If the world title hadn't turned out, the dialogue between Nick Paul and Connor Brown would probably never have been made public. But this way the story could be told wonderfully. Paul and Brown, two Canadian ice hockey professionals, had trained together before the World Cup final in Latvia. And then Brown prophesied to his colleague: The final against Finland will be extended and we, the two Ottawa Senators strikers, will decide it. "It's crazy that it really turned out that way," said Paul a few hours later as he sat in the press room of the Riga Arena with the gold medal on his chest.

It was the seventh minute of extra time, it was 2-2 when the Canadians started a counterattack.

Paul on Brown, Brown back on Paul, and he pushed the puck into the goal.

Seconds later, clubs, gloves, and helmets flew through the air.

Like when an ice hockey team wins a title.

Especially if it is a historic one, as in the case of the Canadians, the 27th World Cup gold.

For the first time since 2008, the motherland of ice hockey is back at the top of the rankings.

Until then, the Russians were in front, who were also able to cheer 27 times, but because the Canadians took silver more often (15:10), they are now up again.

"Nobody gave us a chance"

It is not uncommon for Canada to win an ice hockey World Cup. And yet there is now talk of a "surprise", as the Canadians had sent a C to D team to Latvia. Now it is normal in ice hockey that not every nation sends its best to the annual World Cup, the play-offs of the NHL elite league are running in parallel, but the pandemic added in 2021. So of the 427 Canadians who played in the NHL this year, only 17 regular players were found who wanted to wear the jersey with the maple leaf. The rest were talents who mostly play in the second-rate AHL or the junior leagues.

Twelve players are 22 years old or younger. And nobody is a superstar, two of the best 50 Canadians in the NHL scorer list flew across the Atlantic. "Nobody gave us a chance," said striker Maxime Comtois. Especially after the historically bad start with defeats against Latvia, the United States and Germany. “Not good goalkeepers. Nobody hits the gate. The team chemistry? Unavailable. Team Canada's first World Cup games were a disaster, ”commented The Hockey News.

But nobody got nervous, reported Comtois: “Whether you start with three wins or three defeats, as Team Canada you always have pressure.” Rather, the criticism at home and the isolation in the “bubble” welded the team together. "There was nothing else to do," said winning goal scorer Nick Paul, saying that they hung on one another "24/7". Coach Gerard Gallant also knew that his team would improve: “Otherwise we'll come a week earlier and have two test matches. This year we had to go into quarantine, only trained three times and then had to play straight away. "

The first days of the tournament were a kind of preparation: "From the third game on we played the way we wanted to play." This was followed by victories over Norway, Kazakhstan and Italy. Because the strikers finally met. Above all, the front row with final scorer Adam Henrique, top scorer Connor Brown and Andrew Mangiapane, who followed him, top scorer with seven goals in seven games, afterwards he was named the most valuable player of the tournament. "He was the difference player, no question about it," said Gallant.

Nevertheless, the Canadians had to tremble again, at the end of the preliminary round they lost to Finland after a penalty shoot-out, and only because the Latvians went empty-handed against Germany did the Canadians slip into fourth in the knockout round. There they could not be stopped, eliminated the group winners Russia and the United States and defending champion Finland in the final.

“We gave the lie to everyone and played really well when it came down to it,” said Comtois afterwards. He was asked whether the prospect of the 27th title was an extra motivation. “I didn't know that,” replied the striker, “for Canada it's always all about gold. 27 is a nice number, next year it will be 28. “In between there is still the Olympics - probably again with the big names from the NHL. Those who have now become world champions in Riga will watch them from the sofa at home.