Finnish Lions stumble on path to quarter-finals

Defeat to Belarus caps below-par weekend

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Finland's ice hockey team at the IIHF World Championships in Switzerland took maximum points from their Preliminary Round games, including a valuable 4-3 win over the Czech Republic, but thereafter the engine has started coughing.
      By winning their group, scoring 14 goals in the process, the Finns had secured an "easier" route through the Qualification Round matches, with Slovakia and Belarus coming before the tough encounter with tournament favourites Canada.
     
Both opponents should have provided an on-song Finnish team with an opportunity to increase their points and open up the prospect of drawing a less-fearsome encounter for the all-important "seventh game" - the quarter-finals, where defeat sends you to the airport and victory offers a shot at the medals.
      The Finns are still in it, but their 2-1 overtime victory over Slovakia was hardly impressive, and a 2-1 reversal to Belarus in a match decided on a penalty shootout went wrong from the first minute: Belarus scored after just five seconds with the first shot of the match.
     
Against Slovakia on Friday, the Finns had to thank captain Sami Kapanen for breaking the deadlock after 3:39 of overtime.
      Kapanen also scored Finland's only goal in normal time with a short-handed strike in the first period, before this was cancelled out by Lubos Bartecko.
      The nervy win gave the Finns two points and ensured their safe passage into the quarter-finals, but it provided a warning - one that apparently went unheeded - that there are no "easy" games in this tournament.
     
Belarus, who had never beaten the Finns in four previous attempts, must have taken heart from seeing the limp Finnish performance against the Slovaks.
      Through a combination of a lightning goal from Sergei Demagin, some dogged and frankly rather dull defending, and a standout performance from goalie Andrei Mezin (44 saves to the 17 by Pekka Rinne at the other end), they hung on until the bitter end, before Oleg Antonenko scored the decisive penalty shot.
      The Finns' only goal of the match came from Janne Niskala in the second period.
     
This result left a few embarrassed faces in the Finnish camp, but the solitary point was enough to ensure the Finns can end up no worse than second in the Qualification Group, meaning they will play the third-placed team from the other group.
      Things could get better, but that will require victory tonight in normal time over Canada.
      This seems unlikely on the face of it - the Canadians are unbeaten in the tournament so far - but if it happens, the next opposition would be the bottom-placed team in Group E.
     
As yet, it is still wide open as to who the Finns will have to meet in the quarter-finals, with the positions in Group E resting on the results of tonight's games between Sweden and France and the USA and Switzerland.
      Victories for the Swedes and the Americans would leave Team USA in the third-place spot, and Latvia would be the possible 4th-placed opponent in the event the Finns can upset Canada.
     
Finland's less than stellar performances against Slovakia and Belarus on Friday and Saturday were put in perspective by the Czechs, who had no such problems, crushing Slovakia 8-0 and breezing past Belarus by scoring three goals without reply.
      Even so, they cannot overhaul the Finns, by virtue of the earlier Finnish victory.
      Only one match is already pencilled in for the quarter-finals: unbeaten Russia have wrapped up the top spot in Group E and will meet Belarus, who are certain to finish fourth in Group F.
     
At the other end of the scale, Denmark and Austria will meet today in a match to decide who drops into Division I along with Hungary.
      The Danes and the Austrians have won both of their Relegation round matches, but that is not enough to guarantee safety, as Germany (who have lost both of their games and play Hungary today) are protected from relegation by virtue of being hosts for the World Championships next year.
     


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finns stage comeback to beat Czech Republic and top group (30.4.2009)

Links:
  World Championships (Wikipedia)
  2009 IIHF World Championships official site

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