But the main thing was not that the organizing committee decided to celebrate the anniversary in a big way, trying to attract the maximum number of spectators to the stands. Nor that Moscow CSKA, led by the famous Viktor Tikhonov, after 12 not the best years in its history, finally won at least some trophy.
The coaches of three teams at once - the national team of Ukrainian clubs, the national team of Belarusian clubs and the Latvian Metallurgs - almost unanimously stated that they would not mind returning to the old and almost forgotten scheme of holding the MHL championship. Let me remind you that in the early 90s, the best teams of Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Belarus and Kazakhstan competed under the auspices of the International Hockey League - those republics where hockey was developed in Soviet times. But soon the slogan “Russia for Russians” did its job. The leaders of Russian clubs gradually forced Ukrainians, Belarusians, Latvians and Kazakhs out of the league, creating the RHL - the Russian Hockey League.
Having gained unlimited freedom, but being cut off from high-class rivals, club hockey in the four former Soviet republics began to wither. Although the national teams of these countries, it should be noted, performed quite well at world championships and Olympic Games. And sometimes they left Russia behind. But old reserves, as is known, should be regularly replenished. This was difficult to do, despite all the desire, in Ukraine, Latvia, and even in Belarus, which was more or less prosperous in this regard (the country's president Alexander Lukashenko adores hockey and tirelessly builds new ice palaces).
In Russia, the situation in this regard is much better. Financially stable clubs began to appear from our eastern neighbors like mushrooms after rain. At the same time, the “center of gravity” began to shift from traditional hockey centers (Moscow) to the provinces - closer to the Urals. As a result, the Russian championship gradually overcame the crisis that post-Soviet hockey fell into after the collapse of the USSR, and rapidly took first place in Europe.
The Russians have very little left to reach the level of the Soviet Union championship, which, if it yielded to the overseas NHL, was only by a very small margin. At least, the movement of hockey players, previously resembling a one-way road (in the direction of North America), now has begun to resemble a regular highway. The exchange between leagues has ceased to be parasitic on the part of American-Canadian clubs, who took our guys for pennies.
It is not surprising that with this formulation of the question (Russia is generally the only possible real counterweight to the NHL in the world), cooperation with Moscow acquires very important contours. It is even less surprising that after the Kazakh clubs achieved the right to compete in the Russian championship (however, not in the Super League, but in the higher league, and without the right to be promoted), others wanted to follow their example.
The world is moving along the path of consolidation. The EU, transparent borders, visa-free regime and other attributes of the time are proof of that. The collapse of the USSR, Czechoslovakia and the SFRY are phenomena, it should be agreed, that were overdue, but overall are an exception to the general rule. Over time (when passions subside and the need for cooperation becomes as clear as day), life will put everything in its place. In European hockey, the idea of unification is in the air, to jointly create competition for the NHL on this side of the Atlantic. But such a consortium is still far away. At the same time, Russia (as the strongest hockey power of the Old World), having taken Ukrainians, Belarusians and Latvians under its wing, can act as a kind of center around which, perhaps, all the others can unite. But this is only a project. Which, however, is not so far from reality.
On the eve of the upcoming season, a rather important decision was made in Russia in this direction. Natives of the former Soviet republics are no longer considered legionnaires (although they cannot play for the Russian national team). It is possible that the next step is to expand the composition of the league participants. At the expense of Latvia, Ukraine and Belarus?
In principle, setting aside political motives and an acute sense of national self-admiration, it should be recognized that in sporting terms, the reunification of Ukrainian (naturally, the main attention is on them) hockey players with Russian ones will bring us great benefit. Competing with those who preferred playing for Russian clubs to playing in the NHL is the best opportunity to improve one's skills. At least, it is much better than stewing in one's own juice, when there is essentially no one to emulate.
And if the pupils of Ukrainian hockey are given a chance to compete with good masters in the Russian championship, they will have someone to look up to. Just this summer, quite well-known hockey players moved from North America to Russia. Among them are Stanley Cup 2003 winner from New Jersey Oleg Tverdovsky, Vancouver goaltender Peter Skudra, Detroit defenseman Dmitry Bykov, almost a dozen and a half guys who played in the lower overseas leagues, dozens of legionnaires from the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Slovakia. If we take into account those who returned a little earlier - Sergei Nemchinov, the brothers Yuri and Vyacheslav Butsaev, Andrei Kovalenko, Dmitry Kvartalnov, Alexander Selivanov, our Dmitry Khristich and others - the lineup of stars of the Russian league turns out to be quite impressive...
The only question is whether we will be able to get back to where we were once asked to leave? And is the hockey leadership in Ukraine interested in such a turn of events? After all, of course, you can develop hockey in Ukraine yourself. But how much time and money it will take is, in my opinion, a rhetorical question...