WJC Countdown: Chubarov nets twice in 1999 final

Hosted in Winnipeg as well as five other communities around Manitoba, the 1999 World Juniors was, in many ways, the last of its kind. Playing games in Brandon, Selkirk, Teulon, Portage la Prairie, and Morden, the event was the final tournament to have more than four host arenas, with most tournaments being confined to two. (Since 1999, only the 2006 event in British Columbia has had more than three, being hosted in two rinks in Vancouver, and one each in Kamloops and Kelowna.)

But besides the integration into smaller Canadian communities, the tournament was memorable for its down-to-the-wire playoff round and eventual victory by the Russian team. The country’s first title playing under the modern Russian flag,  Russia’s road to the gold medal game was a tumultuous one.

Losing the opening game of their tournament 4-2 to Sweden, Russia began to steamroll the weaker opposition in their group. In their next three games against Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Switzerland, they’d score 23 times while conceding just twice. Matched up against Finland in the quarterfinals, they’d squeak out a 3-2 victory, while being matched up against Slovakia in the semi-finals.

Slovakia had picked up wins over the Czech Republic, the United States, and Finland in the round robin, while holding Canada to a 0-0 draw. Amazingly, they’d won Group A, and earned a bye into the semi-final for the first time in their history. Russia would pull through with a 3-2 victory for the second consecutive game, going ahead on two first-period goals and holding a one-goal lead throughout the final twenty minutes.

In the gold medal game hosted in Winnipeg, Russia would be matched up against perennial contender Canada, who, for the most part, had a less than impressive round robin. Canada had fallen 5-2 to the United States and as mentioned, had a scoreless draw against Slovakia, while picking up a 6-4 win over Finland and a 2-0 victory over Czech Republic. But Canada broke out for 12 goals against Kazakhstan in the quarterfinal, and blew out Sweden 6-1 in the semifinal.

Canada’s biggest threat was Barrie Colts captain and sixth overall pick in the 1997 draft, Daniel Tkaczuk. Though he’d managed just 19 games at the NHL level in his career, Tkaczuk led Canada in scoring with six goals and four assists in seven games.

Left wide open in the slot off a rush, Vancouver Canucks prospect Artyom Chubarov opened the scoring for Russia against with 53 seconds remaining in the first period. Future Philadelphia Flyers star Simon Gagné would tied it up halfway through the second with his second goal of the tournament, but Maxim Balmochnykh gave Russia the lead again less than five minutes later.

In the third period, defenceman Bryan Allen found the net with 6:08 remaining to tie the game once again. In his only goal of the tournament, Allen had his initial point shot blocked before his second effort found its way through traffic to even the score at two.

Russia heavily outshot Canada throughout the gold medal game, taking a 36-16 lead through three periods. But with Roberto Luongo in net, Canada still stood a chance of stealing a victory.

A little over five minutes into the extra frame, Russia’s Maxim Afinogenov won a routine board battle in the offensive zone against a pair of Canadian players. With a quick pass to Chubarov at the top of the left-wing faceoff circle, a shot snuck past Luongo’s glove side and the Russians had won the championship.

A second year-forward on the team, Chubarov came into the game with just a lone goal in the tournament. Chubarov was out of the NHL by 2004 and topped out with a career-high 20 points. He only scored over 10 goals once in his professional hockey career, but his two goals in the 1999 tournament sealed Russia’s first-ever gold medal at the World Junior Hockey Championship.

While Slovakia was unable to complete the fairytale ride with a championship, they didn’t head home empty-handed. In the bronze medal game between the two group leaders in the round robin, they pulled off a 5-4 victory over Sweden, their highest offensive single-game output of the tournament.

@adam_laskaris

RUSSIA’s GOLD-WINNING TEAM IN 1999