ROOKIE ANDREWZOV TORCHES CZECHS WITH 7-GOAL RAMPAGE

ROOKIE ANDREWZOV TORCHES CZECHS WITH 7-GOAL RAMPAGE

Soviet phenom lights up Inwood Ice Arena as U.S.S.R. steamrolls Czechoslovakia 15–9 in final round robin game for both teams

FOLKS, what we witnessed last night at Inwood Ice Arena wasn't just a hockey game. It was a coming-out party — and a Soviet rookie named Erikzander Andrewzov was the guest of honor.

The kid put seven goals on the board. Seven. In one game. Against a Czechoslovak squad that came in with firepower of its own and left looking like they'd been run over by a Siberian freight train. The U.S.S.R. walked out of Inwood with a 15–9 shellacking in the books and a shot differential that said it all — 48 shots to 33 — and frankly it wasn't that close.

If you didn't know Andrewzov's name before last night, write it down now and don't lose the paper.

THE KID CAN FLAT-OUT PLAY

Listed as a newer, younger forward with a high hockey IQ, Andrewzov looked anything but green out there. He read the ice like a ten-year veteran, hit his spots, and finished with a ruthlessness that had the Czechoslovak bench shaking their heads by the midpoint of the second period. Two goals in the first. Three more in the second. He was already in the record books before the third puck dropped. Then he scored twice more just for good measure.

Nine points on the night. Nine. The press box went quiet for a moment after his seventh found twine. That's not a sound you hear often up there.

SALVATORIONOV RUNS THE SHOW

If Andrewzov was the headline, Riktor Salvatorionov was the editor who made every sentence sing. The defending FHL scoring champion didn't light the lamp quite as often — one goal on twenty seven attempts — but his seven assists were the hidden architecture of the Soviet offensive masterpiece. Every time you watched a Soviet goal, you traced it back and there was Salvatorionov, one step ahead of everyone, threading a pass through a seam nobody else saw.

Eight points. In one game. From a guy who's supposed to be the second-best player on his own team last night.

Koryn Weiffenbachov isn't far behind those two. The little speedster — listed at 5-foot-6 and built like a hockey player who's heard that number and laughed — scored three times and added a pair of assists. For a young player finding her place on a line with elite company, she absolutely looked right at home.

KRANZENTINOV CONTROLS THE BLUE LINE

You can't talk about this Soviet offense without tipping your hat to Mikhail Kranzentinov on the back end. The premier defenseman in this tournament — and there are people who'll argue the best in the league, full stop — orchestrated four assists from the point and made the whole thing look orderly when it could have looked chaotic. Kranzentinov chipped in two goals to go along with those four assists. That's six points from your top defensemen on a night when your team scored fifteen goals. Staggering depth.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA HUNG TOUGH — FOR A WHILE

To their credit, Czechoslovakia didn't fold early. Andrew Cankar — a genuine star in his own right — had himself a night that on any other occasion would be the story of the tournament. Four goals. Five points. The 6-foot-1 forward has a scorer's instinct and the physical tools to back it up, and his work with Brant Pelton and Dan Kenney in the first period had Czechoslovakia up 3–1 and the home crowd daring to believe.

Kenney added three goals of his own. Three goals and a game where Czechoslovakia outshot nobody and still found a way to put nine on the board. On a night they lose 15–9, think about what that means for the nights they don't run into a Soviet team playing at this level.

But the third period was a horror show. One Czechoslovak goal against seven Soviet. By the time Andrewzov buried his sixth and seventh goals inside a two-and-a-half-minute stretch, it was over, and everyone in the building knew it.

Neither team took a penalty all night. Interesting footnote. When you're scoring 15 goals, you don't need the power play. And when the other team is scoring 15, maybe you're too busy chasing the puck to take a run at someone.

BOTTOM LINE

The Soviet Union has found its form. That wasn't a secret before last night, and it's less of one this morning. after an 0-2 start to the olympic turnamnet, they have a rookie who just scored seven goals in a single game, a scoring champion feeding him passes, a speedster flying the wing, and a defenseman running the power play who might be the best in the building on any given night.

Every team left in this bracket just watched that film this morning. You have to imagine the coffee tasted a little bitter.

Box Score · Soviet Union 15, Czechoslovakia 9