2007 World Championship

Host city: Khodynka (Moscow) and Mytischi, Russia
April 27 – May 13, 2007
RESULT: BRONZE MEDAL

Russia’s failure to make the semifinals at the 2006 World Championship in Latvia marked the replacement of coach Vladimir Krikunov with the CSKA Moscow tandem of Vyacheslav Bykov and Igor Zakharkin. Bykov and Zakharkin brought a more player-friendly philosophy to the national team. The fact that the World Championship was to be hosted by Russia put great pressure on the players and the new coaching staff alike. Russia began the tournament on fire, with the Ak Bars Kazan unit of Zaripov-Zinoviev-Morozov-Proshkin-Nikulin playing at a level not seen since the days of the Krutov-Larionov-Makarov line in the 1980s. The team easily overcame Ovechkin’s one-game suspension for a hit on a Swiss player and played its best game against the Czechs in the quarterfinal on Victory Day. In the semifinal, Russia struggled to get the puck past Finnish goaltender Kari Lehtonen. Saku Koivu scored the winning goal in overtime by lifting Eremenko’s stick to let the puck free and jam it in. After the shocking semifinal loss to Finland, Russia regained its energy and disciplined play to quickly rebound in the bronze medal game against Sweden, scoring two goals in the opening period. After giving up the game against the Finns, goaltender Alexander Eremenko delivered a heroic performance to finish the tournament with a .957 save percentage. Evgeni Malkin, Andrei Markov, and Alexei Morozov were named to the tournament’s all-star team. Markov and Morozov, both of whom finished the tournament injured, were named Best Defenseman and Best Forward, respectively. The 2007 World Championship was only the beginning of a resurgence of confident offensive and defensive teamwork by Russia under Bykov’s coaching.

Game 1: Russia 9 – Denmark 1
Goals: Zaripov (Zinoviev, Morozov), Nikulin (Morozov), Malkin (Gonchar), Schastlivy (Atyushov), Markov (Kovalchuk, Frolov), Morozov (Zaripov, Zinoviev), Kulemin (Nepryaev, Ovechkin), Ovechkin (Nepryaev, Kulemin), Frolov (Gonchar) – Regin (Nielsen, Andreasen)
Shots: Russia 45 – Denmark 25
Saves: Koshechkin 24 – Hirsch 18, Madsen 18
PIM: Russia 0 – Denmark 10

Game 2: Russia 8 – Ukraine 1
Goals: Morozov (Zinoviev), Zinoviev (Morozov, Zaripov), Nikulin (Zaripov, Zinoviev), Proshkin (Morozov), Morozov (Zinoviev), Radulov (Atyushov, Ovechkin), Morozov (Zinoviev, Zaripov), Frolov (Gonchar, Markov) – Klimentiev (Tsyrul, Matvichuk)
Shots: Russia 52 – Ukraine 23
Saves: Eremenko 22 – Fedorov 34, Seliverstov 10
PIM: Russia 12 – Ukraine 22

Game 3: Russia 5 – Finland 4
Goals: Kulemin (Emelin, Nepryaev), Zaripov (Zinoviev, Morozov), Gonchar (Kovalchuk, Markov), Morozov (Zinoviev, Zaripov), Schastlivy (Grebeshkov) – Ruutu (Kapanen, Mantyla), Hentunen (Kapanen, Kukkonen), Lehtonen (Peltonen, Nummelin), Nummelin (Ruutu)
Shots: Russia 34 – Finland 25
Saves: Koshechkin 21 – Norrena 29
PIM: Russia 20 – Finland 43

Game 4: Russia 3 – Italy 0
Goals: Kovalchuk (Malkin, Frolov), Frolov (Kovalchuk), Morozov (Zinoviev, Zaripov)
Shots: Russia 36 – Italy 9
Saves: Eremenko 9 – Muzzatti 33
PIM: Russia 6 – Switzerland 28

Game 5: Russia 6 – Switzerland 3
Goals: Zinoviev (Zaripov), Kovalchuk (Markov, Koshechkin), Zaripov (Proshkin, Schastlivy), Markov (Malkin, Kovalchuk), Frolov (Markov), Schastlivy (Kharitonov) – Streit (Lemm), Di Pietro (Streit, Reichert), Reichert (Di Pietro)
Shots: Russia 36 – Switzerland 16
Saves: Koshechkin 13 – Hiller 31
PIM: Russia 35 – Switzerland 16

Game 6: Russia 4 – Sweden 2
Goals: Morozov (penalty shot), Grebeshkov (Malkin, Kharitonov), Malkin (Markov, Frolov), Morozov (Zinoviev) – Thornberg (Jonsson, Martensson), Steen (Backstrom, Martensson)
Shots: Russia 31 – Sweden 30
Saves: Eremenko 28 – Ersberg 27
PIM: Russia 16 – Sweden 12

Quarterfinal: Russia 4 – Czech Republic 0
Goals: Markov (Malkin, Frolov), Malkin (Kovalchuk), Radulov (Grebeshkov), Malkin
Shots: Russia 32 – Czech Republic 27
Saves: Eremenko 27 – Cechmanek 38
PIM: Russia 20 – Czech Republic 26

Semifinal: Russia 1 – Finland 2 (OT)
Goals: Malkin (Gonchar, Frolov) – Hentunen (Kapanen, Laamanen), Koivu (Ruutu)
Shots: Russia 30 – Finland 19
Saves: Eremenko 17 – Lehtonen 29
PIM: Russia 14 – Finland 47

Bronze Medal Final: Russia 3 – Sweden 1
Goals: Emelin (Zaripov, Frolov), Zinoviev (Emelin, Zaripov), Frolov (Malkin, Atyushov) – Steen (Backstrom, Stralman)
Shots: Russia 20 – Sweden 33
Saves: Eremenko 32 – Backlund 17
PIM: Russia 12 – Sweden 12

Roster:

Player	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
D #2 Konstantin Korneev	1	0	0	0	0
D #3 Alexei Emelin	9	1	2	3	6
D #5 Ilya Nikulin	9	2	0	2	4
D #6 Maxim Kondratiev	9	0	0	0	2
D #7 Denis Grebeshkov	9	1	2	3	0
D #27 Vitali Atyushov	9	0	3	3	4
D #45 Vitali Proshkin	9	1	1	2	16
D #52 Andrei Markov	8	3	5	8	2
D #55 Sergei Gonchar	9	1	4	5	4
F #8 Alexander Ovechkin	8	1	2	3	29
F #11 Evgeni Malkin	9	5	5	10	6
F #12 Danis Zaripov	9	3	9	12	6
F #13 Ivan Nepryaev	9	0	3	3	12
F #15 Nikolai Kulemin	9	2	1	3	0
F #18 Sergei Brylin	2	0	0	0	0
F #21 Alexander Kharitonov	9	0	2	2	6
F #22 Alexander Radulov	9	2	0	2	6
F #24 Alexander Frolov	9	5	6	11	0
F #25 Petr Schastlivy (C)	8	3	1	4	2
F #42 Sergei Zinoviev	9	3	10	13	12
F #71 Ilya Kovalchuk	9	2	5	7	10
F #95 Alexei Morozov	7	8	5	13	6
Goaltender	GP	W	L	T	GAA	SO
G #30 Alexander Eremenko	6	5	1	0	0.98	2
G #57 Konstantin Barulin	0	0	0	0	0	0
G #83 Vasili Koshechkin	3	3	0	0	2.67	0