Russia vs Canada is a match that is eagerly awaited at any international tournament. At the 2021 World Junior Championships, fate brought together two principal rivals at the semi-final stage, and this was the sixth time in the history of the tournament when the Russians and the Canadians among themselves determined the participant of the meeting for gold.
Before the game, both sides were in anticipation. Canadian goalkeeper Devon Levi had goosebumps in anticipation of the cult match, and Igor Larionov, the coach of the Russian national team, craved a rematch for last year’s final in Ostrava and spoke many beautiful, inspiring words to journalists.
Before the semi-final, Yegor Chinakhov returned to the coach’s disposal, having missed two matches due to injury. Mikhail Abramov, who served a disqualification, was in the center of the second three. In short, the roster of the Russians was pretty much optimal, the team was fully ready for battle, but was beaten by a dominant Canadian team.
One of the most anticipated matches in Hockey
We have mentioned above that when it comes to Canada and Russia in hockey, even people who do not watch this sport are impatient for the match to start. Even though it is played at a junior level still this confrontation has no equal in the world of hockey. It was proven by the fact that an incredible number of people in Canada visited Canadian sports betting websites to place bets on their national team. Keep in mind that such a thing has not happened for a long time and we are talking about junior level.
How did the match progress?
The first period instantly brought Russians from heaven to earth. The Canadians from the first seconds of the match went into the usual pressure, and the Russians did not find opposition. Russia did not play hockey, but fought back and tried to endure, but it did not work very well.
The Canadians opened the score in the 59th second: Alex Newhook caught a successful rebound from the front and threw it right under the crossbar. The referees on the court, by the way, did not count the goal, but almost immediately the video-goal referee intervened, stopping the game.
With the score 0:1, Russia briefly managed to move the game away from Yaroslav Askarov’s goal, but in the 11th minute, Canada scored the second goal. Askarov in this episode lost his stick (a serious flaw in Aaskarov’s game, which before this match was not too obvious), could not intercept the pass through the spot from Pelletier, and McMichael scored in an already empty goal. However, in addition to Askarov, Russian defenders played extremely badly, allowing the Canadians to quietly combine near the goal.
In the 13th minute, Podkolzin played extremely sloppy, hit the Canadian’s chin with a stick, and received a double minor.
3-0 after the first period, the full advantage of the Canadian team and the lack of any creativity on the part of Russians. But there was still 40 minutes of game time ahead, and the Russian character, which Larionov spoke about before the match, should not have been discounted.
However, the dream of a repeat of Buffalo did not last for a long time, as at the beginning of the second period Canada made it 4-0. Braden Schneider again scored in the Askarov’s goal into the near corner, and the goalkeeper was again without a stick in this episode.
Yaroslav Askarov frankly failed in the semi-final, but it would be wrong to blame everything on the goalkeeper. In the offense, Russia did not do anything valuable. Again the leaders disappeared from the ice, the return of the Chinakhov was quiet. The coaches tried to unite the guys, but the Russian team in this match was something different.
Canada, of course, eased the pressure at 4-0. In the middle of the match, the Canadians failed to convert the majority and then allowed Russia to recover a little. Russians still decided to disturb Levi in the second period, and in the 38th minute did score a goa! Mikhail Abramov excelled in finishing in the majority, but this goal did not count. The coach of the opponent took a request for an offside position, and indeed – 40 seconds before taking the goal at the entrance of the Russian national team into the zone was a millimeter offside.
If there was any hope for a miracle before the third period, it quickly disappeared. Canada rolled with calm power, outplayed ours in almost all martial arts, threw, and though no more scored, but did not leave any doubts about their superiority. Russia had no leaders, no speed, no character.
Larionov said before the match that the team was going to give Canada the first slap in the tournament. But, alas, the Russian team, frankly, was screwed on all fronts: they were scared of Canadians in the opening of the match, and then could not gather strength and spirit at least for some semblance of a comeback.
How is the tournament going?
In the final, Canada will play the USA. Russian hockey players will play against Finland for third place. Team USA defeated Finland 4:3 in a very tense match.
The World Youth Team Championship takes place in Edmonton, Canada. The hosts are the current winners of the tournament, in 2020 they defeate