It was only bad luck that the magnificent Russian team failed at the World Championships in Austria in 1996. Our team tore everyone to pieces at the group stage and was preparing to pick up the trophy.

But in the playoffs, those who capitulated earlier outplayed Russia. And on the outskirts of the medals, our team twice managed to squander a very comfortable advantage. Especially dramatic was the game of the Russians against the Americans, who made a legendary comeback from 0:3.

Just like Great Britain in the match against Norway at the World Cup in Finland. True, losing to the British is much more shameful than to overseas teams.

Magnificent composition

Our team was brought to the world championship, which was held in Vienna, by a team of coaches led by Vladimir Vasiliev. An experienced specialist who went through the crucible of teams of all levels, starting with the youth team of the USSR, was for the first time in the status of the main one at such a status tournament. Fortunately, he had elder Viktor Tikhonov and Lada coach Gennady Tsygurov as his assistants.

Vladimir Vasiliev / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Vladimir Rodionov

The tournament in Austria has become an outlet for fans after the previous World Cup. Due to a lockout in the last trophy draw, hockey players from across the ocean could not take part … But this time Vasiliev managed to assemble a fully combat-ready brigade. Yashin, Kozlov and Nikolishin on offense, Kasparaitis and Zhitnik on defense, world champion Trefilov on the last frontier… In total, 12 players from the NHL, a few from Europe, and only Vladimir Vorobyov from Dynamo Moscow.

And at first our team looked amazing. At the group stage, Russia confidently beat everyone, and after all, we had two North American teams and strong Germans in those days! The team left the group with 100% results.

alarm signal

However, in the knockout games, the Russians surprised with a minus sign. In the quarterfinals, we passed the Italians on duty and were preparing for the second game with Canada. “Maple leaves” at the same stage left Finland out of work (3:1).

Photo: Team Canada at the 1996 World Cup

The meeting with the founders of hockey began under the dictation of our team. Even in the first period, we scored two goals with the efforts of Sergei Berezin and Sergei Brylin, but in the second game segment we quickly lost this reserve. The Dow and Duchene restored parity, and the game sank into a shootout where a miss from Valery Karpov cost us the final.

Given that we beat Canada 6-4 in the group, no one expected that our team would compete only for bronze in the semi-finals. Therefore, before the match with the United States, there were fears due to the underestimation of the importance of this match.

Legendary US comeback

But, as in the duel with the Canadians, the Russians immediately seized the initiative, and by the fifth minute they were leading with a score of 2:0. Distinguished Yashin and Tverdovsky. In the middle of the match, Berezin tripled the team’s advantage, and the fans gradually prepared to celebrate the victory of the Russians.

Photo: © Glenn Cratty / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Apparently, Vasiliev’s wards felt the same – and simply let go of the thread of the game. There is no other way to explain what happened from 38 to 44 minutes, during which Rolston, Tansil and Plant restored equality in the score.

Having made this incredible comeback, the Americans moved the game into overtime. Our players got the right to use the numerical advantage, but to our own shame, instead of hitting the gates of Duffas, we missed a goal in the minority from the same Rolston and ended the tournament with a bang.

Emotions aside, everyone understood that Canada and the USA were top teams, but our management failed to forgive two similar failures in the playoffs and parted ways with Vasiliev. Probably, the mentor did not have enough experience in fighting in key matches at this level. He did not return to coaching in the national team, and Boris Mikhailov already took our team to the autumn World Cup.

The British are making a splash

Returns after three missed goals in such a prestigious tournament as the World Cup do not happen often. With the Russian team, for example, in the twenty-first century, such stories did not happen at all! But at the current tournament in Finland, in which our team does not participate, this rarest scenario has already played out.

The hockey show was given by the outsiders of the championship: Great Britain and Norway. The Scandinavians after the defeat from their neighbors from Finland came to the game as collected as possible. Despite the fact that there was no abundance of pucks, Petter Thoresen’s wards consistently shipped one goal per period. After Olimba’s double in the 6th minute of the third period, the score became 3-0, and the Norwegians were probably already mentally in the locker room.

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Just at that moment, the British realized that they had absolutely nothing to lose – and ran to the attack. Seven minutes later, Robert Dowd scored the first goal of Peter Russell’s team, and Perlini scored 38 seconds later. According to the law of the genre, England did not stop there and crushed the opponent. With four minutes left in the period, Richardson equalized.

The game went into overtime, where the opponents failed to hit each other’s gates, and only in the shootout Haga scored the decisive shot and brought victory to the Scandinavians. Instead of the guaranteed three points, Norway took only two.

Given that there are four clear favorites in the group with the Vikings (USA, Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland), the shameful loss of points with the British practically deprives Norway of the chances of reaching the playoffs. But the team gave the audience a wonderful plot.