Russian fans celebrated in the streets thinking they had won World Juniors after state-run broadcaster played 2011 tourney

In case you missed it yesterday, Team Canada captured their 18th World Junior Championships gold medal by defeating Russia 4-3 in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

The Canadians put up three goals in the third period and avenged a 6-0 drubbing to the Russians earlier in the tournament to take home the gold once again.

As you may have expected, Canadian hockey fans poured out of their homes to celebrate their team’s victory with several instances going viral on social media. I mean... Canadians know how to celebrate.

Check it out:

Throw back to 2 years ago today in Mexico during the gold medal game. I wish I had a video of the cheer that erupted through the airport when that 2-1 goal was scored. One of the most Canadian things I've ever experienced. Lets win it again today Canada ??! #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/pMUCzqmSoW
— meghan (@holland_tessa) January 5, 2020

Fantastic game!! Photo of Erin arena in last 3 minutes, players and refs were at the glass watching from on the ice, game delayed!! Only in Canada!! pic.twitter.com/SaSm4VqnjZ
— Terry Maw (@terryrmaw) January 5, 2020

Here’s the thing though… THOUSANDS of Russian fans were under the impression that their team had won the gold. Why? It’s a CRAZY story and… well of course it has to do with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Check out this account of things from Russian hockey insider Slava Malamud:

Funny story about today's #WorldJuniors final. Lots of posts on Russian internet today celebrating victory, congratulating the Russian team with gold, very celebratory, very patriotic, all taunting hapless Canadians. Why, do you ask? Well, here is the reason...
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 6, 2020

The game was shown on Channel 1, Russia's main state-owned station, not on Match TV, the main state-owned sports station. So, Match TV made a brilliant decision to broadcast the replay of the 2011 Juniors final at the same time...
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 6, 2020

At one point the score of both games was 3-3, adding to the confusion. So, while many fans saw the actual game end 4-3 in Canada's favor, many others saw a 5-3 win for Russia, never realizing they were watching something that happened nine years ago...
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 6, 2020

So, as the final siren blew in both broadcasts, the ones who watched Channel 1 sulked and logged off, but the ones who watched Match TV flooded the interwebs in jubilant gloating. "Thank you, lads! You've ripped Canada again!" Some prominent Russians were among the revelers...
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 6, 2020

This includes a Russian lawmaker of a very patriotic lean and a soccer star famous for being Putin's number 2 fan (after Ovechkin, of course).
This is funny and sad, yes, but you might wonder how did all these Russians miss Tarasenko, Kuznetsov and Panarin, established NHL stars?
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 6, 2020

The answer is simple. A great majority of Russians knows next to nothing about hockey, other than "yay, we've shown the evil West!" Most folks don't know who Tarasenko and Kuznetsov are. Russia's love for hockey has always been a marriage of political expediency. Funny. And sad.
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 6, 2020

This reminds me of how all the hockey dads at my sons' club would tease me good-naturedly about the Miracle on Ice, and I would joke back: "What are you taking about? According to the highlights we saw, we won the game!"
In Soviet Russia, joke tells you. Always.
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 6, 2020

As an addendum, here is the soccer star's celebratory Instagram post, complete with the Match TV screen grab. pic.twitter.com/PeS7bAltYd
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 6, 2020

And here is the lawmaker posting on Facebook. "Let's congratulate our juniors with the World's Gold! A real Red Machine! The new model! Great job! Russian character!" https://t.co/h7Fnkpmz4T pic.twitter.com/sC1Fl49PR5
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 6, 2020

And here is the real kicker. I have saved it for last. The lawmaker in question is Mikhail Degtyaryov, the chairman of the State Duma Committee on... ta-da!.. sports!
Say one thing for Russian parliament members. Some of them make Louie Gohmert look smart.
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 6, 2020

PS... This story just keeps getting better. Match TV had exclusive rights to broadcast the entire Worlds, so the folks understandably tuned in to their channel. But, according to my sources, the decision to take the final away and give it to Channel 1 was made the night before...
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 6, 2020

... by the Putin administration. The contract with MatchTV didn't matter, Ch 1 has a bigger audience, the game had political significance, and since both channels report to Putin, the decision was made authoritatively.
MatchTV, not knowing how to plug the hole, aired the old game
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 6, 2020

So, there you have it. In the background of all those poor misled Russian fans we have a TV channel which had to violate its contract with sponsors and lose millions because Putin wanted the game on his favorite channel.
This is Russia in a microcosm, friends.
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 6, 2020

It's already being memed. Team Russia Beats Team Sweden!, proclaims the banner under the illustration of tsar Peter the Great defeating the Swedish army in the early XVIIIth century. The MatchTV logo is in the upper corner. pic.twitter.com/dPg7WcJXYm
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 6, 2020

Incredible. Only in Russia.