I have to say that as a life long Russian hockey fan, this whole thing has been surreal for me. It has been a roller coaster. From seeing the USSR teams dominate when i was a kid, to the pitfalls of the post soviet period, and then to this wild tourney. I am not sure what to say.
First, I would like to congratulate Germany. You guys had an AMAZING tourney and this Olympics should go down as a major accomplishment for your country. You guys already won before you stepped on the ice today and then when you finally did, you really gave Russia a run for its money. You have a great coach and a players with skill, intelligence and great heart. This will not be the last medal you win in hockey.
To those asking if this means anything to Russian hockey fans. Yes, it means a lot. Especially in this political climate and with what our athletes had to endure during these Olympics. I have to say that our athletes who did show up, despite the attempts to humiliate them, showed the kind of resolve and toughness that we haven't seen from our athletes since the Soviet days. Hockey wise, this did not mean as much to me as the win in 2008, because at that point we hadn't won ANYTHING in 15 years, but this was big none the less.
As far as the team goes, I hope this will be the last I ever see of Mozyakin and Koshechekin in a team Russia jersey. They were horrible and we won in-spite of them. I also never want to see Znarok coach another Russian team again. His mismanagement of the goaltenders, inability to motivate and calm his players, and stubbornness, make him a horrible coach. He is another person we won in-spite of.
Negative things aside, I am not surprised that it was our young guys who stepped up during such a tough point. They are too young to remember that we are supposed to choke at all the big moments and have never been a part of the teams that had collapsed and wilted during key moments in the last 20 years. This gives me hope.
Another pleasant issue that this tourney has brought out is how much the KHL has improved Russian hockey in the last 10 years. Yes the KHL has its many problems, but if this same situation of NHLers not being allowed to got to the Olympics happened 15 years ago and had we have to send a team made up of players from the Russia Superleague, would people still talk about our team as the favorite? Would we have even made it to the gold medal game? Would we have the likes of Datsyuk or Gusev on our team?
Today we took one more step away from the darkness of the 90s. I will never forget our players and fans singing the Russian anthem over that IOC tune.