Russia men's national junior ice hockey team
Introduction The '''Russian men's national under 20 ice hockey team''' is the national under-20 ice hockey team in Russia. The team represented Russia at the International Ice Hockey Federation's World Junior Hockey Championship, held annually every December and January. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Ice Hockey Federation suspended Russia from all levels of competition.
History Russia competed as an independent nation for the first time at the 1993 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Gävle, Sweden. Russia won their first medal, a bronze at the 1994 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Russia would earn silver in 1995, bronze in 1996 and 1997, and silver in 1998 after a devastating 2–1 overtime loss to Finland. Russia won their first gold medal in 1999, after defeating Canada 3–2 in overtime. Russia hosted the World Junior U20 Hockey Championships in Moscow. In the quarterfinal game against Sweden Russia lost 4–3.The loss resulted in head coach Pavel Vorobiev showing his frustration towards his team. Switzerland and Russia engaged in a linebrawl in a placement game the same year, in which resulted in suspensions. Russia went on to win their second gold medal against Canada in 2002.Russia lost the quarter-final game in 2004.During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, the tournament in North Dakota had the best players, who were due to make their NHL debuts made available. Canada and Russia met up in the gold medal game, which resulted in a 6–1 win for Canada. A year later, Russia would lose gold to Canada (5–0), and again in 2007 (4–2).Russia's Alexei Cherepanov was due to represent Russia at the 2009 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Canada. Cherepanov died on 13 October 2008 at the age of 19 during a Kontinental Hockey League game when he collapsed on the bench after a line change. Russia was ousted by Canada in the semi-finals and go on to would win bronze over Slovakia.After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Ice Hockey Federation suspended Russia from all levels of competition.
World Junior Ice Hockey Championships record * 1974–1992 – as  * 1993 – 6th place* 1994 –  Bronze* 1995 –  Silver* 1996 –  Bronze* 1997 –  Bronze* 1998 –  Silver* 1999 –  Gold* 2000 –  Silver* 2001 – 7th place* 2002 –  Gold* 2003 –  Gold* 2004 – 5th place* 2005 –  Silver* 2006 –  Silver* 2007 –  Silver* 2008 –  Bronze* 2009 –  Bronze* 2010 – 6th place* 2011 –  Gold* 2012 –  Silver* 2013 –  Bronze* 2014 –  Bronze* 2015 –  Silver* 2016 –  Silver* 2017 –  Bronze* 2018 – 5th place* 2019 –  Bronze* 2020 –  Silver* 2021 – 4th place* 2022 – Expelled * 2023 – Expelled * 2024 – Expelled
References
External links *  Team Russia U20 all-time statistical leaders at QuantHockey.com* Russian men's national under 20 ice hockey team