Russia won the title
How did Pittsburgh Penguins survive without Yevgeny Malkin?
How come team USA did not make it?
Great answers, everyone
my Russian fellows, Wave and DSP- you caught me by surprise (I did not expect to see you at this section, LOL)
makes me impossible to choose Best Answer
So I am sending it to voting
Anonymous
Favorite Answer
Penguins didn't survive. Remember the first round? My team went down, too.
Finland beat the USA and they are always dangerous.
At the Worlds, nothing surprises me. Look up the team of Canadian firefighters who won the worlds in the 1960s, the Trail Smoke Eaters.
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Being a great athlete doesn't necessarily translate to the ice. Ice Hockey world championships, your country has to qualify for them Mexico is getting better but I don't think they qualified this year. For years, I have wondered why the Dutch who are among the best skaters in the world are somehow not better at hockey .. and yet they have many more years of on-ice experience than most any African .. but yes a lot of it also has to do with the fact that they have other priorites such as survival.
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I'm not surprised.
Russia seems to be one of the only countries in this tournament that their players actually want to play on. Canada had Marc Methot on their team!
Russia had some of their best players, whether it be Ovechkin or Malkin.
Malkin wasn't on Pittsburgh because they were eliminated. After they got out, he hopped on a plane and joined team Russia.
Team USA was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Finland, and Canada was knocked out by Slovakia.
Ice in the Desert
Russia won because they had a solid base of players used to the big ice, players that could play a system well, plus some incredible talent like Malkin and Ovechkin to completely blow away other teams.
While Finland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic all had good teams that had a good core used to the big ice and some solid NHL players, they just were no match for Russia's talent.
I still say the US and Canada need to use teams that have been practicing together..... for the USA maybe even send their dominant u18 team. If 1980 showed us anything, it's that American kids can beat Russian superstars..... just kidding, that would not end well
allan b
Not surprised Russia won, they basically had all of their best players (not including Kovalchuk). USA and Canada's line-ups did not and will be very different come Olympic time. That is if the NHLers go to the next Olympics.