Not As Epic As We Thought

This was supposed to be a game that had all the markings of yet another outstanding chapter in Canada's and Russia's hockey histories, but the semifinal game tonight felt slightly mismatched as the Canadians easily handled the Russians in a 5-0 victory. I'm not sure what the Russians expected from the Canadian squad, but it seems they started the game flat-footed before being knocked back on their heels, and they never recovered.

Alex Newhook made an early impact in the game after he missed the quarterfinal game with an upper-body injury. He seemed to be feeling no ill effects as he flew around the ice early in this game and putting Canada up 1-0 just 59 seconds into the contest with a goal that almost no one saw thanks to the speed the puck had as it bounced off the inside bar of the goal. Whatever was ailing Newhook can officially be erased from memory because he looked 100% out there every shift.

Canada got its additional goals from Connor McMichael, Cole Perfetti, and Braden Schneider before Dylan Cozens iced the game with an empty-netter late in the third period. For both Perfetti and Schneider, the goals against Russia seemed to lift weights off their shoulders as they notched their goals after struggling to find the back of the net all tournament.

At the other end, Yaroslav Askarov had himself another adventure tonight as he was all over his crease, but never seemed to be in control. His goal stick officially picked up frequent flyer miles based on the number of times it was dropped or discarded by Russian netminder, and one has to wonder if his stock as being the best young netminder picked in this year's draft might have been slightly inflated. All tournament long, Askarov seemed to struggle with concentration and focus when it came to being the best at his position, and one has to wonder if the pressure in carrying that title and the weight of the Russian expectations may have caught up to him.

The Russians, for what it's worth, did find the back of the net in this game as Mikhail Abramov scored on a power-play to make it 4-1, but the keen eyes of the Canadian coaching staff thought that the puck had been brought into the Canadian zone while the Russians were offside. After Abramov seemed to give his team a spark, the Canadians challenged the missed call and the play at the blue line was ruled offside, negating Russia's goal and seemingly adding to their frustrations in this game.

The Russians must have received a stern chat from head coach Igor Larionov during the second intermission because they looked much more focused in the third period as they tried to claw their way back into the game. Despite some chances for players such as Shakir Mukhamadullin, Vasili Podkolzin, and Yegor Spiridinov, goaltender Devon Levi was having none of it in Canada's net as he shut the door on the Russians in this game.

The Russians will get a chance to salvage some pride as they'll play in the early game tomorrow for the bronze medal while Canada now advances to the late game where the gold medal will be up for grabs. Canada, as defending champions, will get that opportunity to defend their place on the podium, and they'll await the winner of the USA-Finland game which is happening as this article is being written. Whoever ends up on the lesser side of the scoreboard in that game will get a date with the Russians, and they'll have to be ready for a Russian team that, I would assume, wasn't happy with tonight's performance.

Canada looks to finish the tournament without having trailed through the entire 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship, and they'll play for gold yet again as they defend their gold medals from last year! GO CANADA GO!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!