas, the President of FISU, Dr. Primo Nebiolo, conferred the gold medal to the Ukrainian team. He congratulated all teams for their fairplay during this tournament and during the Universiade in general. He also extended his congratulations to the public who had been outstanding.
| 1 | UKRAINE |
| FEDUROV A. | |
| PASHINSKIJ D. | |
| SAVCHENKO A. | |
| NAVARENKO J. | |
| GARKUSHA S. | |
| SADIY S. | |
| SHEVSHENKO V. | |
| DESHEVIY S. | |
| BLAGOI O. | |
| ZINEVITCH A. | |
| DIDKOVSKY D. | |
| MARKOVSKIY D. | |
| KHARCHENKO S. | |
| BOBROVNIKOV V. | |
| KRIKUNENKO O. | |
| KOSIANCHUK K. | |
| TSYRUL D. | |
| BESCHASNIY R. | |
| KABANETS E. | |
| GODOVANIY S. | |
| SVOBODA V. | |
| 2 | SLOVAQUIE / SLOVAKIA |
| LIPOVSKY M. | |
| GABAS R. | |
| SOCHA D. | |
| DIRNBACH M. | |
| BRUMERCIK M. | |
| MAJESKY I. | |
| FAIL R. | |
| VRABEL M. | |
| BUZINKAY D. | |
| SEJNA M. | |
| PECH J. | |
| KOVACIK M. | |
| STEFANKA J | |
| LONGAUER M. | |
| MAKOSJECK R. | |
| OZORAK J. | |
| STASTNY M. | |
| SIROTAK P. | |
| SALON I. | |
| JACKO J. | |
| CHRENKO T. | |
| PLANDOR R. | |
| 3 | CANADA |
| BELANGER L. | |
| RICHARD B. | |
| DALCHIN J. | |
| MC QUAT R. | |
| DARCHE M. | |
| JACKMAN J. | |
| EISLER G. | |
| MOSS J. | |
| MC INNES P. | |
| AMBRIOSO J. | |
| GIGNAC C. | |
| ROSEBUSH P. | |
| DIACHINA K. | |
| VANVOLSEN M. | |
| MC CAGUE P. | |
| PETRIE J. | |
| CUCUZ S. | |
| ZINN J. | |
| PAFETTE | |
| CARON | |
| WILLIAUS | |
| 4 | RUSSIAN FED. / FED. DE RUSSIE |
| 5 | CZECH REP. / REP TCHÈQUE |
| 6 | FINLANDE / FINLAND |
| 7 | JAPON / JAPAN |
| 8 | CORÉE / KOREA |
| 9 | CROATIE/ CROATIA |