Last season, Alexey Lipanov arrived at Russia’s World Juniors selection camp looking to earn a spot with the team at the upcoming tournament. The season prior, Lipanov had captained the U-18 Russian squad to a bronze medal, so surely his chances were good to secure a spot this time around. After two pre-tournament wins against Denmark and Sweden, the Russian team announced its final cuts.
Lipanov was one of them.
It was undoubtedly disappointing to not be chosen to represent his country at his age group’s most elite international tournament, but Lipanov returned to the OHL hoping to prove Russia made a mistake by cutting him.