Take that, IOC!
Russians narrowly deny Germany a Miracle On Ice II, and brush aside sanctions in OT gold-medal thriller
GANGNEUNG — The Olympic anthem was merely background noise, the doping scandal the furthest thing from their minds.
As the white flag with the five Olympic rings rose toward the rafters on Sunday following the gold-medal game in men’s hockey, the champion Russians in their nondescript red-and-white uniforms joined their fans cloaked in red, white and blue and belted out the State Anthem of the Russian Federation, drowning out the recorded song that was required as part of International Olympic Committee sanctions.
This Olympic title meant so much more to the Russians, no matter that the tournament was missing NHL players and the ‘Olympic Athletes from Russia’ were all here only after months of scandal.
Joyous players tossed coach Oleg
Znarok in the air at centre ice as fans let out the same “ROSS-I-YA” chants that filled the arena in Sochi four years ago, where home ice meant nothing as the Russians lost in the quarterfinals. There was no such disappointment this time as the Russians triumphed in the tournament they were favoured to win, capturing gold with a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over Germany after Kirill Kaprizov’s power-play goal capped a classic final and gave the nation a jubilant moment following weeks of disappointment.
“We understood the whole thing from the start, so we were calm about it,” Znarok said. “Russia is in our hearts.”
The win came only a few hours after the IOC decided against allowing the Russians to march under their flag in the closing ceremony Sunday night after a curler and a bobsledder had positive drug tests during the games.
It didn’t seem to matter to the Russian players that they couldn’t wear the Russian Coat of Arms on their chests or that they won their first hockey gold medal since 1992 under the same circumstances as 26 years ago. Playing under a neutral flag with the NHL opting to stay home after participating in the past five Olympics.
“The medal is the same with or without the NHL,” said defenceman Slava Voynov, who scored the opening goal with 0.5 seconds left in the first period. “Maybe the tournament was a little different, but the emotions and happiness are the same.”
Russian president Vladimir Putin made a telephone call to Znarok after the victory, which gave the country its second gold and 17th overall medal of the Olympics.
Winning this gold medal at his fifth Olympics meant more to 39-year-old captain Pavel Datsyuk than the two times he lifted the Stanley Cup.
“When you play for your country and I win this medal, this special time, it’s more important,” Datsyuk said. “I have accomplished my dream. Now I have no dream.”
The dream Russia couldn’t reach with NHL stars finally happened with Kaprizov scoring the winner on the power play 9:40 into overtime as Patrick Reimer sat in the penalty box for high-sticking.
A silver medal gave Germany its best finish at the Olympics after capturing bronze in 1932 and 1976.
“We all thought we would be sitting at home watching that final on the couch at home, but here we are,” Germany coach Marco Sturm said. “The boys are going to bring silver home, and they should be very proud.”
Germany came within a few minutes of their own version of the Miracle On Ice.
Nikita Gusev gave Russia a 2-1 lead in the third period, rifling a bad-angle shot in off the helmet of German goalie Danny aus den Birken, but Dominik Kahun answered just 10 seconds later. And when Jonas Muller slid the puck past Russian goaltender Vasily Koshechkin with 3:16 left and then Russia took a high-sticking penalty, it appeared like a major upset was on tap.
But, with Koshechkin pulled for the extra attacker making it 5-on5, Gusev scored again, chipping in a backhander with 55 seconds left.
The overtime penalty on Reimer gave Russia a power play and Kaprizov scored one of the biggest goals in Russian hockey history, one-timing a Gusev feed from the right circle.