Hamcan wrote:Classic Finn
Congratulations Finland! Well done. Obviously the 4 am game was Finland vs Russia now comes Canada versus Sweden. It sounds to me that you would prefer Sweden for the final game. Well I definitely hope you don't get your way. Just under an hour to start time.
Regards, JG
Thank You Canada..JG .
It will be an excting game JG. I,ll be watching and so will the fans here in all of Finland.. It will be Finntastic..
Sweden and Finland has always had a hockey rivalry. All tickets sold out in every game where they meet.. being that we are neighbors..
so in that regard yes it would be great to see Sweden and Finland play each other.. Both countries would be in a total halt till it would be over.
You should come and see..
Canada does have a great team that we all know here.
So either Team is Great. Russia had a tough Team and was a Pre Favorite from the Very Beginning.
Here is a commentator report from the Games in Moscow.
Home Ice Curse Lives: Koivu's OT winner ousts Russia
Finnish players mob Mikko Koivu after his OT winner--now Finland faces the Canada-Sweden winner for gold
By Lucas Aykroyd
KHODYNKA--Russian flags were waving all over a packed Khodynka Arena during Saturday's early semi-final, but in the end it was the Finnish flag that was raised.
At 5:40 of overtime, Mikko Koivu skated into the slot to chase down Tuomo Ruutu's centering pass from the right boards, lifted goaltender Alexander Eremenko's stick in mid-pokecheck, and pushed the puck into the net while being checked from behind by Ilya Nikulin. The goal gave Finland a hard-fought 2-1 victory, one of the biggest in the nation's history.
"We got the game where we wanted it, and we didn't give the Russians too much space or too many chances," said Finland's Tomi Kallio. "It's awesome to come in as the underdog and win. We heard the stories that they'd been promising almost everybody that they'd win the gold medal, so that's why you want to come in and beat these guys."
While Koivu tossed away his gloves and raced off in celebration, Russian players sagged on the ice and clutched their heads in disbelief on the bench. Their dream of gold on home ice had come to a sudden, shocking end. No national team has won gold on home ice since Moscow 1986--hence, the "home ice curse" lives on.
"They had all the pressure," said Finland's Pekka Saravo. "Every minute we could keep the game close, it was more pressure for them than for us. We followed the game plan today."
With the win, Finland advances to its first final since 2001, hoping to win its first gold since 1995 and second of all time versus the winner of the Canada-Sweden semi-final. The Russians must settle for a shot at bronze, which was the shade of their last medal in Austria 2005. Russia has not won gold since 1993.
"I apologize to fans, and I hope they understand I still believe in this team," said Russian Head Coach Slava Bykov. "Our players gave their all today. It's difficult mentally because everyone was looking for victory today. But we must concentrate on the next game."
For the second straight game, Finland needed an extra session to settle things. They defeated the Americans 5-4 in Thursday's quarter-finals on Jere Lehtinen's shootout goal. That was the same score by which Russia beat Finland in round-robin play on May 1.
Over the course of five IIHF World Championships (1957, 1973, 1979, 1986, 2007), the Russians had never, ever lost a tournament game on Moscow ice--until now. This was as bitter for them as it was sweet for their small Scandinavian neighbor.
"This was a good defensive effort tonight," said Finnish Head Coach Erkka Westerlund. "We tried to build a good team with a good attitude and good discipline. And that's all we ask."
Jukka Hentunen scored Finland's other goal, while Evgeni Malkin replied for Russia.
Finnish goalie Kari Lehtonen was outstanding with 29 saves, while his Russian counterpart Alexander Eremenko played well too, contributing 17 stops.
"Kari played great in net, but on the other hand, the Russians didn't get as many real chances as they've been used to in this tournament," said Kallio.
Even though Finland racked up 47 PIM in this game, including two penalties for too many men on the ice, the Russians could only muster one power play goal.
The starting five for Russia featured a fresh look. Since leading tournament scorer Alexei Morozov was sidelined with a knee injury, Sergei Brylin, freshly arrived from the New Jersey Devils, took his place on the Russian "Kazan unit" alongside Sergei Zinoviev and Danis Zaripov. Zinoviev was sent off for tripping in the first minute of play, but the Finns couldn't get anywhere with the man advantage.
Play really tightened up in the neutral zone and along the boards thereafter with little skating room--that is, until an incident at the 5:40 mark.
Andrei Markov was skating out of his zone after making an outlet pass when Finland's Sean Bergenheim laid a knee-on-knee hit on the high-scoring Russian defenseman at the blueline. Markov crumpled to the ice and had to be helped off the ice by the trainer. (However, he would return to action.) Ilya Kovalchuk confronted Bergenheim afterwards and took a slashing penalty, while Bergenheim was kicked out of the game with a five-minute major and game misconduct.
After an uneventful 4-on-4 sequence, it didn't take long for the Russians to capitalize with their three-minute man advantage. At 8:36, Malkin opened the scoring for Russia, walking into the faceoff circle before launching a high shot past Lehtonen's stick side. The partisan crowd erupted.
Finland's Jari Viukhola had a rough penalty-killing stint, first getting crushed along the end boards and then taking a slapshot off the outside of his left knee. And things just kept getting more physical. At 11:16, Russian captain Petr Schlastlivy was hit by Finland's Tomi Kallio in the corner and took a while to get up before being escorted off and out of the game by the trainer. Then Mikko Koivu hit Ivan Nepryaev from behind in the Finnish zone, and Russia went right back to the power play.
But this time Finland capitalized while shorthanded. Just 31 seconds into the power play, the Finns cleared the puck into the neutral zone and got a break, as Niko Kapanen fed the puck up to Jukka Hentunen, who eluded a pursuing Sergei Gonchar and lifted a fluttering forehand over Eremenko's desperate glove to make it a 1-1 tie.
The Finns maintained their physical presence, as with under two minutes to go in the first period, Tuomo Ruutu threw arguably the tournament's most spectacular hit deep in the Russian end, slamming a shoulder into Zinoviev and sending him flying skates high into the glass.
In the second, Gonchar came out wearing the "C" in place of the fallen Schastlivy, and things just got more heated.
After Vitali Proshkin threw a late bodycheck on Jarkko Ruutu in front of the Finnish bench, Tuomo Ruutu retaliated by hammering Ilya Niklulin, much like his previous hit on Zinoviev. Proshkin wound up with a cross-checking minor, and the Finns yet again failed to score on the power play despite good pressure.
"I'm proud of the way we always got up after being banged around," said Finnish captain Ville Peltonen. "Nobody was lying around. Their team has done that in this tournament, and that's not the way to play. They've had players in this tournament lying on the ice. Sometimes someone gets seriously injured, and it's not the right thing to do if you're not seriously hurt. You have to respect this game and respect the other players."
Chances for both teams were mostly from long range in the early part of the third period. But in the seventh minute, the Finns were whistled down for too many men on the ice for the second time in the game, a blatantly obvious call for referee Marcus Vinnerborg. Yet again the Russians couldn't deliver, the best chance going to Alexander Frolov with a tip on the doorstep.
A wild scramble around the Finnish net didn't produce a goal for Russia, with Malkin and Frolov frantically battling around the crease, but it did send the host team back to the power play with under six minutes remaining. A quick left pad save by Lehtonen stoned Zinoviev from the slot area. After the man advantage expired, Alexander Radulov came close with a wraparound attempt. The Finns got a little pressure of their own, and then it was off to a potential 10 minutes of 4-on-4 sudden-death overtime.
At first, it looked as if the game might end due to a wholly unnecessary blunder by one team or the other. Gonchar played the puck dangerously close to Eremenko's left post. Hentunen and Pekka Saravo collided in the neutral zone, momentarily opening up a ton of ice.
The best sustained pressure came midway through overtime, with the Kazan unit bouncing the puck around like a pinball around Lehtonen's net. But the opportunistic Finns would come out on top, thanks to Mikko Koivu.
"We're disappointed," said Brylin. "We had chances in the third and chances in overtime, but then one mistake and the puck is in the net. I guess that's hockey, and it happens. They played tight defensively, in their zone, in the neutral zone, and they forced a lot of turnovers."
"We played together as a team for the better part of this tournament," said Gonchar. "Offensively and defensively we helped each other out."
Despite ceding the winning goal, Eremenko was chosen as Russia's Player of the Game and Lehtonen took the honors for Finland.
Russia's best players of the tournament were named as well: Sergei Gonchar, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Alexei Morozov. For Finland, it was Kari Lehtonen, Petteri Nummelin, and Tuomo Ruutu. Nummelin did not play in this game due to a knee injury, but may return for the gold medal game.
In 1995, Mikko Koivu's older brother Saku, now captain of the Montreal Canadiens, was named the tournament's Best Forward, as well as cracking the tournament all-star team.
Classic Finn
by Classic Finn » Thu May 10, 2007 2:01 pm 
Wow! You Finns get out there a beat the stuffins outta those Ruskies. 
Thank You Mikko Koivu brother of the famous player Saku Koivu. Mikko Koivu's older brother Saku, now captain of the Montreal Canadiens 
Swe... I mean Can...Ahh shucks may the best team win.. 