The Soviet ice hockey team
On 7 March 1954 at the Royal stadium of Stockholm, Sweden, the Soviet ice hockey team beat Canada in the World Championships. The Canadians previously ruled the ice, but the Russians made their world debut with a glorious 7-2 win.
The Canadian team easily won their first six games of the championships and had to face the USSR in the final showdown. On March 7, the final day of the tournament, Canada needed only a tie to claim first place while the Russian team would have to win outright if they were to take home the gold medal. Once the game began, the Soviet team demonstrated their style of hockey which was extremely fast paced with precision passing.
A Canadian commentator had this to say about Russians’ performance: “Their slowest player skated more quickly than our fastest player. I don't know if I should say this or not, but they dominated us by more than the 5 goals margin.”
It was the international debut of the Soviet Union hockey team. The sensational victory was a major landmark, promoting hockey in Russia and a brining international recognition to the Soviet school of hockey. Russia proceeded to win 23 World Championships and eight Olympics gold medals.
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