BOTH TEAMS WILL HAVE FAN SUPPORT

When there was still a chance that Canada might face Team North America in the semifinal on Saturday night, some wondered who would get the biggest cheers.

Canada was obviously the host country. But North America not only had Canadian-born players such as Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, but also Auston Matthews and Johnny Gaudreau, who played for Canadian-based teams.

As the World Cup of Hockey went on, the Under-24 team was gaining more and more popularity to the point where it might have been difficult to gauge who had home-ice advantage.

That’s no longer a question now that Russia has advanced to the semifinal.

Or is it?

“It’s going to be great and very emotional,” Russian defenceman Andrei Markov said of Saturday night’s game. “The crowd is going to be on our side probably.”

Excuse me? Did he just say that Russia might have more supporters than Canada? Was he kidding? Well, not exactly.

Markov might be right that fans from Russia and all over Europe have come out in droves to support their teams at the World Cup. During Thursday’s game between Russia and Finland, chants of “Russ-yee- ah!” echoed throughout the Air Canada Centre. It might not drown out the Canadians in the crowd, but it should add to the atmosphere for the game.

“The Russian population here, especially in Toronto, is huge,” said Markov. “Plus in our country, they are all going to be supporting us.”