Finland 2 USA 1: Lions into Hockey World Cup final

Finns will face Canada in Tuesday’s encounter

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In the early hours of Saturday morning local time, Finland came from behind to upset the USA 2-1 and secure a berth in the final of the World Cup of Hockey. The win was probably the Lions’ greatest-ever success in international ice hockey - and this includes taking the 1995 World Championship title.
      Finland will play Canada in the final on Tuesday, after the Canadians shook off the challenge of the Czech Republic with a streaky 4-3 overtime victory on Saturday night.
     
Despite topping their group in Europe and despite having blanked the Czech Republic (4-0) and having held Sweden to a 4-4 tie, the Finns went into Friday night’s match as underdogs, although there were probably also some mind-games at work in the modesty of their pre-match statements. Team USA were improving fast after a hesitant start to the tournament, and they had also enjoyed the advantage of staying in the same place - St. Paul, Minnesota - for nine days, while the Finns flew in only some 48 hours before and were still to some extent jet-lagged.
      Both teams played very cautiously for the first period, with avoidance of mistakes clearly at a premium. Finland edged the shots on goal by 4 to 3, which meant the puck spent a good deal of time in the centre of the ice.
     
Things warmed up somewhat in the second period, however. While the Finns seemed to be wearing down the hosts with a tight and uncomfortable regimen of North American-style big hits and checking, it was the Americans who eventually opened the scoring. Scott Gomez picked out Doug Weight with a peach of a pass. Finland were short-handed at the time, as Jarkko Ruutu picked up a minor penalty for holding.
      The score remained 1-0 into the third period. Curiously, however, Weight’s goal had relaxed the Finns, while the Americans seemed to freeze up, and their case was not helped by a very subdued crowd.
      The Finns elected to be patient. Their defensemen looked increasingly composed, under the leadership of Teppo Numminen and Kimmo Timonen, and the forwards bided their time, convinced that the breaks would come. Eventually they did: after five minutes, and following a goalmouth scrimmage, Olli Jokinen saw the puck drifting towards him in space. His drilled shot evaded Robert Esche and the scores were level.
      Finnish goal-tender Miikka Kiprusoff then came into his own, reinforcing one more time the rock-solid reputation he built up last season as he helped the Calgary Flames to a Stanley Cup Final place.
     
Just as it began to look as if this match - never a classic at the best of times - was going to go into a grinding sudden-death overtime, Ossi Väänänen threaded a pass across goal to where captain Saku Koivu had been left dangerously unguarded at the far post. Koivu nearly fluffed it, but still had enough time and space to tuck the puck behind Esche with just under four minutes left on the clock.
      The tension then became almost unbearable as Aki Berg took a penalty for elbowing at 56.56, and the Americans not surprisingly pulled their goalie to play 6 on 4.
      Bad memories of past Sweden games must have been refreshed, but Kiprusoff again stood firm and unruffled, and the Finns hung on for a truly remarkable victory, while the Americans - many of whom were probably making their final appearance at this level - hung their heads and wondered where it had all gone wrong. They outshot the opposition, after all, by 17 to 12, but came up short in front of their own fans.
     
What makes the Finnish achievement significant is that, unlike so often in the World Championships or even in many past Olympic tournaments where Finland has picked up medals, ALL the best players who are physically fit to play are represented in this event.
      Very often the Worlds are played out by teams of those NHL players whose season has ended, and North American teams in particular can be heavily sprinkled with college players, as others head to the golf course instead. The World Championships feature in the North American newspapers as a footnote, well behind the boxscores from NHL play-off matches.
      Not so now.
      The NHL has not started - and indeed it may NOT start, if the dispute between the clubs and the NHL Players’ Association is not soon settled - and there are no restraints on who can play for their country.
     
To reach the last two in this sort of company is a real feather in the cap of the Finnish coach Raimo Summanen and the entire team.
      It is also a remarkable turnaround from the last time Finland and the USA met in a "no-limits" encounter: in 2002 at the Salt Lake City Olympics, a similar U.S. squad put six goals past a similar Finnish team without reply. Finland had never beaten the United States in the World Cup or its predecessor the Canada Cup.
      Summanen in particular can feel relieved as well as proud; his position has come under fire in recent days following the messy departure from the squad of defenseman Janne Niinimaa , along with rumours of dissent within the team, and after an iffy performance against Germany in the quarter-finals. All this will be forgotten now as Finland head towards Tuesday’s showdown with Canada.
      And the Canadians know they will have to be sharper than they were against the Czechs, who often outplayed them and actually outshot them 40-24, if they are to emerge victorious in Toronto on Tuesday.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finland make heavy weather of securing World Cup of Hockey progress (7.9.2004)
  Saku Koivu dreams of the Stanley Cup (7.9.2004)

Links:
  World Cup of Hockey 2004

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