Reaction after playing Canada at the 2021 World Junior Championship

Following the 0:5 loss to Canada in the semi-finals of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton, junior Russian national team head coach Igor Larionov, defenseman Artemiy Knyazev and forwards Yegor Afanasyev, Mikhail Abramov and Vasily Podkolzin spoke to the press.

Russia U20 head coach Igor Larionov:

- It's hard to find the words after such a loss. The first Canadian goal ruined our plan, and then the four-minute penalty allowed them to continue applying pressure on us. We have to give credit to Canada, though, they crashed the net, displayed great ice hockey and were fresher. This is ice hockey, it's no tragedy, but our guys are very upset right now. We have to make sure that they're ready for tomorrow's bronze medal game.

The disallowed goal? That marker would have given us a breath of fresh air. However, the rules are the rules. Yes, we came here for the gold, but we now have to prepare for the bronze medal match against Finland.

Russia U20 defenseman Artemiy Knyazev:

- The key moment was the fact that we conceded early goals. After going behind, we couldn't challenge for the victory. Nevertheless, I'm sure that every player in our team gave 100% on the ice. We have to be focused on displaying our best ice hockey in the match for bronze on Tuesday.

Russia U20 forward Yegor Afanasyev:

- Canada were better than us right from the start. When we did improve, it was already too late. We competed with more aggression after a poor start. The disallowed goal? The score is there for everyone to see. We will try to win the bronze against Finland.

Russia U20 forward Mikhail Abramov:

- Would my goal have turned the match around? We will never know. We lost because we started the match poorly and the opponents took advantage of our mistakes. We lost our in terms of pace and the battles. Moving forward, it's important to sleep well and be ready to compete with Finland for the bronze medal.

Russia U20 forward Vasily Podkolzin:

- It was a poor start from us. However, our guys did fight hard out there, we did everything possible. I would like to apologise to the fans for the fact that we won't participate in the final. For a lot of us, the bronze medal match will be the final game at junior level. We must be at our best tomorrow.