Ahead of age: Russian youth ice hockey team defeated Finland at the Karjala Cup

The fact that the Russian national ice hockey team will perform at the Karjala Cup as a youth team became known two weeks before the start of the Eurotour.

This decision of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation (FHR) was largely unexpected, since this is still an adult tournament.

Experiments with youth were carried out before, but still the backbone of the team was made up of the strongest players of the Continental Hockey League or the first contenders for a place in the main team.

However, FHR assessed the current situation in world hockey and made a choice in favor of Igor Larionov's youth team.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the team of players under 20 was left without a traditional super series with teams from the Canadian junior leagues.

These matches allowed the younger generation of hockey players to get to know each other, play together and prepare for the youth world championship.

This year, the games had to be canceled, as the hockey season in Canada had barely started, and not in all provinces yet.

The super series was especially needed by Larionov himself, who took over the reins of the national team only in June.

Although he is a hockey specialist with vast experience, he has never held the position of head coach.

The three-time Stanley Cup winner had only the opportunity to work under the leadership of Valery Bragin at the last World Cup, but no more.

If it were not for the Karjala Cup, his debut as a mentor would immediately fall on the next championship in Edmonton.

There was no point in sending the senior national team to Helsinki anyway.

In the past, KHL teams did not like to let their players go to matches that were essentially friendly in nature.

In the era of a pandemic, doing this was even more problematic, as unnecessary travel increases the risk of coronavirus infection among club leaders.

At the same time, the main squad of the Russian national team does not have an important tournament ahead, for which you certainly need to prepare, and for the youth team it starts in less than two months.

The fans received additional intrigue - whether Larionov's young team would be able to oppose something to the Finns, Swedes and Czechs, who did not change the usual state of affairs and called the best players of their national leagues.

And it was absolutely not worth assuming that the youth team was doomed to three defeats.

Still, many players already have regular practice in the KHL, and some are eagerly awaiting in the NHL - in the last draft, four Russians were immediately selected in the first round, and all of them came to Helsinki to demonstrate their skills.

The experiment with the challenge of the youth was very successful.

Already in the second minute, the Finns capitulated in front of the Salavat Yulaev striker Rodion Amirov.

Toronto Maple Leafs avenue flew into the zone, beat Mikael Seppälä and sent the puck into Oskari Setianen's goal.

The removal of Nikita Sedov gave the ice owners a chance to recoup, but Yaroslav Askarov confidently coped with all the throws of the Finns.

In equal compositions, Yukka Yalonen's wards continued to underestimate the Russian youth team, and she was ready to punish for it.

After an unrealized majority, Marat Khusnutdinov broke through on the left flank and doubled the lead.

A few more minutes passed, and the third goal was already at the gate of Setianen.

The captain of the Russian team Vasily Podkolzin gave a beautiful pass to Ilya Safonov, and his ricochet throw from the goalkeeper led to another goal.

During the break, the Finns realized what a disaster the match could end for them.

They started the second period with a massive attack and closed the gap thanks to a long-range shot from Elmeri Eronen.

The Russians had to switch to a defensive mode, and they also coped with this task.

The Finnish national team was unable to realize the next two draws of the majority, after which its players lost their nerves.

Another unsuccessful attempt to hit Askarov's goal ended in a scuffle, as a result of which two Finnish hockey players and Safonov, who answered them, sat on the penalty box.

The Russians quickly realized their chance to play too much.

Daniil Chaika made a powerful throw from the blue line, to which Setianen did not have time to react.

The ice hosts again dropped their hands, and by the end of the period the difference in the score reached four goals.

Yegor Chinakhov broke through the center of the site, got his hands on his hands with a stick and could earn a two-minute majority, but still ended his attack with a goal.

The third 20-minute started the same way as the second.

The Finnish national team scored a fast puck through the efforts of Ere Sallinen, but that was the end of her exploits.

More Askarov did not have to actively enter the game.

The owners of the ice almost the entire period unreasonably and often fouled, and it was impossible to leave them unpunished for this.

In the majority, Yegor Afanasyev scored the sixth goal of the Russian national team, using Shakir Mukhamadullin's pass.

The guests could not stop there, since the last five minutes they always had one more fielder, but still the score 6: 2 was the final one.

The Russian youth team began the Karjala Cup with a victory over the Finnish national team, which their own fans began to boo right after the final siren.