Finns march on in ice hockey and curling

Curling team into final, Finnish Lions edge USA in nerve-wracking night

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Finland won another medal at the Olympics last night, but its colour - silver or gold - is yet to be determined.
      The men's curling quartet led by Markku Uusipaavalniemi overcame the all-Scottish team from Great Britain in their semi-final, winning 4-3 in a tight low-scoring match that went all the way to the last end and the last stone.
      The Finns, who had already defeated Great Britain once in the last match of the round robin preliminaries, were never headed on Wednesday, and held a 3-1 lead after six ends, when Uusipaavalniemi picked up two points.
      Thereafter it became a struggle to preserve the lead, and above all the advantage of "last stone". The British team came back to 3-2, and in the penultimate end, Uusipaavalniemi made a tactical gamble to allow them to steal a point and equalise, but this still left the Finnish players having the last word and the last stone.
     
As the tension rose to almost insufferable proportions, it went right down to the Finns' eighth and last throw, with Uusipaavalniemi required to slide his stone right into the heart of the target in order to win the match.
      The Finnish skip showed no signs of having a single nerve in his lanky two-metre frame, and produced a perfect throw under extreme pressure to win the day. The hero of the hour - who is fast becoming an unlikely national icon just as curling is becoming the sleeper-hit of the entire Olympics - remained calm after securing Finland's sixth successive victory in the tournament, although he did allow himself a wave and a thumb-up for the TV cameras.
     
Things were a good deal more difficult for the team leader and the Chairman of the Finnish Curling Association Olli Rissanen, who was watching in the stands.
      Halfway through the match he had been requested to go to explain the sport to President Tarja Halonen and her husband Pentti Arajärvi. Poor Rissanen was on the verge of cardiac arrest in the closing stages of the semi-final, and when the last stone slid perfectly into place, he leapt up spontaneously and hugged Halonen, who was also visibly delighted at the outcome of the match.
     
Victory means the Finnish foursome of Uusipaavalniemi, Teemu Salo, Kalle Kiiskinen, and Wille Mäkelä will play Canada for the gold medal on Friday. The Canadians crushed the United States 11-5 in the other semi-final.
      Uusipaavalniemi admitted that they would be going into the match as the slight underdogs, although Finland defeated Canada earlier in the tournament, coming through 8-7. The Finns also retain the last-stone advantage on the first end by virtue of their having won the preliminary round.
     
If the curling was exciting, then so was Finland's quarter-final hockey match against Team USA.
      The previously unbeaten Finnish Lions raced to a 2-0 lead against the 2002 silver medallists with a goal from Ville Peltonen and a remarkable solo effort from defenseman Sami Salo scored while Finland played short-handed, but the Americans were not going away, and they clawed their way back with a power play goals from Mike Knuble and Mathieu Schneider.
      At this point the Finns seemed completely to lose the plot, and many probably groaned inwardly that the ability of first-class Finnish teams to grab defeat from the jaws of victory was about to be demonstrated once more.
     
The presence of Antero Niittymäki between the goalposts was never more important, and the team somehow weathered the storm. Then Olli Jokinen relieved some of the pressure with a third goal after 25 minutes, again showing off Finland's impressive record on the power play.
      Jokinen looked to have put things beyond doubt a few minutes before the end of the second period with a second strike, something of a fluke goal that bounced off the bar and dropped into the net behind goalie Rick diPietro's back. The second goal was scored while Finland played 5-3, as the Americans began to pick up penalties.
      Early in the third period there was blood on the ice, as US defenseman Derian Hatcher caught Teemu Selänne in the face with a high stick. Selänne spat blood on the bench for a few minutes, but returned to the fray.
     
The Finns were under the gun for much of the third period, with Niittymäki forced to come up with some big saves to keep out the American forwards. He lasted until 55:43, when Brian Gionta reduced the arrears, and this set up a furious last few minutes, where Team USA practically laid siege to the Finnish goal, pulling their own goalie with 90 seconds still left on the clock.
      The Lions just held out to take the match and set up a semi-final with Russia, who dismissed the other North American representatives, reigning Olympic Champions Canada. The Russians won 2-0, scoring their second in the final minute to kill off what resistance was left.
     
The other semi-final will be between the Czech Republic - who beat neighbours Slovakia 3-1 - and Sweden, who cruised rather as expected to a 6-2 victory over Switzerland.
      The departure of the Slovak team means that Finland are the only squad left in the tournament with a perfect 100% record. Russia lost in the preliminary round to Slovakia, the Swedes went down heavily to Russia and also lost to Slovakia in a match that raised some eyebrows, and the Czechs lost to Finland, Canada, and Switzerland, only qualifying for the knock-out stages as the fourth team in Group A.
     
Away from the ice, Tanja Poutiainen produced two creditable runs in the women's slalom but could get no closer than sixth, a position she has taken on several occasions in World Cup events this season.
      The competition was won by Anja Pärson, bringing to an end a long wait for the Swedish Alpine star. She already has a roomful of World Championship and Olympic medals, including two bronze medals from this year alone, but she had never won Olympic gold.
      The other Finnish competitor, Henna Raita, was 20th. Poutiainen's 6th spot makes her the highest-placed Finn in an Olympic Alpine skiing event. She will doubtless be hoping to improve on this in the giant slalom on Friday.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finland complete hockey preliminaries with routine win over Germany (22.2.2006)

Links:
  Torino 2006 Official Site

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