Putin scores, wins, and then falls face first on hockey ice

LONDON: Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has long cultivated a proud image as a man in control, both at work and at play. He is known as a fierce competitor in the ice hockey rink, after learning to play the game when he turned 60 and creating the amateur Night Hockey League in 2011.
But that image slipped, just briefly, during a friendly game at the Bolshoi Ice Arena in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Friday. Video footage shows a jubilant Putin and his team circling the rink on skates as they celebrated a 14-7 victory.
But as Putin takes his lap in front of his teammates, smiling and waving to fans, basking in the cheers of the crowd, he falls — face first — onto the ice. Two teammates rushed in vain to save the president as it became clear that he was headed for a faceplant. Putin, 66, appeared to break the fall with both arms, and seconds later, he was up again, all smiles, cruising on the ice. In the footage, Putin’s teammates look nervous as he goes down — and after he gets up.
A statement from the Kremlin made no mention of Putin’s fall. Neither did other Russian news reports. Still, the footage spread rapidly on social media, and many users of Twitter were amused.
On Friday, he played in a Hockey Legends team. They played against a star cast of amateurs. In a speech at the event, Putin praised the 162 Russian teams that had travelled to play in Sochi. There remained one point of contention from the match, however: How many goals did Putin score?
The Kremlin said nine; the Tass news agency said 10. But reporters from Reuters and The AP counted only eight.