World Hockey Championship in Tampere – final: Canada – Germany, May 28, 2023. Hockey players of Canada rejoice at the victory.
Tampere (Finland) – Canada's ice hockey players won the 28th world championship title. In the final in Tampere, they defeated Germany 5:2, despite conceding first and still losing 1:2 after 37 minutes. Latvia celebrates historic medal at big event. In the third-place game, they defeated the United States 4-3 in overtime.
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Photo gallery: Ice Hockey World Cup 2023
Canada has a record 28th title, they defeated the Germans 5:2 in the final
Striker Samuel Blais helped the turnaround with two goals, whose second hit at 44:51 was victorious.
The Germans played in the final for the first time and won a World Cup medal after 70 long years. But they did not reach the gold this time either. John Peterka put them in the lead and Daniel Fischbuch gave them the lead after Blais' equaliser. Lawson Crouse made it 2-2. The Canadian team then dominated the third period, in which Blais, captain Tyler Toffoli and, finally, Scott Laughton scored into an empty net.
The Canadians broke away from Russia and the former Soviet Union in the historical order with a record 28th gold. In the role of defending champion, he will arrive in the Czech Republic for the championship in a year. The Germans won their third silver, and they also have a bronze in their medal collection from the World Cup.
The opening act, in addition to great commitment and a tough fight, did not offer much excitement in front of both goals. Nevertheless, two goals were scored in it. In the eighth minute, the Germans took advantage of the substitution of the Canadians, Seider found Peterka with a long pass and he shot Montembeault past Montembeault with a great shot from the circle to the back post.
The substitute of the favored overseas team even tried to turn the situation around with a coaching challenge. However, the referees did not detect the supposed offside position, the goal was valid and Canada played weakened. The ambassadors of the cradle of hockey managed the difficult situation and in the 11th minute Blais erased the loss when Krebs served him the puck ideally. In the final seconds before the break, the Canadians pressed the opponent, but the flowing Blais did not overcome Niederberger.
In the beginning of the second half, the Germans had another power play at their disposal. They played it excellently, but without a goal. Montembeault was attentive and stopped the penetration of Tifels, who finished with a backhand. In the 32nd minute, Kahun had a huge chance, almost immediately threatening Neighbors on the other side.
The situation did not change until a moment later, when Fischbuch returned the lead to the German side. In the 37th minute, Szuber committed a foul against the rules – today the only one from the German selection. Although Canada has not shined in numerical advantages in the course of the tournament so far, this time they played the power play excellently. Carcone fired hard from the circle, shortly after he missed a huge chance on the finish line, but then Crouse had already made his way. Backhand, he channeled the offer addressed to him by Krebs.
The Canadians entered the third period actively, but Niederberger kept the Germans afloat. In the 45th minute, he no longer had a chance to reach Blais' shot from an angle, and the Canadians completely controlled the action on the ice from that moment on. Just half a minute later, Lucic sent a hard blow with his wrist, the stick was ringing behind the German goalkeeper.
In the 52nd minute came the moment that definitively decided the final and sent the German to his knees. The Germans got into a three-to-two outnumbering, but Noebels' puck slipped off his stick and the Canadians went three-to-one on the other side. Toffoli took the finish line himself and aimed right between Niederberger's concretes.
Almost three and a half minutes before the end, the Germans played without a goalkeeper. Soon after, Blais could have completed his hat trick, but he narrowly missed the empty goal with a shot almost the entire length of the rink. However, there was no drama, Laughton scored less than two minutes before the final siren of the entire tournament.
The Latvians won a historic bronze, the USA beat 4:3 in overtime
The hero of the match was defender Kristians Rubins, who tied the score at 3:3 in the 55th minute and also decided the game with his second goal after 82 seconds. The Americans were playing for bronze for the third time in a row and succeeded only in 2021 in Riga. They also lost to the Czech Republic 4:8 in Tampere last year. At 19:20 CET, the hockey players of Canada and sensational Germany will compete for the gold.
For the Latvians, the previous maximum was seventh places from the years 1997, 2004 and 2009. Eight hockey players who played in the previous season also helped them to the medal in the Czech extralization. They started this year's tournament in Riga and even after moving to Tampere from the semi-finals, they had almost a home environment thanks to the great support of the fans.
Rocco Grimaldi scored twice for the USA today, scoring 14 points for seven goals and the same number of assists in 10 games at the tournament and surpassing Dominik Kubalík as the leader in productivity. The Czech gunner collected 12 points on eight hits and four assists in eight duels.
The Latvians opened the scoring at 7:49 when Carter Mazur was expelled. Rihards Bukarts found brother Roberts from behind the goal line and forward Vítkovic beat Casey DeSmith from close range. The Latvians held the lead for only 116 seconds. After a pass from Scott Perunovich, he hit the Grimaldi post from the right circle.
In the next power play after Alex Tuch was sent off for a tackle on Třinec defender Karlis Čukste, who left the game after falling on the goalpost and returned in the second third, the Americans defended themselves. The Latvians didn't even cash in on Ralfs Freibergs' penalty.
In the 17th minute, the Latvians were happy to take the lead again. Rihards Bukarts got through Nick Perbix in front of the goal with a loop between his legs, DeSmith stopped the puck with the right concrete, but Lithuanian defender Janis Jaks knocked it into the net. Moments later, Jakse was hit in the face by the puck, causing a bloody wound, but continued to play.
The Americans tied the game with 57 seconds left in the first period on a Rubins layup. Perunovich charged Grimaldi to the left circle and he hit the exact opposite upper corner of the goal. Even before the break, Rihards Bukarts found himself in front of DeSmith and pushed the puck wide, then he complained to the Czech referee Jan Hribik and the British Liam Sewell about being held by the American goalkeeper. rod. In the second half, the Americans outshot their opponents 10:3. When the Latvians got into a good position, Oskars Batna broke his stick during the shot. With the exclusion of Connor Mackey, the Latvians did not make an impact. Even the USA team did not gain anything from their superiority.
In the beginning of the third part, the Latvians successfully defended against a penalty by Rihards Bukarts, and in addition, they could strike from the overnumbering of Abols with Batna, who was fouled by Bonino. In the 47th minute, the Americans took the lead for the first time thanks to a stop by Coronata. The Latvians responded with pressure, but DeSmith resisted.
The Latvians defended against Batna's penalty and Rubins equalized at 54:21. Conor Garland's spot-kick hit the right post. In the 58th minute, the right post helped the Latvians after Mazur's run. Abols could have saved overtime in the last seconds of the third period, but he crashed on DeSmith after the break.
In the set-up, after a break by captain Kaspars Daugavinš, the puck bounced from Lane Hutson to Rubins, who hit a shot from the right circle into the near top corner of the goal to set off the Latvian celebrations.
World Hockey Championship in Tampere – Final:
Canada – Germany 5:2 (1:1, 1:1, 3:0)
Goals and assists: 11. Blais (Krebs, Neighbours), 38. Crouse (Krebs, Weegar), 45. Blais (Glass), 52. Toffoli, 59. Laughton (J. Quinn, Crouse) – 8. Peterka (Seider, M. Müller), 34. Fischbuch (Kastner, Seider). Judges: Björk (Sweden), MacFarlane – Briganti (both USA), Hynek (CZ). Exclusion: 2:1. Usage: 1:0. Spectators: 10,470.
Lineups:
Canada: Montembeault – Weegar, Middleton, Barron, Hunt, Myers, Joseph – Fantilli, Glass, Lucic – J .Quinn, Laughton, Crouse – Blais, Krebs, Neighbors – Toffoli, McBain, Carcone. Coach: Tourigny.
Germany: Niederberger – M. Müller, Seider, J. Müller, Wissmann, Szuber, Gawanke, Wagner – Peterka, Kahun, Tiffels – Soramies, Sturm, Ehl – Noebels, Kastner, Fischbuch – Tuomie, Stachowiak, Schütz. Coach: Kreis.
for 3rd place:
USA – Latvia 3:4 in overtime. (2:2, 0:0, 1:1 – 0:1)
Goals and assists: 10. Grimaldi (Perunovich, Bjork), 20. Grimaldi (Perunovich, Coronato), 47. Coronato ( Samberg, O'Connor) – 8. Roberts Bukarts (Rihards Bukarts, M. Dzierkals), 17. Jaks (Rihards Bukarts), 55. Rubins (Ločmelis, Rihards Bukarts), 62. Rubins (Daugavinš, Jaks). Referees: Hribik (Czech Republic), Sewell (Brit.) – Hautamäki (Fin.), Wyonzek (Can.). Exclusion: 5:4. Usage: 1:1. Spectators: 11,033.
Lineups:
USA: DeSmith – Perbix, Samberg, Perunovich, Kleven, C. Mackey, Thrun, Hutson – A. Tuch , Bonino, Grimaldi – Garland, O'Connor, Eyssimont – Mazur, Tynan, Gauthier – Coronato, P. Brown, Farrell – Bjork. Coach: D. Quinn.
Latvia: Šilovs – Balinskis, Zile, Rubins, Jaks, Čukste, Freibergs, Cibulskis – Daugavinš, Abols, Balcers – M. Dzierkals, Batna, Roberts Bukarts – Krastenbergs, Smirnovs, Andersons – Indrašis, Ločmelis, Rihards Bukarts – Keninš. Coach: Vitolinš.
