Russian Coach Is Certain U.S. Team Will Get Rolling

Russian Coach Valentin Gureev put his spin on how he thinks the second International Ice Hockey Federation World In-line Hockey Championship will end after his team dropped a 10-7 exhibition game to the United States at Circuit Skate Center Wednesday night.

“The U.S. is more better than the rest,” he said.

That wasn’t earth-shattering news. The defending champion U.S. team is heavily favored to win the event, which begins today with six games at Disney Ice. But after losing an 8-1 exhibition against Canada on Monday, Gureev was in a position to know. Like the U.S. team, the Canadian team is made up of many current and former Roller Hockey International players, and it is expected to be the biggest challenger for the gold medal.

“We didn’t see the entire Canadian team. They only had eight players,” Gureev said. “But I favor the Americans.”

An announced crowd of 385 stood three-deep at times court-side to watch the action. The Russians struck first and were tied with the U.S., 2-2, midway through the first period.

But the U.S. team, which has practiced only twice, scored the next four goals and led, 9-4, at halftime.

The U.S. team was caught a bit off guard by the Russians’ ability to counterattack and the seven goals it gave up was a surprise. No checking is allowed in this competition, and that appeared to favor the Russians.

“It was a small rink and this is the first time we have played a game together, so the next time out we will play better,” former Bullfrog defenseman Joe Cook said.

Notes

Round-robin play begins today with Canada meeting Finland at 1:30 p.m. and Switzerland taking on the U.S. at 7:30 p.m.