Canada’s gain, Russia’s pain

I had the pleasure of covering Game Eight of the Canada/Russia Super Series for HockeyCanada.ca last night at GM Place. It pretty much encapsulated the entire course of the series (6-1 compared to seven wins and one tie).

A colleague of mine who attended the games in Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Red Deer told me that the hapless Russians apparently had some issues in terms of supervising their players off-ice.

No, we’re not talking about some huge scandal. But Hockey Canada nowadays provides a very structured environment for its U20 players in everything from meal times to meeting with the media, whereas, for instance, some Russian players were out strolling the streets of Saskatoon three and a half hours before the opening faceoff of Game Six. Which would seem inadvisable, coming off an 8-1 loss that sealed Canada’s series victory.

Regardless of the circumstances, it’s quite a reversal from the 1970’s and 80’s, when touring Russian teams were often confined to their hotel rooms between games and were accompanied by KGB minders.