MVP Nash lifts Canada to summit
MOSCOW: Canada's Rick Nash was voted the Most Valuable Player at the world ice hockey championship after leading his team to a record 24th world title with a 4-2 win over Finland on Sunday.
The Columbus Blue Jackets left wing scored two goals in the final to finish the championship with six goals. He was also named to the tournament's All-Star team.
Hosts Russia, who beat Sweden 3-1 in a consolation game for third place earlier on Sunday, supplied three players to the All-Star team - defenceman Andrei Markov, forwards Evgeni Malkin and Alexei Morozov.
Morozov finished as the tournament's top goalscorer with eight goals despite missing his team's last two games with a knee injury.
Finland goaltender Kari Lehtonen and defenceman Petteri Nummelin, who was playing in his 13th world championship, rounded out the six-man team.
Nash scored a pair of goals as Canada returned to ice hockey's summit.
The victory capped a perfect championship for the Canadians, who muscled their way through the tournament with a 100 percent record of 9-0.
Canada collected their third gold medal in five years to go one better than the 23 world titles won by Russia and the former-Soviet Union.
Earlier, Russia beat Sweden 3-1 in the bronze medal game but the victory provided little consolation for the hosts who had expected to end a 14-year gold medal drought on home ice.
Agencies
(China Daily 05/15/2007 page24)
