Hockey qualification – Olympic Games Beijing 2022 – Belarus’ reaction to the loss – ŠPORT.sk

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In the last qualifying match, the Slovak hockey players confirmed their role as the favorite and, after three victories without losing a point, secured a place for the Winter Olympics.

The striker Libor Hudáček sealed the way to Beijing with a goal into the empty goal. At the same time, he was the executioner of the Belarusian national team, which was overshadowed by the hope of participating in five circles. The drama of the three acts culminated after the Belarusians decided to play the bait with an empty gate less than 200 seconds before the end of the duel in a balanced state.

“During the last advertising break, we said on the substitute that if we have a puck, we will recall the goalkeeper two and a half minutes before the end of the match. That was our original plan. But, unfortunately, it did not work out for us and we collected in an empty goal. Now, of course, we are very disappointed. We missed little, it’s frustrating. ” Belarus coach Craig Woodcroft told a post-match press conference.

The key moment in which the duel broke against Belarus was, according to the helmsman, the exclusion of defender Sergei Sapeg, who received a penalty of 5 minutes plus the end of the match right at the beginning of the first period for a foul on Juraj Slafkovsky. Peter Cehlárik was able to use the power play.

“Sergej’s loss significantly affected the team’s game. I think he was a little nervous. The exclusion at the beginning of the match put us in an awkward position. But I don’t want to offend anyone, every player tried to minimize the damage done by a five-minute penalty. We expected the Slovaks to run out on us. “

Belarusian hockey players experienced a kind of déjà vu in Bratislava, as they lost their place at the Olympics in the last match after a close defeat in the last qualifying tournament, which they played in 2016 in Minsk. Nevertheless, the coach was able to find several positives.

“I will not lie, it is very difficult and disruptive to lose again given how much the players, staff and team management have done to achieve a different result in the tournament. Of course, this team has something to be proud of. Belarusian hockey is definitely improving recently. In my opinion, the development of hockey in the country is moving in the right direction, ” Woodcroft thinks.

Slightly less optimistic was defender Nick Bailen, who lost the Olympics for the second time in a row. “It was a disappointment today and in 2016 in Minsk. It was the hardest match not only in this tournament, but in my whole career. We collected again at first, but we managed to settle, we lacked little. “

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