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The championship of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in hockey ended in St. Petersburg. In the final, the team of the Central Military District defeated the team of the Navy with a score of 6:0. The Sailors attracted special attention, as the team's goal was defended by the Gagarin Cup winner and Olympic silver medalist Ivan Fedotov.
In June last year, his contract with CSKA ended. The goalkeeper signed an agreement with the NHL club Philadelphia Flyers. After that, Fedotov got married in St. Petersburg and trained independently. It was there that a scandalous incident took place. The hockey player was detained and taken to the draft board for conscription.
Such decisive actions were explained by many as a desire to stop a possible massive exodus of Russians into the NHL. A criminal case was even opened against Fedotov for evading military service. What only rumors were not replicated in the media. The goalkeeper was «sent» to serve both in Severodvinsk and Novaya Zemlya.
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“Fedotov served at the Naval Academy in St. Petersburg,” said the coach of the Navy team Valery Pokrovsky, a well-known defender in the past who played 11 seasons for SKA. “The backbone of the team that represented the fleet in the championship of the Armed Forces was cadets, sailors serving in the academy. Of course, this is not Fedotov's level. It was difficult for him: other speeds, a different understanding of the game. If for an ordinary team the goalkeeper is half a team, then for ours it is three quarters.».
Largely due to the confident game of the goalkeeper, the Navy team reached the final. Cadets from naval universities came to support Fedotov and his partners, chanting throughout the match: «Only the fleet, only victory.» Even the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral Nikolai Evmenov, was rooting for his own. CSKA and the Russian team are accustomed to seeing Fedotov with an elegant haircut and beard. As part of the Navy team, he left in full accordance with the charter. The only reminder of the dream to play in the NHL was the goaltender's pads in the signature orange colors of the Philadelphia Pilots.
Fedotov cleaned up the flaws in the defense in the final match. Of the 31 shots on target, the Gagarin Cup winner saved 28. Only a more skillful and well-played opponent opposed the sailors. The Zvezda team from Chebarkul, where Anatoly Tarasov «exiled» Valery Kharlamov and Alexander Gusev, played under the flag of the Central Military District. Now the club is among the leaders of the championship of the Chelyabinsk region, and in April it won a pre-season tournament with the participation of three leading clubs of the MHL. . He missed three more goals in 16 minutes — in the majority, minority and equal compositions. According to the coach of the Navy team Pokrovsky, a minor injury will not affect the goalkeeper's return to professional hockey. that the senior sailor Fedotov, who served urgent duty, will return to the army club. Only until July 1, the rights to it belong to Philadelphia. According to the agreement between the KHL and the NHL on mutual respect for contracts, even voicing information about the goalkeeper's plans is undesirable. Ivan himself, politely refusing to comment to the press, after the end of the final did not go to the awards. But he made happy with a joint photo of several young hockey players, as well as their mothers.