May 9 is the biggest national holiday of the year here in Russia: Victory Day, celebrating the end of World War II in 1945.
In 2007, Putin reintroduced the patriotic fanfare of the Soviet Era, so there are huge military-style parades going on here in St. Petersburg and in Moscow.
Just as Canada always plays the U.S. on New Year's Eve at World Juniors, the Russian Men's Team always plays a big World Championship game on this day, no matter what country is hosting the tournament. Today, they'll try to make their nation proud with a decisive win over Latvia after narrowly escaping with a 6-4 win over Kazakhstan on Sunday and being shut out by the Czechs on Friday.
Russia has never lost to Kazakhstan in World Championship play, so it would have been an unmitigated disaster if they hadn't pulled out the win yesterday. It was touch and go for awhile—still tied 4-4 late in the third period. This tournament has not started well for the host nation down in Moscow.
For their part, the Latvians will be without Ronalds Kenins for Monday's contest:
Meanwhile, it's Patrik Laine's world here in St. Petersburg; we're all just along for the ride.
Two games in, Laine is leading the scoring race for the entire tournament after picking up another two goals and an assist against Germany on Sunday night. He's now up to 4-2-6 and has become the highest-scoring U18 player in the history of the modern World Championship—breaking Jaromir Jagr's record from 1990. Jagr had 3-2-5 in 10 games. Laine still has five more round-robin games and up to three knockout games to play with a very good Finnish team. It's mind-boggling to think about where he'll end up.
Later today, Laine will get his best chance yet to make his case as the No. 1 pick in the draft when the Finns go up against Auston Matthews and Team USA. I caught the second half of Finland's game against Germany last night and Laine is definitely as exciting as advertised. He has that big shot from the left faceoff dot on the power play that's reminiscent of his idol, Alex Ovechkin, looks totally at ease on the ice and is benefitting from playing on a line with two very savvy players: Jussi Jokinen and Aleksander Barkov—himself an old man of 20.
Considering Matthews is playing on a line with Patrick Maroon and Jordan Schroeder, my money's on Laine to make another bold statement tonight.
In the early game this afternoon, Canada will try to extend its record to a perfect 3-0 against Belarus after a tidy 7-1 win over Hungary on Sunday.
The arena was packed with rowdy Hungarian fans who sang and chanted, soccer-style, thoughout the game—and who lost their collective minds when their team capitalized on a Matt Dumba turnover to narrow Canada's lead to 2-1 late in the first period.
Just like in Friday's game against the U.S., the Canadians sagged towards the end of the first period and Hungary pressed hard through the first half of the second, controlling the play and outshooting the Canadians. But Canada reversed the momentum when Mark Stone extended the lead to 3-1 at the 7:12 mark of the second, kicking off a string of four goals in 5:33 that chased the Hungarian starting goaltender and basically settled the outcome.
Click here for my game story.
The setup of the press area in Yubileiny Arena is interesting—we have a section of seats reserved for our use, with power supplies to plug in our computers and little flip out desks, like you see in university. Sitting near the top of our area for the first game against the Americans, I was massively distracted by the cheerleader doing her thing in the aisle directly to my right, and had my view blocked for a good chunk of the second period when the giant mascot came down and started playing with and posing for pictures with kids while the game action was going on.
For the Hungary game, I sat down low and moved further into the corner. I was just one row up from the fans, but it was better. And so much more up-close-and-personal than what I'm used to when I watch from on high at Rogers Arena.
With such a lopsided score, lots of Canadian players had strong games, but Chris Tanev was singled out by Canadian management as player of the game. Coach Bill Peters spoke very enthusiastically after the game about Tanev's calm presence and how he's a steadying influence on the young defense as the team's veteran blueliner.
The Canadians have plenty of firepower up front so if there is a weakness that opposing teams can exploit going forward, it will be that young blue line. Tanev's play and his leadership could be a crucial part of the equation if Canada gets the opportunity to try to repeat as the gold medal team.
Tanev's the second Canuck to be named player of the game so far in the tournament. Jacob Markstrom received similar honours in Sweden's opening game against Latvia. Markstrom got the night off as Viktor Fasth took over in net for Sweden's 5-2 win over Denmark on Sunday. Once again, Jannik Hansen failed to record a point for the Danes, but he was 5-1 in the faceoff circle! Another untapped skill that maybe the Canucks should be looking to tap into?
Finally, in the Canucks World Cup roundup, Yannick Weber tallied one assist in 19:43 of ice time, but took a high-sticking penalty in overtime that led to the winning goal in Norway's 4-3 OT win over Switzerland. The Swiss have now lost both of their games so far in the extra frame.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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