Russia Wins Gold in Men’s Hockey Final Beating Germany 4-3 in Overtime

As Russia celebrated their gold medal victory over Germany, the furthest thing from people’s minds was the doping scandal, especially as the Olympic flag rose to the rafters.

The Russians celebrated with their fans as the sounds of players sung the State Anthem of the Russian Federation so loudly it could be heard over the recorded anthem that is required by the Olympic Committee.

For Russia, the Olympic title meant a great deal, even more so after NHL players were no longer able to participate in the Olympics due to being deemed professional players, add that to the doping scandal and the win meant Russia could hold their heads high.

As the celebration events began, team players hoisted Coach Oleg Znarok up into the air and chanted “ROSS-I-YA”, the same chanted in Sochi when Russia lost the quarterfinal game. Hockey sportsbetting sites had favoured Russia to win the gold, and today’s 4-3 victory saw Russia triumphing and not seeing the same disappointment they felt on their home ice four years ago.

Said Coach Oleg Znarok,

“We understood the whole thing from the start so we were calm about it. Russia is in our hearts.”

The win was bittersweet after only several hours earlier; the International Olympic Committee chose against letting the Russians walk under the Russian flag during Sunday night’s closing ceremonies after a Russian bobsledder and curler had positive drug test results.

For the Russian hockey team, that seemed not to matter that they would not be able to share the pride of their country, nor did it seem to make a difference that today’s gold medal win was the first for the country since 1992.

Scoring the first goal, Slace Voynov, who plays defence for Russia commented saying,

“The medal is the same with or without the NHL. Maybe the tournament was a little different, but the emotions and happiness are the same.”

Coach Oleg Znarok received a call from President Vladimir Putin congratulating the team on their victory and gold medal, the second for Russia and the countries seventeenth medal of the games.

As Rene Fasel, President of the International Ice Hockey Federation, put the gold medals around the necks of the players, the first medals in hockey for Russia since 2002, Vladislav Tretiak, President of the Russian Hockey Federation and an Olympic gold medalist three times over shook players hands and gave out hugs.

For Pavel Datsyuk, today’s gold medal win meant more than it did hoisting the Stanley Cup.

“When you play for your country and I win this medal, this special time it’s more important, I have accomplished my dream. Now I have no dream.”

The winning goal was scored by Kirill Kaprizov while on an overtime power play. For Germany’s Patrick Reimer, it is one time spent in the penalty box that he will not forget. The silver medal is the best finish in hockey for Germany since 1976.

Marco Sturm, Germany’s coach commented stating,

“We all thought we would be sitting at home watching that final on the couch at home, but here we are. The boys are going to bring silver home, and they should be very proud.”

Oddsmakers had pegged Russia to win gold, making today’s victory expected by many. The Russian team had a large number of ex-NHL players including Nikita Nesterov, Ilya Kovalchuk, Datsyuk Voynov and Mikhail Grigorenko and by far, had the most talented lineup of competing teams with some analysts suggesting the Russian team was equal in talent to more than two-thirds of thirty-one NHL teams.

Kirill Kaprizov and tournament MVP commented saying,

“It means a lot. This was my dream from when I was 5 years old when I started to play.”

The Kontinental Hockey League shined during the gold medal game, one that required those on the ice to be disciplined against a skilled German team.

As the celebration was nearing a close and the Russians had received their gold medals, they skated around the ice waving to supporters as the Germans stood by watching while waiting for their silver medals giving fans something to take home and remember.