ROC instead of Russia – Latvia initially defeated Canada

Will Russia participate in the 2021 World Ice Hockey Championship in Latvia? The answer is obvious: yes, but! Just as “Olympic athletes from Russia” participated in the previous Olympic Games, this time the “Russian Olympic Committee” is officially at the beginning.

The reason for this is the boycott by the World Anti-Doping Agency. So it is not the Russian flag that is hoisted on the site, but of the committee. In addition, the first piano concert will be played by Pyotr Tchikovsky instead of the Russian anthem. ROC is used as an abbreviation for team. The IIHF thus follows the orders of the CAS Sports Court.

One reason for playing the Tchikovsky concert on the day of the first match was because ROC defeated the Czech Republic 4: 3 (1: 1, 1: 1, 2: 1) in an exciting game. The Russians took the lead three times through Anton Berdasov, Ertom Shvetz-Rogovoi and Alexander Barbanov; Jacob Flake, Jacob Varna and Dominic Kubalik equalized – but Mikhail Grigorenko scored the winning goal 19 seconds before the end.

Meanwhile, host Latvia caused a surprise on the first match day – and what would have happened at the Riga Arena if fans had been allowed to stay there? 15 years ago Latvia had to overcome Canada 0:11 at home, but won 2–0 (1–0, 1–0, 0–0) this time. Two seconds before the first break, Mix Indrasis took the lead; A deflected shot brought the second goal: the goal scorer was Oscar Batna (29th). It became awkward in the final minutes when Latvia failed three times at the post in an attempt to score an empty net. Goalkeeper Mattis Kievlenics was not only happy with the shutout, but was also pleased to have been selected as the best player in his team.

In addition, Slovakia almost won against co-hosts Belarus with a 5: 2 (3: 0, 0: 0, 2: 2). The 2002 world champion took a 4–0 lead through Cristian Pospisil (2), Peter Sehlrich and Marek Hirvik before the Belarusians made it exciting again with a double strike by Mikhail Stefanovich and Yegor Sharangovic in the final leg. gave. 66 seconds before the end, Sharangovich awarded the penalty even after being let off by Slovak defender Marek Dloga to throw a stick in the direction of the opponent carrying the puck himself. Sehlrich closed the sack for Slovakia with an empty net goal 21 seconds later.