Finland complete hockey preliminaries with routine win over Germany

Big night for TV sport, as skiers, hockey players, and curlers all in action

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Finland's hockey team completed their preliminary round programme with a routine and rather uninspiring 2-0 (1-0, 1-0, 0-0) win over Germany, to maintain their 100% record in the tournament.
      The goals were provided by Niko Kapanen and captain Saku Koivu, who also took an assist to carry his points total to 9 (2+7), sharing top spot with Teemu Selänne (6+3). Jere Lehtinen has also scored 8 points, with three goals and five assists. Finns hold three of the top five positions in scoring so far.
      The team has a goal difference of 19-2, and the only two setbacks were both scored by the Czechs on the power-play in the match Finland won 4-2 last Saturday.
     
The results of other fixtures on Tuesday confirmed that Finland's quarter-final opponents will be the United States, who finished fourth in Group B.
      While the Finns hardly overexerted themselves in disposing of Germany, in a match that meant little to either team, they were a paragon of effort by comparison with the Swedes.
      Team Sweden - at least on the surface - appeared very happy indeed to accept a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Slovakia, as it meant third place in Group B and a quarter-final pairing with Switzerland, the surprise runner-up in Finland's group.
     
Presumably the Swedes believe that Switzerland (who disposed of both the Czech Republic and Canada in the preliminary round) have produced all the heroics they can muster in Torino, and that they are an easier option at this stage than either the Canadians or the Czechs. The Swedish lack of commitment did not go unnoticed, however, and there may be repercussions from the IIHF over the match.
      The two other pairs of quarter-finalists are a mouth-watering "local derby" between the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and Canada vs. Russia.
      Finland's game tonight starts at 18:35, and the winners will meet either the Canadians or the Russians in the semi-final stage.
     
Finnish sports fans will have several things to follow this evening: Finland's hockey quarter-final will run alongside the crucial men's curling semi-final between Finland and Great Britain, and Tanja Poutiainen and Henna Raita will be in action in the women's giant slalom event. Poutiainen took silver medals in the slalom and giant slalom at last year's World Championships.
      With the success of the Finnish team, curling has fast become the "sleeper" event for local armchair sports enthusiasts, and in one curious development, an online betting company has even opened a book on to whom the Finnish skip Markku Uusipaavalniemi will send greetings (via the TV cameras) after the next match.
      Uusipaavalniemi, or "M-15", has become a popular figure hereabouts, perhaps as people have become disillusioned about Finland's excellence in more traditional disciplines like Nordic Combined or ski-jumping.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Ice takes centre-stage over Olympic weekend (20.2.2006)

Links:
  Torino 2006 Official Site

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