In what was considered to be a rather "unique" world championship tournament, the ending was possibly the most unique of all. Going into the tournament everyone thought that it would be the third straight year that Canada and Russia would square off in the final. Russia made it there, but Canada.. not so much.
Canada had by far it's worst tournament in a long-looong time. They finished the round robin with a rather hideous record of 2-3 and were the last team in Group F to advance. Although by some countries standards a 2-3 showing at the worlds may be acceptable, but not if the country is Canada. For the past two years Canada has gone undefeated in the round robin and then lost to Russia in the gold medal game in consecutive years. Russia finished second, while Canada found themselves losing in the quarters, putting them at around 5th. Ew.
Perhaps it was that Canada was just too young. But I mean.. there only wins were against Latvia and Norway which are by no means hard teams.. you would think that Canada could put together a lineup that could have at least been able to grab at least a medal if not the gold.
Russia's stacked lineup earned them a 5-0 record in the round robin, but ultimately they fell short of their golden dreams and lost to the Czech Republic; if you can believe it. I guess even if your roster sports 14 of your teams members on it, sometimes it just isn't enough, especially when you come across a hot goalie.
Congrats to the Czech's, relish the moment.. I don't think it will come around again for a while.
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