2015 IIHF World Championship

Canada Destroy Russia in Final
Captain Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) had a goal and an assist to help Canada to a 6-1 win against Russia in the gold-medal game of the 2015 IIHF World Championship on Sunday at O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic.
It is Canada's first gold medal since 2007 and the 25th time it has won the World Championship. Crosby joins the Triple Gold Club for players who have won the Stanley Cup, an Olympic gold medal and a World Championship. He is the 26th player and ninth Canadian-born player to do so. Crosby is the first to captain all three championship teams. Claude Giroux (Philadelphia) had a goal and an assist, and goalie Mike Smith (Phoenix) made 11 saves. Canada finished the tournament undefeated (10-0-0-0). Jason Spezza (Dallas) was the tournament's leading scorer with six goals and 14 points in 10 games. Canada outscored its opponents 66-15 in the tournament. Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh) scored and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (Columbus) made 31 saves for Russia. Alex Ovechkin (Washington) was held to two shots on goal in 15:57 of ice time. Canada outshot Russia 37-12, including 14-1 in the second period. Cody Eakin (Dallas) gave Canada a 1-0 lead with 1:50 left in the first period. Tyler Ennis (Buffalo) skated through the high slot, made a spin move and sent a shot that was deflected off Eakin's foot and past Bobrovsky. Canada outshot Russia 15-5 in the first and was able to maintain possession for most of the period. Ennis made it 2-0 at 1:56 of the second. He skated past Russia defenseman Andrei Mironov, carried the puck behind the net and scored on a wraparound. Crosby gave Canada a 3-0 lead at 7:22 of the second. Dan Hamhuis (Vancouver) sent the puck down low where Jordan Eberle (Edmonton) was able to maintain it along the boards. Eberle sent a pass to Crosby, who beat Bobrovsky top shelf with a wrist shot. Tyler Seguin (Dallas) scored his tournament-leading ninth goal 44 seconds later off of a no-look pass from Giroux to give Canada a 4-0 lead. Russia coach Oleg Znarok then used his timeout, but he opted to keep Bobrovsky in goal. Giroux made it 5-0 with a power-play goal at 8:58 of the third. Ryan O'Reilly (Colorado) passed down low to Crosby, who fed Giroux in front of the net for the score. Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado) scored Canada's sixth goal of the game at 9:50 of the third.

Sidney Crosby: "It is a great honor joining the Triple Gold Club. I've been fortunate to play for some great teams. You need some luck too. Guys have played in different events and sometimes you don't get the luck. I feel pretty fortunate to be a part of this and we could do it as a group. I don't think you come into a game like this thinking you're going to win 6-1. They are a dangerous team that even with a two- or three-goal lead you really can't sit back. It was good to get a big lead there and the inside of five minutes we started to enjoy it more because we knew it was getting closer. It is not always that way. You expect to come here and have tight games. You look at the semifinal: 2-0. It could have gone either way. Today, we just played a great game. We buried our chances. Our depth really showed. We had a lot of forwards who could contribute, but our defense was able to add to the offense. Our goaltending was really solid. All the way through, a great team effort."
Jake Muzzin (LA Kings): "We knew they are good off the rush, strong on the puck. We had to play tight defense and hard on those guys to eliminate their chances. They did get some opportunities but [Smith] was there to make some big saves but for the most part we stayed to our plan and executed it."
USA beat Hosts in Bronze Medal Game
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg) made 39 saves to lead the United States to a 3-0 win against the Czech Republic in the bronze-medal game of the 2015 IIHF World Championship on Sunday in a game played at O2 Arena in Prague. Nick Bonino (Vancouver) and Charlie Coyle (Minnesota) each had a goal and an assist for the U.S. Trevor Lewis (Los Angeles) also scored. Czech Republic goaltender Ondrej Pavelec (Winnipeg) made 13 saves. The victory avenges a 4-3 loss to the Czechs in the quarterfinals of the 2014 Worlds. It's the first medal for the U.S. since winning the bronze in 2013. Bonino put the U.S. on the board with a goal at 7:25 of the first period, knocking in the rebound of a shot by Brock Nelson (NY Islanders). Lewis made it 2-0 with 1:47 remaining the first when he scored off a pass from Jack Eichel, NHL Central Scouting's No. 2-rated North American skater in its rankings for the 2015 NHL Draft. The Czech Republic outshot the U.S. 12-4 in the second but failed to get anything past Hellebuyck. They certainly had chances, including 1:57 of carryover power-play time to start the period after Coyle was whistled for slashing at 19:57 of the first, and a four-minute power play when Bonino was assessed a double-minor for high-sticking at 12:17 of the second. Coyle pushed the U.S. lead to 3-0 with 49.8 seconds left in the second when he scored off a pass from Bonino. It was Coyle's third goal in five games at the tournament. The Czechs pushed the pace even more in the third, outshooting the U.S. 16-1, but again Hellebuyck stood tall, helping the U.S. kill off two more penalties. Hellebuyck went 7-1 with two shutouts, a 1.37 goals-against average and a tournament-best .948 save percentage. His seven wins tied a U.S. record for most in a single tournament set in 1939.

Matt Hendricks: "I'm very proud. We had a quick turnaround. Obviously we wanted to be playing for the gold medal. But we were able to rally the troops and come out tonight and play a very, very strong game, backed by a great performance from our goaltender."

Trevor Lewis: "Connor's our best player night in, night out. He was there to stop pucks for us, and clear rebounds. We knew if we had a breakdown he was going to be there, he was a calming presence for us. I can't say enough about him."

Jagr Retires
Jaromir Jagr said Sunday that he has played his last game for the Czech Republic national team. Jagr and the Czechs lost 3-0 to the United States in the bronze-medal game of the 2015 IIHF World Championship on Sunday at O2 Arena. Jagr's six goals led the Czech Republic and were tied for fourth among tournament leaders. At 43 years and 76 days old, Jagr became the oldest player to score a goal at the World Championship on May 1 against Sweden. He also scored twice, including the game-winner, in a 5-3 win against Finland that advanced the Czech Republic into the semifinals. He was named MVP of the tournament after Canada won the gold medal with a 6-1 win against Russia.
Jagr announced the end of his international career last year following the World Championship in Minsk, Belarus, where the Czechs advanced to the medal round but lost the semifinals and the bronze-medal game without scoring a goal. But he changed his mind and competed this year because of the opportunity to play in his home country. This time Jagr said his international career, during which he won a gold medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics and two World Championships (2005, 2010) is definitely over. Jagr feels there's time for younger Czech players carry the load on the international scene. Jagr scored 17 goals and 43 points in 77 games for New Jersey and Panthers this season. His 722 goals lead all active NHL players.

Jaromir Jagr: "Obviously, I'd rather finish with a better game and with a win, but that's how it is. I'm glad I played in this tournament and the fans have been great to me. I tried to give them everything I had, each game. Sometimes it went well, sometimes not. But I always gave it 100 percent. If it was in Prague, I would not play. I wanted it for the fans, coaxed my dad, and (fellow countryman and former New York Rangers teammate Martin Rucinsky) cracked me. But now ... I don't have it anymore. It's time to move on. Life goes on. I'm not finishing my career, I'll play for Florida for at least one more season. And after an [NHL retirement] I'm still planning to come back and play in the Czech League. But it's time to move on. I wish younger players start to show up (at Worlds)," he said. "Maybe there's a new generation of players such as (Ondrej) Palat, (David) Pastrnak and this young generation, I also wish some young Czech defensemen would jump into the NHL. You could see even here that the guys who were playing in the NHL are on the top, it's just a different League. You have 82 games of superb quality. That's what helps every player develop and move forward. NHL is totally above all other Leagues, no doubt about that. And I believe our (Czech) youngsters start to come play (at the Worlds) no matter if they have contracts for the next season or not. Right now I'm tired, but you get some rest and start to look ahead. For me, next season starts tomorrow and I have to get ready to be able to deal with my responsibilities in Florida and play my best hockey.

Jagr was voted most valuable player of the 2015 IIHF World Championship, the last tournament the 43-year-old forward says he’ll play in for the Czech Republic. Jagr had six goals and three assists in 10 games for the host Czechs, who lost 3-0 to the United States on Sunday in the bronze-medal game.
In addition to choosing Jagr as MVP, the media voted Jagr, U.S. goalie Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg), Canada defenseman Brent Burns (San Jose), Sweden defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Phoenix), Canada forward Jason Spezza (Dallas) and Canada forward Taylor Hall (Edmonton) to the Worlds all-star team.  Spezza’s 14 points (eight goals) led the tournament, and Hall had seven goals and five assists for Canada, which went undefeated (10-0-0-0) and won the gold medal with a 6-1 victory against Russia on Sunday. Hellebuyck was 7-1-0-0 with a 1.37 goals-against average and .948 save percentage. The tournament directorate selected Finland’s Pekka Rinne (Nashville) as best goalie, Burns as best defenseman and Spezza as best forward.