The 2021 World Juniors didn’t go ask planned for the Russians. A perennial threat at any international hockey tournament, Russia came into the tournament with Gold Medals racing through their head, and if you’d asked anyone worth their salt in the hockey world, they had a very real chance at getting it.
As the tournament went on, Russia had flashes of brilliance. Their issue was consistency, which was first highlighted when the Czech Republic managed to shut them out 2-0 during the Group Stage.
While that was a very unexpected loss from Russia, it certainly wasn’t a reason for Canada to take them lightly in a highly-anticipated semifinal. In the end, Canada had no problem defeating Russia, and Russia went on to lose the Bronze Medal game to a resilient Finland team.
Eligible to return to the tournament next year, Yaroslav Askarov took in the defeat. He stood at the blue line all by himself and watched Finland celebrate.
That’s a scary sight to see for anyone not cheering for Russia. You know he’s going to come back more determined than ever to get that elusive Gold Medal.
