FRIDAY NIGHT: Curling silver, and silver or better in ice hockey as Finland shut out Russia 4-0

Olympic hockey final is mouth-watering local derby

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By William Moore
     
      Finland had a good day out at the Olympics today, collecting two silver medals from the women's giant slalom and the men's curling and putting a deposit down on a third medal - silver or even golden - in the ice hockey.
      Late on Friday night, the Finnish Lions gave Russia a lesson in hockey and skated to a 4-0 shutout. And the reward: a final against neighbours Sweden.
     
Tanja Poutiainen started things off in mid-afternoon with 2nd place in the women's giant slalom behind Julia Mancuso of the United States.
      Considering her mediocre form this season, it was a delightful surprise for the skier and Finnish Alpine fans alike (see separate article below). It was also Finland's first-ever Olympic medal in an Alpine discipline.
     
In the early evening, Finland met Canada in the men's curling final. Finland's curlers, who have given the country a terrific run for their money, were not at their best tonight. Unfortunately, the Canadians were. Consequently, the result was not long in doubt.
      After the teams traded two points each in the first two ends, things began to come unstuck and steals by the Canadians in the third and fourth, followed by a forced take of a point by the Finns in the fifth, meant that the team skipped by Markku Uusipaavalniemi was chasing the game thereafter.
     
The wheels came off completely in the 6th end, when the Canadians, aided by some incredible throws from their No.3 Mark Nichols and veteran skip Russ Howard, managed an astonishing six-point takeout. It could even have been seven, but Brad Gushue sent the last stone right through the packed house and out the other side. Perhaps he was being polite.
      Two totally irrelevant ends followed, before the Finns sensibly threw in the towel at 10-4 and the Canadian celebrations over their first Olympic gold medal could begin.
     
Any disappointment at missing the gold must be tempered by the fact that the country was briefly gripped by curling fever, and the team more than adequately kept the flag flying until the very last, with victories won in the preliminary stages over all the other semi-finalists, including the undisputed world's best, Canada.
      Uusipaavalniemi became a household name almost overnight, and the efforts of Teemu Salo, Wille Mäkelä, Kalle Kiiskinen, and their captain will hopefully stimulate the sport, which still has only a tiny following of active players in Finland. More than 90% of the world's curling players come from Canada.
     
At 10:00 p.m., most of the country probably tuned in to watch Finland's hockey semi-final against a young and extremely dangerous Russian team.
      Many feared the worst - the Finns have flattered to deceive before, winning big but losing in the crucial stages.
      But what followed for the next 60 minutes of playing-time was an absolute treat: there was no sign of the nervousness that nearly cost the Finns their quarter-final game against the USA, but all the speed and skill that had been shown in the early matches of the preliminary round, when Canada and the Czech Republic both succumbed.
      At 6:13 on the clock, Ville Peltonen scored on the powerplay, repeating a pattern that has become very familiar at these games; give the Finns a man over and they will almost invariably turn it into a goal.
      The second period was decisive, as much for the fact that the Finns bravely killed off nearly two minutes of playing 3-on-5 as for the goals that came earlier from Toni Lydman and captain Saku Koivu. If they were going to fold, it was then, but they came through the frenzied assault by the Russian forwards unscathed, and almost visibly grew a few centimetres in stature and several notches in self-confidence. Maybe this time...
     
Still the fans at home held their breath, but when Olli Jokinen got on the end of a sweet pass from Peltonen and slid the puck home for goal number four midway through the third period, it was all over.
      The Russians made life rather easier by taking two 2+2 penalties, but even with the powerplay advantage at their backs, the Finnish team's appetite seemed almost sated, and they were content to skate down the clock to record a stunning 4-0 victory and move towards the final. Seven matches in Torino, and seven straight wins, with a goal difference of 27-5. This is no fluke.
      Antero Niittymäki had another rock-solid game, but modestly suggested afterwards that the performance of the Finnish defensemen in front of him meant he really never had to sweat too hard, and in fact the goaltender was only asked to save 21 shots against the 30 directed at his opposite number, Yevgeni Nabokov.
     
And so to the final. Oh, yes, and the final opponent will be... SWEDEN.
      It doesn't get much better.
      The Swedes saw off the Czech Republic relatively comfortably, in their semi-final, running up a 6-3 lead after two periods, and adding a 7th goal six minutes into the last.
      Russia and the Czech Republic will play for the bronze medals on Saturday evening, and the final will be on Sunday afternoon. The country is likely to come to a standstill, and victory - if it comes - will almost certainly make the wild celebrations that surrounded the 1995 World Championship win look like a quiet evening by the fire.
     
Win or lose, there's going to be a party: the players are being flown home by private jet almost immediately after the medals are awarded, and Helsinki's Market Square will host a late-late welcoming ceremony, after thousands have watched the game on big screens being set up in the square.
      The reason for the unseemly haste and a post-midnight bash is that all the players will have to be up with the lark on Monday morning to catch flights back to North America to rejoin their NHL teams. Life goes on, gold or no gold.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Poutiainen takes giant slalom silver (24.2.2006)

Links:
  Torino 2006 Official Site

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