Team Canada takes a nasty one ; Both sides spitting mad after first win over Russia since '97
30.12.2001. Campbell, Ken. Toronto Star
When Canada steps on the ice this afternoon against
Finland, it does so as the only team that has won all of its games at
this world junior championship, all of which will mean spit once the
playoff round begins.
Canada 5, Russia 2
Speaking of spit, that unfortunately was one of the underlying themes
of Canada's 5-2 win over Russia yesterday, a win that gave Canada a
perfect 3-0-0 record and its first win over the Russians since it last
won gold in 1997. As a result, Canada secured at worst second place in
the round-robin portion of Group B and needs only a tie against the
Finns to finish first in its group for the first time since 1996.
After a game that was emotional and downright nasty at times, both teams were spitting accusations.
Canadian centre Brian Sutherby said that Russian centre Alexander
Svitov- the fifth overall choice in the NHL draft last June- spit in
his face with seven seconds left in the game, an accusation that was
backed up with TSN video evidence.
Sutherby said he might have mentioned "something about the score" to
Svitov late in the game when the two were standing face-to-face and
Svitov let him have it. He said it required all the composure he could
muster not to retaliate.
"It was probably the toughest thing I've ever had to do in my life,"
Sutherby said. "It was pretty low. It was probably one of the most
unclassy things I've ever seen or had done to me."
Svitov, who was spotted with some teammates returning to his team's
hotel at 4: 30 a.m. a couple of days ago, was a central figure in the
game. The Tampa Bay Lightning prospect was chosen Russia's player of
the game for reasons nobody could figure out and drew several Canadian
penalties for reacting to hits as though he had a major crime
perpetrated against him.
Russian coach Vladimir Plyuschev, meanwhile, levelled his own saliva allegations at the Canadian team.
"I have to say the Canadians deserved to win," Plyuschev said. "They
were better in all aspects, especially spitting at our players.
Unfortunately, there were too many provocations like this."
Canadian coach Stan Butler said he was encouraged by all the support
his team had among the 4,600 spectators- many of whom were minor hockey
players in a nearby tournament- and said there was a valuable lesson to
be learned.
"It's neat to see a lot of kids' teams over here experiencing the style
of play in Europe," Butler said. "They get to see how to do all the
type of skills we don't teach back home ... the interference, the
spearing, all those good things."
Canadian defenceman Dan Hamhuis left the game at 10: 07 of the third
period when he was hit from behind into the boards by Andrei
Taratukhin, leaving him with a bruised left shoulder. Taratukhin
received a major penalty and game misconduct. X-rays on Hamhuis were
negative, but Butler is not certain whether he will be available today
against the Finns.
All the nastiness overshadowed another fine effort by the Canadian
team, which has outscored its opponents 26-3 so far. Canada got strong
goaltending from Pascal Leclaire and the two goals the Russians scored
came when Canada was at 5-on-3 disadvantages. Canada killed off nine of
11 shorthanded situations and scored three power- play goals on 11
opportunities.
Jarret Stoll opened the scoring shorthanded while Stephen Weiss, Mike
Cammalleri and Jared Aulin scored power-play goals. Chuck Kobasew
scored 5-on-5 late in the game. Jason Spezza had just one assist and
has yet to score in the tournament, but was arguably the best player on
the ice. Igor Knayzev and Alexander Polushin replied for Russia.
Canada is expecting much of the same today in terms of intensity against the Finns.
"They're very competitive and they work extremely hard," Butler said.
Первая страничка молодежных чемпионатов мира 2002 года
|
|
Подгруппа А - подробнее
Чехия, Словакия, Швеция, США, Белоруссия |
Подгруппа В - подробнее
Россия, Канада, Финляндия, Швейцария, Франция |
За 9-10 места - подробнее
Белоруссия - Франция |
1/4 финала - подробнее
Словакия - Швейцария
США - Россия
Канада - Швеция
Финляндия - Чехия |
За 5-8 места - подробнее
Словакия, Швеция, Чехия, США |
1/2 финала - подробнее
Швейцария - Канада
Финляндия - Россия |
Финал - подробнее
За 3 место. Финляндия - Швейцария
За 1 место. Канада - Россия |
| Страничка статистики |
Молодежные чемпионаты мира (до 20 лет) 2002 года.
|
|
|
