Finns struggle to 3-2 overtime victory over dogged Norway

Shedden gets good news from Montreal: Saku Koivu to join Lions squad

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Once upon a time, the Finnish ice hockey team weren't very good. That is to say, there were four or five nations in the hockey world who were consistently a great deal better - the Soviet Union's fearsome "Big Red Machine", Canada, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, and - if they bothered to put out a proper team - the USA.
      As a result, World Championships tended to be a painful affair for the home hockey fans, often ending up with desperate mathematical equations from the sofa, like: "Well, if we beat Canada by at least four goals and Poland take out the Soviets by six goals, we can still qualify for the next round on goal difference".
      These "what if" calculations nearly always ended in deep disappointment.
     
Fortunately, times have changed for the better since then, but on Monday night we got a slight whiff of the old days, as Finland struggled to break down mighty Norway, and eventually overcame them 3-2 (2-2, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0) in the second minute of overtime.
      Tuomo Ruutu scored at 61:27 to break the deadlock and spare Finnish blushes, after first-period goals by Jussi Jokinen and captain Ville Peltonen had both been cancelled out by the opposition before the first 20 minutes were up.
      The Finns then squandered a good many chances in the second period, and although they dominated proceedings and outshot Norway by 26-9, they could not find a way through a Norwegian defence that played spiritedly and with admirable discipline.
      When they did get a shot on target, the Finns always found Pål Grotnes in the Norwegian goal an impassable obstacle, before Ruutu managed to convert from close range.
     
Perhaps it was a clothing problem: in order to play their own part in celebrating the International Ice Hockey Federation's 100th anniversary this year, the Finns wore retro jerseys from 1965, when they hosted the World Championships for the first time in Tampere.
      Then again, in Tampere 43 years ago the Finns did manage to beat Norway 4-1, so even if they have progressed greatly on other fronts (winning the Worlds in 1995 and collecting several Olympic and World Championships medals in recent years), the situation with Norway seems to have gone the other way.
     
We are not in any danger of not qualifying, but to progress to the Qualifying Rounds with a valuable full complement of points does now require some help from others, just like in days of yore.
      Finland need to beat Slovakia, a team who earlier elbowed Norway aside 5-1, and then hope that Germany beat the Norwegians, or at least only lose to them in overtime.
      If this happens, then the slightly embarrassing point dropped to Norway in Monday's match will become irrelevant, as Germany will progress to the next round and Norway will not, and teams going through carry with them only the points taken against other qualified teams.
     
Germany's task to qualify became a whole lot easier in the late-night game on Monday, when they sprang an even bigger upset by beating the Slovaks 4-2.
      Finland beat Germany 5-1 in their opening encounter, so from the form-book purist's perspective the results so far in Group C don't make an awful lot of sense.
      As things stand now, Finland lead the group with 5 points, ahead of Germany and Slovakia on 3, and Norway with a single point from their overtime loss.
     
Finnish head coach Doug Shedden was not overly worried at Finland's difficulties in overcoming the Norwegians, putting some of the problems down to the long layoff that several of the players had had before the tournament - they were simply not 100% match-fit.
      And all credit to Norway: they fought hard and took advantage.
     
Perhaps part of Shedden's relaxed attitude came from the good news he received just as the players were warming up before the match.
      Lions Manager Jari Kurri got a message from Montreal in which Saku Koivu announced he would be happy to join the roster for the World Championships, now that the Canadiens have been eliminated from the NHL Stanley Cup play-offs.
      "Saku has everything our team needs. He brings leadership, he is great in offense, and good at killing powerplays. The entire package is excellent for us", beamed Shedden.
     
Elsewhere at the tournament, the Swedes recovered from their edgy 6-5 start against Belarus and thumped France 9-0 to set up a match with Switzerland (2-1 winners over Belarus) for top honours in Group A.
      Tonight sees Canada and the United States going head-to-head to settle who will win Group B. The other Group B game is between Slovenia and Latvia, who are both pointless after two defeats so far.
      In Group D Russia, who squeaked past the Czech Republic 5-4 in overtime, will play Denmark, while the Czechs will probably put Italy to the sword. The Danes beat Italy 6-2 on Sunday to ensure that they will at least progress into the next round.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish Lions start World Championships campaign with routine win over Germany (5.5.2008)

Links:
  2008 IIHF World Championships (Wikipedia)
  Official site on HockeyCanada

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