There’s nothing better than a Canada/Russia match-up at any hockey competition and for BLH’s Hockey Game of the Night, we’ve got for you a proper classic. The 2005 World Juniors Gold Medal Final between Sidney Crosby’s Team Canada and Alexander Ovechkin’s Team Russia.
To set up this game I found this blurb from Sports Illustrated by Ken Campbell,
The night is always darkest just before the dawn, and Canada’s greatest anguish on the World Junior Championship stage came one year before its greatest triumph.
Flash back to Helsinki, Finland, 2004. Canada desperately wanted to be crowned hockey’s best under-20 nation after six long years in the cold. Since a five-year run of golds that ended in 1997, the Canadians had finished eighth, second, third, third, second and second, with each heartbreak worse than the last. They blew a 2-1 lead to Russia on Canadian ice to lose the 2003 final. Then, in Helsinki, the nightmare continued. Canada led upstart U.S. 3-1 entering the third period of the gold medal game. The U.S. stormed back to tie it and, with less than five minutes remaining in a 3-3 contest, Canada goalie Marc-Andre Fleury’s clearing attempt bounced off teammate Braydon Coburn and into his own net. The Americans won their first world juniors ever. Canada’s drought reached seven years.
Whoa…
Here’s the boxscore if you want to check it out!
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I hope you enjoy the game!
What I found really interesting is that Sidney Crosby and Corey Perry were lighting up their respective Junior leagues and Patrice Bergeron had already spent a year in the NHL, yet coach Brent Sutter chose to put the trio together and deploy them as Canada’s shutdown line. Very much like Wayne Gretzky back in 1978, Perry only made the club due to the injury of another player. What luck!
As this is mostly an Oilers blog, I feel compelled to mention that this game featured five players who would go on to play for the Edmonton Oilers later in their careers. Those individuals being Shawn Belle (CAN), Colin Fraser (CAN), Cam Barker (CAN), Danny Syvret (CAN), and the great Anton Belov (RUS).
If you’re enjoying the series, check out this week’s previous games below!
Monday: The Punch-up in Piestany
Tuesday: 16yr old Wayne Gretzky Destroys Czechs in ’78
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