World Ice Hockey Championships in Moscow This Year

The World Ice Hockey Championships will be held in Moscow from April 27^th through May 13^th. The top sixteen teams in the world will meet at the Khodynka Ice Palace and the Mytischi arena just north of the city.

It has been 14 years since the Russian national team last won, a bitter pill for Russian women and men who had been accustomed to the dominance of the Soviet Union era teams. This year the Czech Republic, Sweden and Canada are the favorites, but Russia, Finland, Slovakia and the United States all stand a chance at winning.

Times have changed since the days of the Soviet Union. Now that most of the best talent in the country is free to play in the NHL, the Russian National team is no longer able to practice and play together year round. In addition, many Russian stars are playing on teams that are in the Stanley Cup playoffs so they are not available. And then there are the players that where the jerseys of other countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union – Latvia, Belarus and the Ukraine.

Russian coach Vyacheslay Bykov has a lot of pressure to perform and win with the games being held locally. The fans are tired of excuses.

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