2012 World Junior Championship

Host Cities: Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
December 26, 2011 – January 5, 2012
RESULT: SILVER MEDAL

One year after winning the gold medal in an exhilarating comeback against Canada, Russia came to these world juniors with almost an entirely new roster, with team captain Evgeni Kuznetsov being the only returning player. Coach Valeri Bragin included a record six players from the Canadian junior leagues on the team, including the potential no. 1 NHL draft pick Nail Yakupov. Russia began the tournament on a confident note, giving up only one goal in its first three games and destroying Latvia 14-0. In this game, Kuznetsov came one point short of tying Peter Forsberg’s record for the most points (ten) in a single world junior championship game. Leading Sweden 3-0 in its following game, Russia collapsed in the third period and lost 4-3 in overtime, forcing the team to play a quarterfinal match against the Czechs. The quarterfinal featured the best goaltending battle of the tournament with 17-year old Andrei Vasilevski and Czech goalie Petr Mrazek both putting on world-class performances. After eliminating the Czechs in a tight victory, Russia had to face a relaxed Canada in the semifinal the next day. Russia’s fatigue didn’t factor until the third period, as the team took a commanding 6-1 lead with only 12 minutes left to play and garbage being thrown on the ice by the disappointed Canadian fans. That was when Canada launched one of the most amazing comeback attempts in the history of Russia-Canada confrontations. The team in red scored four goals in the span of five minutes, forcing the excellent Vasilevski to be replaced in net by Andrei Makarov. Canada worked until the final second to try tie the game, but Russia held on to win 6-5. Given that Russia was outshot by more than a 2-1 margin, it is fair to say that goaltending once again saved the team. Facing Sweden for the gold medal, Russia clearly had not physically or mentally recovered from the semifinal. It took the Russian offense 13 minutes to register a single shot on goal. Sweden had nearly total puck control and fired a whopping 58 shots on Makarov, but the scoreless game did not truly open up until the final ten minutes, when both teams launched one dangerous attack after another. Sweden dominated the overtime period and deservedly won the game after a Russian turnover enabled Mika Zibanejad to face Makarov one-on-one and score the game’s only goal. Sweden’s win was its first world junior gold medal in 31 years. It was unfortunate that Russia did not find its usual up-tempo game, but given that most of its players were just 17 and 18 years old, they will have another chance to fight for gold next year on home ice. After the game, Kuznetsov was named the tournament MVP, best forward, and member of the media all-star team.

Game 1: Russia 3 – Switzerland 0
Goals: Khokhlachev, Gusev (Kosov, Grigorenko), Grigorenko (Kucherov, Gusev)
Shots: Russia 30 – Switzerland 40
Saves: Vasilevski 40 – Wof 27
PIM: Russia 8 – Switzerland 6

Game 2: Russia 3 – Slovakia 1
Goals: Ozhiganov (Yakupov, Kosov), Naumenkov (Zemchenko), Kucherov (Grigorenko, Nesterov) – Bubela
Shots: Russia 40 – Slovakia 32
Saves: Makarov 31 – Simboch 37
PIM: Russia 20 – Slovakia 2

Game 3: Russia 14 – Latvia 0
Goals: Grigorenko (Kucherov, Gusev), Sergeyev (Yakupov, Arzamastsev), Kuznetsov (Yakupov, Antipin), Kuznetsov (Gusev, Nesterov), Zheldakov (Kuznetsov, Gusev), Gusev (Kuznetsov, Nesterov), Gusev (Kucherov, Kuznetsov), Kulikov (Kuznetsov, Zemchenko), Khokhlachev (Yakupov, Naumenkov), Kuznetsov (Gusev, Kucherov), Zemchenko (Kulikov, Kuznetsov), Kosov (Apalkov, Barbashev), Khokhlachev (Telegin, Antipin), Nesterov (Gusev, Kuznetsov)
Shots: Russia 50 – Latvia 30
Saves: Vasilevski 30 – Merzlikins 36
PIM: Russia 10 – Latvia 10

Game 4: Russia 3 – Sweden 4 (OT)
Goals: Zemchenko (Yakupov), Kosov (Barbashev, Apalkov), Telegin – Klefbom (Larsson), Rakell (Nemeth, Larsson), Friberg (Brodin, Nordstrom), Nordstrom (Nemeth, Friberg)
Shots: Russia 26 – Sweden 55
Saves: Vasilevski 51 – Gustafsson 23
PIM: Russia 16 – Sweden 4

Quarterfinal: Russia 2 – Czech Republic 1
Goals: Apalkov (Barbashev, Arzamastsev), Zheldakov (Kucherov) – Culek (Hertl, Jaskin)
Shots: Russia 45 – Czech Republic 39
Saves: Vasilevski 38 – Mrazek 43
PIM: Russia 4 – Czech Republic 2

Semifinal: Russia 6 – Canada 5
Goals: Kuznetsov (Yakupov), Nesterov (Zheldakov), Kuznetsov (Khokhlachev, Yakupov), Kuznetsov (Yakupov, Sergeyev), Khokhlachev (Kuznetsov, Yakupov), Kucherov (Grigorenko, Zemchenko) – Connolly (Hamilton, Huberdeau), Hamilton (Sheifele, Strome), Schwartz (Gallagher), Gallagher (Hamilton), Gormley (Gallagher)
Shots: Russia 24 – Canada 56
Saves: Vasilevski 44/49, Makarov 7/7 – Wedgewood 9/13, Visentin 9/11
PIM: Russia 16 – Canada 54

Final: Sweden 1 (OT) – Russia 0
Goals: Zibanejad (Nemeth)
Shots: Sweden 58 – Russia 17
Saves: Gustafsson 17 – Makarov 57
PIM: Sweden 4 – Russia 8

Team Stats:

Player	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM
D #3   Artyom Sergeyev	7	1	1	2	+1	12
D #4   Viktor Antipin	7	0	2	2	+5	2
D #6   Mikhail Naumenkov	7	1	1	2	+2	8
D #7   Igor Ozhiganov	7	1	0	1	+3	4
D #12 Grigori Zheldakov	7	2	1	3	+6	4
D #24 Zakhar Arzamastsev	7	0	2	2	+2	2
D #26 Ildar   Isangulov	6	0	0	0	+2	6
D #29   Nikita Nesterov	7	2	3	5	+7	6
F #8   Nikita Gusev	7	3	6	9	+5	0
F #9   Nikita Kucherov	7	2	5	7	+4	2
F #10   Nail Yakupov	7	0	9	9	+4	6
F #14   Daniil Apalkov	7	1	2	3	+2	0
F #15   Pavel Kulikov	7	1	1	2	+3	2
F #16   Ignat Zemchenko	7	2	3	5	+4	2
F #17   Mikhail Grigorenko	6	2	3	5	+2	0
F #18   Yaroslav Kosov	7	2	2	4	+5	0
F #19   Alexander Khokhlachev	7	4	1	5	+5	6
F #22   Sergei Barbashev	7	0	3	3	+2	0
F #23   Ivan Telegin	6	1	1	2	0	12
F #25   Evgeni Kuznetsov (C)	7	6	7	13	+6	4
Goaltender	GP	W	L	GAA	Save %	SO
G #1   Sergei Kostenko	0	0	0	0	0	0
G #20   Andrei Makarov	3	1	1	0.88	97.9	0
G #30   Andrei Vasilevski	5	4	1	2.01	95.3	2

Photo Gallery:

Mikhail Grigorenko fires a shot

Captain Kuznetsov scored two hat-tricks and was named the tournament MVP

Nail Yakupov attacks the Czechs

Vasilevski’s heroics carried Russia to the final

Russia celebrates its semifinal victory in another Russia-Canada classic

Sweden’s golden goal on Makarov