On Frozen Blog

Team Russia Celebrates (Photo: DAVID BOILY/Getty Images)

With a single shot, Ilya Kovalchuk silenced the home crowd and brought an end to the Russian national team’s 15-year championship drought. Russia took the gold over Canada today in a wild 5-4 OT victory.

The Washington Capitals’ Russian contingent were by far the most dominant scorers on the team, totaling 37 points in just 9 games:

• Ovechkin: 6G, 6A, +11
• Semin: 6G, 7A, +11
• Fedorov: 5G, 7A, +10

Alexander Semin practically lived on the ice, leading the team with 164:52 played in the tournament (followed by Fedorov’s 157:34). Ovechkin, playing in his fifth World Championship, finished tied for second-most goals in the tournament, as did Alex Semin — eclipsed only by Dany Heatley’s record-setting 12-goal performance.

Congratulations to Alex, Alex, and Sergei on a hard-fought victory, and to both teams for wrapping up the World Championships in fine fashion.