Russia men's national junior ice hockey team

Russia

Association	Ice Hockey Federation of Russia
General manager	Alexei Kochetkov
Head coach	Igor Larionov
Captain	Vasily Podkolzin
Most points	Evgeny Kuznetsov (26) Nikita Filatov (26)
IIHF code	RUS
First international
Russia 1–6 Sweden  (Strakonice, Czechoslovakia; 1 September 1992)
Biggest win
Russia 16–0 Japan  (Falun, Sweden; 26 December 1992)
Biggest defeat
Finland 11–1 Russia  (Písek, Czechoslovakia; September 1992)  Finland 11–1 Russia  (Anjalankoski, Finland; 20 December 1992)
IIHF World U20 Championship
Appearances	25 (first in 1993)
Best result	Gold: 4 – (1999, 2002, 2003, 2011)

Medal record
IIHF World U20 Championship
	1999 Canada	Team
	2002 Czech Republic	Team
	2003 Canada	Team
	2011 USA	Team
	1995 Canada	Team
	1998 Finland	Team
	2000 Sweden	Team
	2005 USA	Team
	2006 Canada	Team
	2007 Sweden	Team
	2012 Canada	Team
	2015 Canada	Team
	2016 Finland	Team
	2020 Czech Republic	Team
	1994 Czech Republic	Team
	1996 USA	Team
	1997 Switzerland	Team
	2008 Czech Republic	Team
	2009 Canada	Team
	2013 Russia	Team
	2014 Sweden	Team
	2017 Canada	Team
	2019 Canada	Team

The Russian men's national under 20 ice hockey team is the national under-20 ice hockey team in Russia. The team represents Russia at the International Ice Hockey Federation's World Junior Hockey Championship, held annually every December and January.

History[]

Russia competed as an independent nation for the first time at the 1993 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Gävle, Sweden. Russia won their first medal, a bronze at the 1994 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Russia would earn silver in 1995, bronze in 1996 and 1997, and silver in 1998 after a devastating 2–1 overtime loss to Finland. Russia won their first gold medal in 1999, after defeating Canada 3–2 in overtime when Artem Chubarov scored the goal when the puck was shot past Canada goalie Roberto Luongo.

Russia's biggest rivalry was against the Czech Republic where both teams met for the first time in a medal game since 1997. The game went to a shootout in 2000, where the game was scoreless through regulation and overtime. Goaltenders Zdenek Smid of the Czech Republic and Ilya Brysgalov of Russia earn player-of-the-game honors. Russia's Evgeny Muratov opened the scoring for Russia, but Milan Kraft and Libor Pivko would score to put Russia out of reach. Russia head coach Pavel Vorobiev spotted the weakness in Brysgalov, and was replaced by Alexei Volkov, who went on to stop Zbenek Irgl, who had a chance to win it for the Czechs. Russia's Evgeny Federov (no relation to Sergei Federov), had the chance to keep Russia alive, but was stopped by Smid as the Czech Republic won their first-ever gold at the WJC. Russia's players stunned in disbelief sat on the bench watching the Czechs celebrating.

Russia hosted the World Junior U20 Hockey Championships in Moscow. Both venues included and the . Young stars like Ilya Kovalchuk participated. Russia tied the Swiss (3–3), defeated Belarus (10–0), defeated Canada (3–1), and lost to Finland (3–1). In the quarterfinal game against Sweden Russia lost 4–3. The loss resulted in head coach Pavel Vorobiev showing his frustration towards his team. Switzerland and Russia engaged in a linebrawl in a placement game the same year, in which resulted in suspensions.

Russia went on to win their second gold medal against Canada in 2002, as Russia stormed back from 2–0 and 3–1 deficits. Russia's Anton Volchenkov scored the winning goal past Canada's Pascal Leclaire with less than 5 minutes remaining, and resulted in a 5–4 victory. Russia won their third gold medal at the 2003 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Halifax with a 3–2 win over Canada. It was the first U20 tournament for Alexander Ovechkin. Russia lost the quarter-final game in 2004, when Finland scored the winning goal with 13 seconds left in regulation, when a Finland player shot the puck on Russia's goaltender than found its way past him.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, the tournament in North Dakota had the best players, who were due to make their NHL debuts made available. Alex Ovechkin, who was due to make his debut with the Washington Capitals was playing in his third World Juniors. Canada and Russia met up in the gold medal game, which resulted in a 6–1 win for Canada. A year later, Russia would lose gold to Canada (5–0), and again in 2007 (4–2).

Russia's Alexei Cherepanov was due to represent Russia at the 2009 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Canada. Cherepanov died on 13 October 2008 at the age of 19 during a Kontinental Hockey League game when he collapsed on the bench after a line change. Russia was ousted by Canada in the semi-finals and go on to would win bronze over Slovakia.

World Junior Ice Hockey Championships record[]

External links[]

• Team Russia U20 all-time statistical leaders at QuantHockey.com
• Russian men's national under 20 ice hockey team (in Russian)