MOSCOW – The December break was used by some men’s national teams to play exhibition games and test players for the upcoming 2009 World Championship in Berne and Zurich-Kloten, Switzerland.
The Euro Hockey Tour between Europe’s four top national teams continued with the Channel One Cup. Five games were played in Moscow, and one in Malmö, Sweden.
As at the Karjala Tournament in Helsinki last month, Russia won all three games on home ice. More than 12,000 fans witnessed the team’s success against Finland, 4-1, the Czech Republic, 5-2, and Sweden, 6-2, in the Megasport Arena that was built for the 2007 World Championship.
The European teams that participated in the Deutschland Cup in November also faced-off against each other during the December break. Switzerland defeated Germany and Slovakia in overtime before losing a second game against the Slovaks.
Belarus won its tournament Polesie Cup with wins against France, Latvia and Ukraine. The Ukrainians, the only second-tier team at the tournament, finished in second place after beating Denmark twice.
Channel One Cup |
Dec. 18 | Moscow (RUS) | Finland | - | Russia | 1-4 |
Dec. 18 | Malmö (SWE) | Sweden | - | Czech Rep. | 2-6 |
Dec. 20 | Moscow (RUS) | Russia | - | Czech Rep. | 5-2 |
Dec. 20 | Moscow (RUS) | Sweden | - | Finland | 1-2 SO |
Dec. 21 | Moscow (RUS) | Russia | - | Sweden | 6-2 |
Dec. 21 | Moscow (RUS) | Czech Rep. | - | Finland | 2-5 |
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Standings: 1. RUS 9 (15-5), 2. FIN 5 (8-7), 3. CZE 3 (10-12), 4. SWE 1 (5-14) |
Standings EHT: 1. RUS 17 (23-7), 2. CZE 8 (17-18), 3. FIN 7 (14-18), 4. SWE 4 (8-19) |
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Polesie Cup |
Dec. 17 | Zhlobin (BLR) | Belarus | - | France | 4-3 |
Dec. 17 | Kyiv (UKR) | Denmark | - | Ukraine | 1-3 |
Dec. 18 | Gomel (BLR) | Belarus | - | Latvia | 2-1 |
Dec. 18 | Kyiv (UKR) | Ukraine | - | Denmark | 1-0 |
Dec. 19 | Gomel (BLR) | Latvia | - | France | 1-4 |
Dec. 20 | Gomel (BLR) | Latvia | - | Polesie* | 4-3 OT |
Dec. 20 | Gomel (BLR) | Belarus | - | Ukraine | 7-2 |
Dec. 20 | Kyiv (UKR) | Denmark | - | France | 4-0 |
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Standings: 1. BLR 9 (13-6), 2. UKR 6 (6-8), 3. DEN 3 (5-4), 4. FRA 3 (7-9), 5. LAT 2 (6-9). *Team Polesie had only one game. |
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Exhibition games |
Dec. 17 | Hamburg GER | Germany | - | Switzerland | 1-2 OT |
Dec. 19 | Poprad (SVK) | Slovakia | - | Switzerland | 0-1 OT |
Dec. 20 | Kosice (SVK) | Slovakia | - | Switzerland | 3-2 |
