The second annual Alexander Ovechkin Cup, a hockey tournament for 12-year-olds, was held in the Moscow Region this past week. The Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports of the Moscow Region and the Moscow Region Hockey Federation sponsored this tournament, with the assistance of the Moscow Region Government.
Twelve Russian youth teams, composed of players born in 2007 (i.e. 12 year old players), were the participants. This included the following teams: Atlant (from Mytishchi, just northeast of Moscow), Khimik (from Voskresensk, just southeast of Moscow), Vityaz (from Podolsk, an industrial city near Russia), Salavat Yulaev (Ufa), Vanguard (Omsk), SKA Strelna (St. Petersburg), Tractor (Chelyabinsk), Oilman (Almetyevsk), Lokomotiv (Yaroslavl), Wings of the Soviets (Moscow), Spartak (Moscow) and CSKA (Moscow).
The main part of the competition, the group competition, took place in Mytishchi, while the final match took place on August 17 at the Vladimir Petrov Arena in Krasnogorsk.
The teams were divided into two groups in which they played one game against each other team in the group. In total, 36 games were held where each team played in 6 matches.
The Capitals Captain and tournament namesake was on hand for today’s final.
The tournament final not only brought together the best athletes, but also some prominent visitors. This included Alexander Ovechkin himself, Andrei Yurievich Vorobyov, the governor of Moscow Region, and hockey legends Boris Petrovich Mikhailov and Valery Viktorovich Kamensky. The president of the Petrov Academy, Maxim Vladimirovich Petrov, and the sports director of the Petrov Academy, Andrei Alexandrovich Popugaev, personally met Ovechkin and the other honored guests on behalf of the Petrov Academy.
CSKA won the final game 7-0 over Salavat Yulaev, who finished second. Khimik, meanwhile, earned Bronze. The players from the winning team received special prizes, including hockey uniforms and equipment from the hands of Alexander Ovechkin himself.
