30 years ago, the Russian team won the World Ice Hockey Championship. Next time it will happen oh so soon

On May 2, 1993, the final of the 57th Ice Hockey World Championship took place in Munich, in which the national teams of Russia and Sweden met.

The path of Boris Mikhailov’s team to the final was, as they say, thorny and difficult. At the group stage, the Russian team performed disgustingly, losing to the Swedes (2:5), Canadians (1:3) and embarrassing with the Italians (2:2).

The team advanced to the playoffs from 3rd place and began to gain momentum only during the relegation matches. In the 1/4 finals, the hosts of the tournament, the Germans, were defeated (5: 1), and in the spectacular semi-finals, the Canadian team was taken out with a score of 7: 4.

In the final, the Russian team was unstoppable. In the first period, German Titov and Andrei Nikolishin established a two-goal lead, and in the second period, 32-year-old Andrei Khomutov, who first became world champion back in 1981, upset the opponent’s goalkeeper for the third time. The Swedes could only score a prestige goal closer to the end of the match. 3:1 – the victory of the team of Boris Mikhailov.

“Our goalkeeper played very well. We played well in defense and we are very happy. Let’s drink a lot of champagne tonight. For me personally, this victory means a lot, even more than all the titles that I have won as a player!” – said the field of the match pleased Mikhailov.

And on May 2, 1993, no one, even in a nightmare, could imagine that the next time the Russian national hockey team would become world champion only 15 years later.

Here are the winners of the tournament:

Andrey Trefilov, Maxim Mikhailovsky, Andrey Zuev, Alexander Karpovtsev, Sergey Sorokin, Alexander Smirnov, Ilya Byakin, Dmitry Frolov, Sergey Shendelev, Alexander Sapozhnikov, Dmitry Yushkevich, Igor Varitsky, Sergey Petrenko, German Titov, Andrey Khomutov, Yan Kaminsky, Alexei Yashin , Sergey Pushkov, Andrey Nikolishin, Valery Karpov, Konstantin Astrakhantsev, Vyacheslav Bykov, Vyacheslav Butsaev.

Canadian Eric Lindros became the top scorer of the tournament. He was also recognized as the best striker, the Czech Brzhiza – the best goalkeeper, and Dmitry Yushkevich – the best defender.