Russian goaltender embarasses himself with a horrible dive at the World Juniors.

Something tells me that this one is going to get brought up quite a lot in the future and unfortunately for goaltender Amir Miftakhov it is going to be the lasting impression that he leaves on many fans who may very well be watching him in this tournament for their very first time. 

Miftakhov and his fellow Russians faced off against the Canadians on Sunday for the finals of the International Ice Hockey Federations World Junior Championship in a rematch from earlier in the tournament. Many expected Russia to cruise to an easy victory in this one in spite of the fact that they were facing a tough opponent, due entirely to the fact that the Russians had already embarrassed the Canadians 6 - 0 earlier in the tournament. This guy however was nothing like that and instead was an absolute nail bitter throughout.

Perhaps it was for that reason that Miftakhov attempted to gain his team an advantage a little over midway through the game's second period. The Russian goaltender put on his acting shoes and gave his best performance in the attempt to draw a penalty, but given just how outrageous the whole thing looked no one seemed to pay him any mind. Miftakhov was never even touched on the play but the goaltender acted like an elite sniper had just taken him out with a perfectly placed shot, covering his face in feigned agony and then complaining to the officials about the fact that there had been no call on the play. 

Looking at the replay though you can see why the officials never raise their arms on this one. There are no Canadian players even within the vicinity of Miftakhov when he starts his flop, and the only player that may have bumped him here was his own defenseman who appeared to fall off balance, albeit only briefly. Now I must admit that I am unfamiliar with the rules around embellishment in IIHF tournaments but frankly this one was so bad that it seems the officials should have called Miftakhov for what was a pretty blatant dive. No one here was penalized however, but that does not change the fact that Miftakhov will now be remembered for one of the worst dives ever at the World Junior Championship tournament.