Miracle of Cologne
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| Date | May 23, 2010 | |||||||||||||||
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| Arena | Lanxess Arena | |||||||||||||||
| City | Cologne | |||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 19,132 | |||||||||||||||
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The Final was the gold medal match at the 2010 IIHF World Championship. The match was played in Lanxess Arena in Cologne on 23 May. The Czech Republic defeated the favored Russian team 2–1.
The final was the first gold medal game between Russia and the Czech Republic in the history of the tournament. Before, they faced each other at the 1998 Winter Olympics, where the Czechs defeated the Russians in the Gold Medal game. In addition, the predecessors of both these nations, the USSR and Czechoslovakia, had met several times in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
It was Russia's third consecutive finals appearance, and the Czech Republic's first appearance since 2006.
The Lanxess Arena in Cologne was determined to host the finalists of the tournament. Previously at the tournament, the venue hosted the both semi-finals, and the Bronze medal match. In the final, the attendance was 19,132.
The match began with a goal after just 20 seconds, scored by Jakub Klepiš from a pass by Jaromír Jágr. The goal was seemingly the result of a defensive mistake which led to a Czech offensive possession with Russian defensemen out of position. For the remainder of the period the Russians held almost complete possession of the puck, and veteran Sergei Fedorov hit the post after an odd man rush. Very late in the period the Russians put the puck in the net on a power play, but it was determined to be after the clock had run out and was ruled as no goal. There was some brief confusion however, as the buzzer sounds after the clock on the scoreboard runs out.
In the second period Russia pressed once again but the Czech Republic slowed the game down and forced Russia to regroup, resulting in an error in the Russian defensive zone when Alexander Ovechkin collided with teammate Fedorov. This led to a 3-on-2 rush for the Czechs and Karel Rachůnek centered the puck while Tomáš Rolinek crashed the net. The puck was redirected off Rolinek's skates, and it was ruled a good goal because there was no kicking motion visible.
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