The first official youth world championship in history took place in 1977. The USSR national team approached this tournament as the undisputed favorite. This disposition could be explained very simply. In 1974, 1975 and 1976, unofficial MFMs were held, the winners of which were invariably Soviet hockey players. Even the Canadians, who were left without gold over and over again, could not do anything about this winning streak.
In 1977, the International Ice Hockey Federation decided to take the youth world championship under its jurisdiction. Since then, this tournament has the official status of an IIHF event. The Czech Republic was chosen as the venue for the first ever official MFM. Namely – Bystrica and Zvolen. The number of participating teams was also expanded. Instead of five teams, eight went to the Czech Republic. Thus, it was planned to increase the number of matches and increase the intrigue. Looking ahead, it is worth saying that the organizers did not succeed – the USSR national team took the trophy again!
The main competitors of young hockey players from the Soviet Union, represented by Canadians, brought to the tournament the newly-minted winner of the Memorial Cup – the St. Catherine Fincaps team from the Ontario Hockey Association. In this regard, Canadian fans and experts had very serious hopes that their favorites would be able to interrupt the hegemony of the Soviet players. However, our boys turned out to be stronger in the personal match – they won with a score of 6:4. Although there was enough intrigue in this game. In the first period, the USSR national team led with a score of 6:0 – the founders of hockey were knocked down. But very soon they returned to the game and made the score 6:4. The referee, who left the Soviet hockey players three at the end of the final period, added fuel to the fire. The future winners of the tournament, with the help of Fetisov, Starikov and Shostak, fought back and took the most important victory.
“Who was the strongest in that team? Seryoga Starikov was listed. He was elected captain. Well, Filya too, Fetisov. They played in pairs. The composition was great. Before the final with Canada, Vitaly Semenovich gave instructions: “The defenders are more solid, the forwards are opening up…” Arkady Chernyshev listened and listened – he could not stand it: “Vitaly Semenovich! You didn’t say the main thing!” – “What is it, Arkady Ivanovich?” – “How much money will they give for this game?” We heard the sum, jumped out to roll out – and flew! Canadians are frozen on red and looking with all their eyes. Just went crazy”,” recalled CSKA student Ivan Avdeev.
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Of all the rivals of the USSR national team, the Germans surprisingly showed the greatest resistance. The meeting with them was very difficult and ended with a score of 2:1.
The Soviet team not only won 7 victories in 7 matches, but also set a performance record for the youth world championships. They couldn’t beat him for another 9 years! In 7 meetings, our guys scored 51 (!) goals. And the main star of that team was Vyacheslav Fetisov – the organizers deservedly recognized him as the best defender of the tournament. It is worth mentioning separately how Soviet hockey players celebrated this success. Their joy and happiness knew no bounds – for many, this victory was the first in their careers at the international level.
“We celebrated our victory at the Youth World Championships as adults. And how! They gave me little money for a trip to Czechoslovakia. We took vodka from Moscow. For sale. And then we won the championship! They immediately forgot that they were taking it for sale. Vitaly Davydov even allowed us to celebrate. We suck at her! Nearby, two Americans were rubbing themselves. They sniffed: “Vodka?” – “Vodka!” They brought it to them, took a sip, frowned: “Uh…” I had to show them how to do it. We started not in the locker room, but somewhere on the windowsill in the corridor. But in a hockey uniform,” – said Ivan Avdeev.
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