Published: 11 May, 2009, 00:59
Edited: 11 May, 2009, 00:59
They've done it again! Russia won the Ice Hockey World Championships for the second year in a row, beating principal rivals Canada 2-1 in the finals in Bern, Switzerland on Sunday night.
The Canadian's were eager to take revenge for the defeat in last year's final in Quebec and began their match very aggressively. And it was Lindy Ruff's men who opened the scoring. Shane Doan was the first on the rebound after Ilya Bryzgalov's save, passing the puck to Jason Spezza, allowing him to put the puck in the net from close range, 1-0.
The Russian fans demanded an equalizer and sent their team forward with their world famous chant: "Shaibu! Shaibu!"
At first, Sergey Zinoviev failed to beat Canadian 39-year-old keeper Dwayne Roloson from a good position for the second time in a period.
But then Braydon Coburn got a two minute penalty for deliberately shooting the puck out of play. Russia punished the Maple Leafs, converting their first power play effort into a goal. Oleg Saprykin patched up the puck after Vitaly Atyushov's shot to turn the red light on behind Roloson's goals, 1-1.
Canada meant business in the second period. They locked the Russians in their zone for ten long minutes, creating several good chances to go in front, with Jason Spezza nearly scoring after dropping one-on-one with the goal keeper.
Canada had 16 shots on goal in the second period against Russia's five, but the goal came from Vacheslav Bykov's men. Aleksandr Radulov staged a brilliant individual effort, putting a defender on the ice and easily beating Roloson, 2-1.
And this was the last goal of the game. The Maple Leafs spent the third period attacking, they replaced the keeper with a sixth field player in the dying minutes, but the Red Machine stood firm till the very end. Russian keeper Ily Bryzgalov was named the Man of the Match as it was his great play that allowed Russia to triumph in the final, 2-1.
And Russian forward Ilya Kovalchuk was chosen the best player of the entire competition.
Russia, undefeated through the whole tournament, has won the World Championship for the second year in a row and 25th time in the history of national hockey.