This afternoon in Red Deer the Canadian Junior Team decisively
defeated the Russians 8-5 in the world junior hockey championships.
About an hour later Sweden and Finland finished their game tied at 3,
clinching the gold medal for the Canadians, and making Wednesday's
"showdown" with the Swedes meaningless from the Canadian point of view.
It will still be a factor for silver/bronze order.  This type of
situation will not happen next year when the tournament expands by two
teams and a medal round will be played.  This, to me, has both good and
bad points.  Given the discrepancy in talent between the best and worst
teams here, adding two more teams is a concern.  Also, early round
matchups will not be as crucial since it will be easier to overcome a
loss.  However, there will be a guaranteed showdown game.  Take your pick.
 
        In this game the Russians started Denis Kousmenko in goal and
coach Don Hay went back to Jamie Storr.  Canada drew the first penalty at
3:47 when Bryan McCabe went off for hooking.  At that point there were
still no shots on goal in the game, very close checking.
        The Russians opened the scoring at 6:01 when Dmitri Klevakin
scored from the blue line on their first real threat and shot on goal.
Assist to Alexander Kharlamov, who got to watch his famous father when
the CBC replayed the Canadians-Red Army game on Saturday night.
        Canada came right back at 6:42 on a quick shot from jamie Allison
from Courville.  The Canadians also scored on their first shot on goal.
There were matching penalties to Botterill for hooking and Valentin
Morozov (bench minor) for too many men (on the delayed penalty) at 11:11.
        At 13 minutes Jeff O'Neill couldn't put the puck in from the side
of the net, but at least Canada got another shot.  Daigle took an
interference penalty at  16:10.  After the penalty Todd Harvey got off a
nice shot on a 3x2.
        Mikhail Okhotnikov got a slashing penalty at 18:50 and the
Canadians converted the power play at 19:06 making it 2-1.  Eric Daze
tipped in a shot from Murray and McCabe.
        This was a hard hitting close checking period.  Both teams showed
the tension with the gold medal at stake.  Had the Russians won this game
they would have had the inside track.
SHOTS Russia 4  Canada 7
 
        Canada started out the period quickly.  A flip shot by Daze made
it 3-1 at 0:32 with assists to Botterill and Pederson.
        At 3:20 Storr made a nice save off a shot by Serguei Goussev,
then a flip shot from captain Nikolai Zavaroukhine.  Artem Anisimov took
a cross checking penalty at 5:17.  The Canadians had steady pressure but
did not score.  Jeff Friesen missed a golden chance.  The power play was
cut short when Jason Allison was called for high sticking. at 6:48.
        The Russians scored at 7:46 making it 3-2.  Alexandre Koroliouk
put it in from the point.  Assists to Valentin Morozov and Vladimir
Tchebaturkin.  They tied the game at 8:32 when Koroliouk, on the same
shift, received a nice cross ice pass on a 3x1.  Assists to Ramil
Saioulline and Morozov.  Still on the same shift Koroliouk skated through
the Canadian defence a third time.
        At 12 minutes Saioulline let go a lovely shot from the slot which
was stopped by Storr.  At 13:41 there were matching penalties for
slashing to Lee Sorochan and Koroliouk.  At 15:331 there was a collision
in goal which hurt Storr, the trainer comes out but Storr stays in.  He
had to make a tough save right away on Vitali Yachmenev.
        Canada regained the lead at 16:09.  Jamie Allison shot through a
jumble of bodies scoring form Murray and Allison.  Canada almost scored
again on a flurry after the faceoff.
        They did score again at 18:08.  Eric Daze got a hat trick,
skating in for a clear shot which scores.  This was a soft goal for
Kousmenko.  Assists to Botterill and Pederson.
        The Russians lose their cool.  At 18:59 Koroliouk gets a major
penalty for slashing and gets a misconduct for shooting the puck after
the whistle, thus the Russians lost perhaps their best player on the ice
for this game.
        This period was much more wide open.
SHOTS  Russia 12  Canada 14
 
        The Canadians again started well in the third scoring at 2:29 to
make it 6-3.  Canada started slowly on the major, but made up for lost
time here.  They worked the puck nicely until Todd Harvey put it home
with an assist to Daigle.  Still on the major power play Jeff O'Nell
rushed the net and scored at 2:48 with an assist to Ryan Smyth.  Russia,
rattled, called for time out.  They put Yevgeny Tarasov in goal who was
welcomed at 3:07 with another goal by Marty Murray from Daze and
Allison.  This effectively ended the game.  I will complete the box score
below:
RUS PEN: 4:14 Rouslan Batyrchine-cross checking
CAN PEN: 9:17 Jeff Friesen-hooking
RUS GOAL: 9:44 Vadim Charifianov (Vychedkevitch, Batyrchine)
RUS PEN: 11:57 bench minor-too many men
RUS GOAL: 18:09 Vitali Yachmenev (Epantichinsev)
RUS PEN: Dmitri Klevakin (didn't catch the time)
SHOTS: Russia 4  Canada 15
 
        Canada has gotten better as the tournament has worn on.  I have
seen every team at least once and the top six teams at least twice.  I
think that Canada on merit deserves the gold.  As I noted in a prior
post, I was disappointed in the play of the US team, who I felt could be
better than they showed.
        Alberta embraced this tournament and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I
hope Boston does the same next year.  I will post boxes for the US games
for those interested in individual performances.  Otherwise I will return
to lurking, especially seeking information about BU successes.
        Thanks again for the positive feedback about these posts.
 
Arthur Berman  [log in to unmask]
THE MAPLE LEAF FOREVER!!!
GO BU!!!