Finland vs Canada. Who will get the World Championship gold?
For the third time in a row, the national teams of Finland and Canada will play in the finals of the Ice Hockey World Championship. The decisive game of the championship will take place on May 29 in Tampere, at the local ice arena "Tampere Dec".
The Finnish national team is closer than ever to a unique achievement, having every chance within three calendar months to become not only an Olympic champion, but also to add gold to the home World Championship. After the triumph in the Olympic Beijing, the Finns' mentor, Jukka Jalonen, did not completely break his working game scheme, relying on proven fighters. Already habitually for themselves, the Finns did not massively attract hockey players from the NHL, limiting themselves to point gain. This was quite enough for an almost perfect group tournament, where, despite the defeat in overtime by the Swedes, the Finnish team confidently took first place.
A certain hassle began at the playoff stage, where both in the quarterfinals and in the semifinals the Finns were the first to miss. With the Slovaks, by the 16th minute, the score was 0-2, but the veteran Anttila woke up in time, with two abandoned washers turning the tide of the unsuccessful fight. In the semifinal match against the American team, the Finns conceded already in the second minute, but later they confidently controlled the course of the fight, winning the final victory with a score of 4-3. The hero of the semi-final was one of the few NHL players in the Suomi squad - Miro Heskainen, who scored an abandoned puck and two assists.
Canada
This is not the first time that the Canadians have slipped into the group stage of the championship, playing far from being at full strength. So it was a year ago, when the Canadians started the championship with three defeats in a row, but in the end they still took gold medals. The Canadians went through the current group stage with less shocks, losing only twice - to Switzerland 3-6 and Denmark 2-3. Nevertheless, this was quite enough for the third place and reaching the quarterfinals of the championship.
There was enough drama in the quarterfinal match with the Swedes, when, after two starting periods, the Canadians hopelessly burned 0-3, completely bogged down in the defensive formations of the Scandinavian squad. In the debut of the third period, Graves won back one goal, but the most interesting thing happened already at the 59th minute, when the two main Canadian stars, Dubois and Barzal, managed to save the match with an interval of 30 seconds. Baterson finally finished off the demoralized Swedes, who scored the decisive goal already in the first minute of overtime. After such a denouement, the semifinal match against the Czech team turned out to be quite insipid, ending with a major victory for the Canadian team with a score of 6-1.
Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on Finland vs Canada
FinlandThe Finnish national team is closer than ever to a unique achievement, having every chance within three calendar months to become not only an Olympic champion, but also to add gold to the home World Championship. After the triumph in the Olympic Beijing, the Finns' mentor, Jukka Jalonen, did not completely break his working game scheme, relying on proven fighters. Already habitually for themselves, the Finns did not massively attract hockey players from the NHL, limiting themselves to point gain. This was quite enough for an almost perfect group tournament, where, despite the defeat in overtime by the Swedes, the Finnish team confidently took first place.
A certain hassle began at the playoff stage, where both in the quarterfinals and in the semifinals the Finns were the first to miss. With the Slovaks, by the 16th minute, the score was 0-2, but the veteran Anttila woke up in time, with two abandoned washers turning the tide of the unsuccessful fight. In the semifinal match against the American team, the Finns conceded already in the second minute, but later they confidently controlled the course of the fight, winning the final victory with a score of 4-3. The hero of the semi-final was one of the few NHL players in the Suomi squad - Miro Heskainen, who scored an abandoned puck and two assists.
Canada
This is not the first time that the Canadians have slipped into the group stage of the championship, playing far from being at full strength. So it was a year ago, when the Canadians started the championship with three defeats in a row, but in the end they still took gold medals. The Canadians went through the current group stage with less shocks, losing only twice - to Switzerland 3-6 and Denmark 2-3. Nevertheless, this was quite enough for the third place and reaching the quarterfinals of the championship.
There was enough drama in the quarterfinal match with the Swedes, when, after two starting periods, the Canadians hopelessly burned 0-3, completely bogged down in the defensive formations of the Scandinavian squad. In the debut of the third period, Graves won back one goal, but the most interesting thing happened already at the 59th minute, when the two main Canadian stars, Dubois and Barzal, managed to save the match with an interval of 30 seconds. Baterson finally finished off the demoralized Swedes, who scored the decisive goal already in the first minute of overtime. After such a denouement, the semifinal match against the Czech team turned out to be quite insipid, ending with a major victory for the Canadian team with a score of 6-1.
Comments 0