Finland make heavy weather of securing World Cup of Hockey progress
Germans make it difficult before Eloranta's late goal
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The facts are that Finland beat Germany 2-1 in Helsinki on Monday night to progress to the last four of the World Cup of Hockey and book themselves a semi-final meeting with either the USA or Russia. The way in which the victory was achieved is something else again.
I suppose this is what "winning ugly" is all about. Or perhaps the credit should go to the German team, who made life as difficult as possible for the Finns last night, playing a very effective spoiling defensive game and keeping the Finnish fans wondering and worrying for all 60 minutes.
Finland had crushed the Czechs 4-0, had beaten Germany 3-0 once already, and had drawn 4-4 in a titanic match with neightbours Sweden, but this could have been the work of another team.
Last night nothing seemed to go right, and although they dominated the first period it remained goalless. It took a powerplay goal on the half-hour from winger Niklas Hagman to separate the teams. Olli Jokinen had put the puck in the net shortly beforehand, but the goal was disallowed.
After scoring, the Finns might on a better night have gone their merry way, but the team returned to the lethargy and lacklustre form that they had shown, and as the minutes ticked on it became more and more likely that the Germans would retaliate.
They outshot Finland by a clear margin in the second period, and indeed Finnish goalie Miikka Kiprusoff had to deal with 28 shots all told, against 24 on the German goal.
Hearts went into mouths when the German NHL forward Marco Sturm scored an equaliser after 54 minutes. Was all the hard work going to go pear-shaped after all? It was therefore a considerable relief when winger Mikko Eloranta managed to deflect a shot from Kimmo Timonen past Olaf Kölzig to make it 2-1 with just three minutes remaining.
All in all, the Finns will have to play considerably better than they did on Monday if their visit to North America is to last more than the one game.
Some have suggested that the team were affected by the apparent unsettled mood in the camp following Janne Niinimaa’s decision to quit. It is thought that certain other players have been unhappy with Raimo Summanen’s coaching style. It would be as well to sort out their differences in the plane. They may have scraped over the bar against Germany, but neither the USA nor Russia will be so forgiving.
Sweden and the Czech Republic play tonight in Stockholm, and the Americans and Russians will also be in action at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.
I suppose this is what "winning ugly" is all about. Or perhaps the credit should go to the German team, who made life as difficult as possible for the Finns last night, playing a very effective spoiling defensive game and keeping the Finnish fans wondering and worrying for all 60 minutes.
Finland had crushed the Czechs 4-0, had beaten Germany 3-0 once already, and had drawn 4-4 in a titanic match with neightbours Sweden, but this could have been the work of another team.
Last night nothing seemed to go right, and although they dominated the first period it remained goalless. It took a powerplay goal on the half-hour from winger Niklas Hagman to separate the teams. Olli Jokinen had put the puck in the net shortly beforehand, but the goal was disallowed.
After scoring, the Finns might on a better night have gone their merry way, but the team returned to the lethargy and lacklustre form that they had shown, and as the minutes ticked on it became more and more likely that the Germans would retaliate.
They outshot Finland by a clear margin in the second period, and indeed Finnish goalie Miikka Kiprusoff had to deal with 28 shots all told, against 24 on the German goal.
Hearts went into mouths when the German NHL forward Marco Sturm scored an equaliser after 54 minutes. Was all the hard work going to go pear-shaped after all? It was therefore a considerable relief when winger Mikko Eloranta managed to deflect a shot from Kimmo Timonen past Olaf Kölzig to make it 2-1 with just three minutes remaining.
All in all, the Finns will have to play considerably better than they did on Monday if their visit to North America is to last more than the one game.
Some have suggested that the team were affected by the apparent unsettled mood in the camp following Janne Niinimaa’s decision to quit. It is thought that certain other players have been unhappy with Raimo Summanen’s coaching style. It would be as well to sort out their differences in the plane. They may have scraped over the bar against Germany, but neither the USA nor Russia will be so forgiving.
Sweden and the Czech Republic play tonight in Stockholm, and the Americans and Russians will also be in action at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Helsingin Sanomat