BOULDER, Colorado -- We've got a lot to get through in today's post - the elimination rounds of the Bandy World Championships in Kemerovo, the final between Russia and Sweden, and Baikal-Energia's ninth consecutive victory.
I guess I have already ruined the surprise, but Russia defeated Sweden 3-1 to capture the World Championship.
Markus Bergwall put the Swedes up 1-0 in the eighth minute, but that's all the scoring they could muster. At the half, a goal from Ivan Maximov had leveled the score, but in the second, goals from former Baikal standout Yevgeny Ivanushkin and Sergei Obukhov, both of Dynamo Moscow, gave Russia their second consecutive World Championship trophy.
Russia had a relatively easy path the finals. They had already beat Sweden during the round robin tournament, albeit in a shootout tiebreaker, and in the semifinals, Russia faced an overmatched side from Kazakhstan, whom they easily defeated 16-3.
The Swedes, however, had a tougher time. Despite losing two matches - against perennial also-ran Finland and the heartbreaker against Russia (which technically goes in the books as a tie) - they entered the elimination round seeded third. In the semifinals, they extracted their revenge on the Finns in overtime. Down 2-1, Sweden's David Karlsson tied the score in the 80th minute. Then, in the 98th minute, Markus Bergwall ended it to put Sweden in the finals, 3-2.
Americans should be proud of their team's performance in the tournament - they won Group B, which gave them the right to play the sixth-place finisher in Group A. The US went undefeated in five games, outscoring their opponents by a whopping 51-5. But Belarus proved to be a tough opponent, besting the Americans 9-1 in the A6-B1 matchup.
The final standings were:
Group A
1. Russia
2. Sweden
3. Finland
4. Kazakhstan
Group B
1. USA
2. Latvia
3. Netherlands
4. Hungary
5. Mongolia
6. Estonia
Sweden's David Karlsson led all scorers with 15 goals, while Russians Sergei Obukhov and Sergei Ryazantsev trailed him with 14 and 13, respectively. American Steve Nelson led Group B scorers with 12 goals.
Baikal Beats Mayak 5-3
Trud Stadium, IRKUTSK, Russia -- Baikal came into this game hoping to get a big boost from the return of forward Alexander Nasonov from a 10-game suspension. Even though Nasonov was kept off the score sheet, Irkutsk extended their win streak to nine games with a 5-3 victory over Mayak Krasnoturinsk.
Sergei Yusupov buried two goals in the first seven minutes, and Maxim Koshelev followed with a third right on his heels. The four-goal lead Irkutsk held 40 minutes in (thanks to another tally, this time from Konstantin Yeryomenko) would be plenty for the win, and Mayak's two goals at the 41st and 56th minutes never challenged Baikal's lead. Konstantin Savchenko capped off the scoring for Baikal in the 67th minute.
The standout for Mayak was former Baikal forward Yevgeny Igoshin, who scored a goal and an assist in the losing effort.
Nasonov was suspended following the altercation December 16th in Kemerovo against Kuzbass for allegedly bumping the referee. The incident led to Baikal skating off the ice in protest, forfeiting the game. In addition to Nasonov's suspension, Baikal was fined heavily by the national federation, and their captain and head coach were forced to give up their respective posts.
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