Ukrainian hockey players are preparing for the world championship
Head coach of the Ukrainian national ice hockey team Vadim Shakhraychuk evaluated the opponents in the upcoming World Cup 2023 in Tallinn and talked about the next sparring.
“China doesn’t seem like a hockey powerhouse, but they had the Olympics a year ago. The Chinese national team has a base club – Kunlun, playing in the KHL, in which half of the team of naturalized Canadians plays. A very experienced team. The national team of Japan, which our national team, neither the national team, nor the youth team, nor the youth team, can beat for 10 years. We still need to find this key. And, of course, the Estonian national team, which we also do not discount, is the hosts, they have several players playing in the Finnish championship. Houses and walls help.”
“We prepare for each game, we understand that the championship is short-term, five matches. Every game matters. Our women’s team performed very well at the World Championships, but made one mistake and, you see, one point was not enough for them. Therefore, we are preparing for each match, but now – for two meetings against the Latvian national team. Perhaps there will be Latvia B, but all the same, this is a team from the top division, the only team from the ex-Soviet republics that has not yet been relegated: as it entered, it has been playing there all this time.”
Earlier, the Ukrainian national team beat Hungary twice in test matches. Shakhraichuk’s team will play four more friendly matches before the 2023 World Cup. In Riga, the blue-yellows will meet with the national team of Latvian clubs (April 14 and 15), and in Vilnius they will play Lithuania twice (April 18 and 19).
The 2023 World Championship in division B1 will be held in the capital of Estonia from 23 to 29 April. The rivals of the Ukrainian national team will be Japan, Estonia, China, Serbia and the Netherlands.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
