The 2000 home World Cup in St. Petersburg was supposed to return Russian hockey to its former glory. For this, NHL stars headed by Pavel Bure came to their homeland.

However, everything ended in a grandiose fiasco, the crown of which was the defeat of the Latvians and Belarusians.

Bure went to Dorenko and promised gold

In those days, Russian NHL players were very reluctant to come to the world championships. The reasons were different – bad relations with the leadership of our hockey, fear of losing a contract in North America due to injury, a banal desire to relax after a difficult season. A year before, only Alexei Yashin came to the 1999 World Cup from the NHL to the national team.

But for the home tournament, the coaching staff, headed by Spartak legend Alexander Yakushev, gathered a dream team. Zhamnov, Bure, Yashin, Kamensky, Kovalenko, Zhitnik, Gonchar and other guys from the best league in the world came to return the world title to Russia, which the country has not seen since 1993.

Before the start of the tournament, Bure went on various programs, was visiting Sergei Dorenko and promised to do everything possible so that Russia would take gold medals.

Photo: © Brian Bahr / Staff/ Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

The team was closed outside the city

Everything looked so that nothing could stop Russian hockey players from winning. However, in reality, everything turned out differently. In the opening match, Yakushev’s wards defeated France 8-1, although they did not show an outstanding and well-coordinated game. Even then, doubts began to creep in whether ours would have a real team. Unfortunately, the fears were confirmed. In the next game, Russia limply lost to the United States with a score of 0:3, and then they also managed to lose to Switzerland.

Rumors spread that the team was not very respectful of the regime. The team was specially settled outside the city so that hockey players would not go to parties in St. Petersburg. It is clear that far from civilization there was not much fun, and the players wanted to have fun.

– Bure’s friends, some Georgians, brought a car of champagne with girls there. It was only a week later that we realized what was going on there. They sent riot police to ban the revelry, ”quotes the words of the president of the St. Petersburg Ice Hockey Federation, Alexander Evstrakhin, “Sport day after day.”

Scandalous speech of the goalkeeper of the Latvian national team

As a result, Russia took third place in the group, and in the next round she no longer had the right to make a mistake. The first opponent from the list was Latvia, in which no one believed, except for the players of the Latvian national team themselves. But in vain. Latvians have shown worthy hockey and have thrown out Russia for a board of tournament – 3:2.

Photo: © Brian Bahr / Staff/ Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

At the gate they shone Arthur Irbe – a very controversial character. After the match, he blurted out the phrase that this victory was revenge for his grandfather, who fought on the side of the Germans during the Great Patriotic War. He later corrected his words somewhat.

Irbe, despite his convictions, repeatedly played for the USSR national team and twice became the world champion in its composition. However, every time the USSR anthem was played, he defiantly looked at the floor. This was his form of protest. Nevertheless, dislike for the Union and Russia did not prevent him from playing for CSKA in exhibition matches with Vancouver, as a result of which the road to the NHL opened for him.

Latvians at the 2000 World Cup eventually reached the quarterfinals, where they lost to the Czechs. As for the Russian national team, the star team then managed to lose to the Belarusians as well. The victory over the Swedes on May 9 changed absolutely nothing. Russian hockey players at the home tournament took last place in the group. Just think about it. In subsequent years, the results of the national team will go uphill, and Artur Irbe will remember that victory over the hated team of Russia all his life.