Andrei Trefilov, who had made a giant leap from a Second-Division club to the national team in just two years, sparkled in goal as Russia was a surprise winner of the gold medal. The champions used three NHL players - Dmitry Yushkevich, Vyacheslav Butsayev and Trefilov, but their best player was winger Andrei Khomutov, then playing with the Fribourg club in Switzerland. Khomutov scored five goals and 12 points in eight games to finish second behind Canada's Eric Lindros in the scoring race. Future NHL skaters Alexander Karpovtsev, German Titov, Alexei Yashin, Valery Karpov, Ilya Biakin and Andrei Nikolishin also played for Russia, which was coached by former Soviet team captain Boris Mikhailov.
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