Finland 4, USA 3 FINAL

[Takeo]

Drury was the only truly clutch player on the team this year.

Sorry, but I'm so sick of hearing about this. Drury hasn't had a "clutch" goal in years.

I was hoping he was awarded a penalty shot on Teppo's trip. Would have been a proverbial nail in the coffin to have him dust it three feet wide.

 

[ShaneDoan]

Finland should won bronze atleast...they really deserve it, though we got panic in 3rd period!

 

[Slime]

It was all Team USA vs. Niittymäki in the 3rd. The US were dominating even on PK.

Well, a game usually looks like that when you have a team going in to a 3d period with a 2-goal lead. Typical for successful Czech teams for many years, and now Finland too has learned this way of controlling a lead, which often makes a team look shaky (also, we don't lose our nerves anymore like we did in the past).

 

[sleb]

That's not true, I think the truth is that you were nervous watching the game, not our team! We used to be nervous about winning, but that's history now.

I disagree strongly. How many times did the distance between forecheck and players on our own blueline grow so big, the US had it overmanned? Not to mention, how open the borders were? Then, trying to play that offence out, our guys rush in with 2, and one short pass, the attack from US is even more dangerous. And not to mention, the passes wich never had any target, but the US. Nor should we forget, how easy it was for the US, to deliver to puck to the net, and even then there was only Niittymäki to save it...

Honestly, finns were way too passive, and way too nervous.

You realize, that "poor" play by the Finns might just have something to do with good play by the U.S. A team facing elimination is not going to go down quietly.

Naturally I do understand that. But, from what I can honestly expect from finnish team, they didn't have everything with them on the ice. They seemed very nervous, and when you're nervous, the opposing team easily discovers it and takes advantage from it. Exactly the case today.

Only Niittymäki on hockey rules (game time is 3x20 minutes, unless tied.) saves us today. But there's nothing to complain about.

A win is a win, and I'll take it! GG finns, gg USA.

 

[Brooklyndevil]

The personality of this club reflected its play. Most of the players on this team were either good (not great) or past their prime (read: recently lost their ability to finish). Drury was the only truly clutch player on the team this year. Oh well, at least the future looks relatively bright.

More clutch then Gionta? I don't think so.

 

[Buffaloed]

Teppo can tease Drury when they get back that he caught him

A tweaked hammy will beat a tender groin any day. They both deserve a lot of credit for showing up and playing while they really could have used the time off.

 

[Corto]

IIHF Hockey Rules:

"530 High Sticking
Carrying sticks above the normal height of the shoulders is prohibited and any player violating this rule shall be assessed, at the discretion of the Referee, a:
- Minor penalty (2)
QUOTE]

Only he wasn't carrying the stick. He shot the puck, every follow-through ends up above shoulder height.

The call was wrong.
And Devorski was horrible. HORRIBLE.

Even worse, Marouelli wasn't calling a lot of stuff in the eariler quarterfinal.
If that's a glimpse of the NHL playoffs, the league is gonna be in chaos as to what's a penalty and what isn't.

 

[100mph slapshot]

My opinion on the game and the Finnish team:

Goaltending - Niittymäki was solid. Nothing spectacular, but got the job done. DiPietro was shaky and not at his best. None of those goals were completely his fault, but goaltending in general was a big factor in this game

1st line - Completely lost and I think I know the reason. Saku had definitely mentally overcharged himself to the game. His timing was terrible and passing was far from crisp and accurate. Those penalties were quite clear, maybe the 3rd was borderline but for a captain this kind of performance is unacceptable. Saku is the brains in that line and him out of his normal self makes the whole line pretty much useless.

2nd line - Excellent game. Peltonen really stepped up big time and carried that line on his back. They need to keep this up.

3rd and 4th line - Nice hustle here and there, but Nemo's 2 penalties really killed the momentum from our checking game. Third period was horrible, but so was the whole team. Both N. Kapanen and M. Koivu lost countless face-offs when it mattered the most.

D - Decent at best. Salo was a stud out there until his injury and Berg continued his safe and solid play. Nummelin and Timonen were both outmuscled, but Nummelin atleast made up for it by giving some good outlet passes. Lydman was suprsingly shaky, again (I have to say the same about Numminen) . Overrall, way too many bad passes and turnovers.

The FIN were lucky they won because apart from the 1st period, Team US outplayed and outworked us by a considerable margin. The 3rd period as a whole was absolutely pathetic. If we don't improve our game we're sure fire 4th place. And that would suck.

 

[Jim Boeheim]

Congrats to our Finnish fans!
Now go beat Canada, if they win, so we don't have them rubbing it in our faces.

Now on to some grades for the tournament...

A- Chelios
B Tkachuk (just couldnt finish)
B+ DiPietro (aside from the Finland game, Rick was great. Much better than I expected. I'm just glad Miller wasn't there because I don't think he could have helped this team any more than DiPietro did.)
A Cole (threw the body around, used his speed to beat several defenders to teh net.

I'll let y'all take the rest of 'em.

 

[Chimpradamus]

Only he wasn't carrying the stick. He shot the puck, every follow-through ends up above shoulder height.

The call was wrong.
And Devorski was horrible. HORRIBLE.

Even worse, Marouelli wasn't calling a lot of stuff in the eariler quarterfinal.
If that's a glimpse of the NHL playoffs, the league is gonna be in chaos as to what's a penalty and what isn't.

Ok, here we go again. Please show me the rule that says anything about "ignore the accidental high sticking causing an injury, if it is accidental while making a pass." Show me this exception rule and I will give you right and the ref was wrong.

I can give you a hint: There is no such rule, at least not in international hockey. You are always responsible for your stick and where it ends up, even if it's accidental.

 

[Nordique]

Nummelin and Timonen were both outmuscled, but Nummelin atleast made up for it by giving some good outlet passes. Lydman was suprsingly shaky, again (I have to say the same about Numminen) . Overrall, way too many bad passes and turnovers.

I met Pteri, and saw him play for a season here in Columbus, Ohio 4 or 5 years ago. Overall, he has been good this tournament, and I'm suprised how well his game has improved in 5 years.

 

[RubberDuck]

Saku --> 3 penalties --> 3 US goals. Just bad luck?

 

[eSabre]

IIHF Hockey Rules:

"530 High Sticking
Carrying sticks above the normal height of the shoulders is prohibited and any player violating this rule shall be assessed, at the discretion of the Referee, a:
- Minor penalty (2)

or

- Major penalty + Automatic Game Misconduct penalty (5+GM)

A player who carries or holds any part of his stick above the height of the shoulders and causes an injury with the stick to an opposing player shall be assessed:
- Major penalty + Automatic Game Misconduct penalty (5+GM)

However, if the high sticking actoin that caused the injury was judged accidental, the offending player shall be assessed a:
- Double Minor penalty (2+2)"

Hatcher threw up the stick in Selänne's face and got a high sticking causing an injury. However, since it was accidental, he only got 2+2. The ref made the right call.

The problem is Selanne was so low Hatcher's stick didn't even go above his waist. Weak call, still.


As for Drury not being clutch, he drew that penalty and made the play for USA's 3rd goal. If anyone was, he was.

 

[Nordique]

IIHF Hockey Rules:

"530 High Sticking
Carrying sticks above the normal height of the shoulders is prohibited and any player violating this rule shall be assessed, at the discretion of the Referee, a:
- Minor penalty (2)
QUOTE]

Only he wasn't carrying the stick. He shot the puck, every follow-through ends up above shoulder height.

The call was wrong.
And Devorski was horrible. HORRIBLE.

Even worse, Marouelli wasn't calling a lot of stuff in the eariler quarterfinal.
If that's a glimpse of the NHL playoffs, the league is gonna be in chaos as to what's a penalty and what isn't.

You are responsible for you stick at all times, no exceptions.

No where in what you have posted does it say high sticking is not an offense if it occurs as part of the act of shooting or passing. If your stick goes high and hits someone in the face, you are getting penalty, no matter what you were doing when the stick went high.

IMO, there is no question that it was not intentional, but that does not matter.

 

[Melrose_Jr.]

B Tkachuk (just couldnt finish)

That's way too kind. The guy logged heavy ice time and spent way too much of it putting his team down a man while contributing nothing offensively. I'd say he was one of the biggest dissapointments for the US in pretty much every aspect of the game.

 

[SmokeyClause]

Ok, here we go again. Please show me the rule that says anything about "ignore the accidental high sticking causing an injury, if it is accidental while making a pass." Show me this exception rule and I will give you right and the ref was wrong.

I can give you a hint: There is no such rule, at least not in international hockey. You are always responsible for your stick and where it ends up, even if it's accidental.

Actually, that is not true. You are not 'always' responsible. The way the rule reads, you are responsible for keeping your stick below shoulder height. Any contact above normal shoulder height is deemed highsticking. The key word reiterated in the IIHF rulebook is 'normal shoulder' height. The determining factor on whether or not it was a high stick rests with on what plane did it make contact with Teemu? I did not see the incident, only heard it on the radio. So I cannot comment on its application here. But I can say, using as you have the IIHF rulebook, that your post is not correct.

 

[Jim Boeheim]

That's way too kind. The guy logged heavy ice time and spent way too much of it putting his team down a man while contributing nothing offensively. I'd say he was one of the biggest dissapointments for the US in pretty much every aspect of the game.

You may be right.
I simply like guys who play tough especially in front of the net. I admire that. And I've never liked Keith much.
He did take some lousy penalties though.

 

[blitzkriegs]

I'd say he was one of the biggest dissapointments for the US in pretty much every aspect of the game.

When was the last time Tkachuk impressed for Team USA?

 

[Finnpin]

Finnish coach wants more goals from Olli Jokinen and the whole 2nd line. (J.Jokinen and Peltonen) I agree, we need goals from others too. Can the 1st line fly in every game?

1st line wasn't flying but we were lucky that 2nd line stood out like the coach wanted. Whooh it was a thriller at the end but it's so nice to be a winner at the end. USA was good and didn't let the Finns fly with the speed.

Finns game have to improve a lot to the next game if we wan't to have a chance to the final.

Friday's game I'm going to see at the bar...I can't handle the excitement sober

Selänne lost 2 teeth. What is Salo's condition?

 

[Ujin]

B Tkachuk (just couldnt finish)

You give him a B?!?!?!

He had ZERO GOALS and ZERO ASSISTS in six games. In the elimination game against Finland where they needed him most, he gets ONE SHOT on net.

Then in the elimination game, he takes two lazy hooking penalties in the second period - leading him to get BENCHED. He gets ONE shift in the third period - and promptly takes ANOTHER lazy hooking penalty, which leads to him getting benched for the rest of the game.

At least in Nagano, he left the stupid behavior in the dorms. Here he took his criminal behavior to the ice in an elimination game. I hope customs confiscates his passport when he tries to re-enter the country. Tkachuk gets an F.

Otherwise, I agree with your assessment of Cole, Chelios, and DiPietro. Also give B or B+ marks to Rolston, Conroy, Gionta, and pretty much the entire d-corps.

Except maybe Derian Hatcher. He gets knocked down to a C after that boneheaded play on Jokinen's first goal. "Gee, my fingers are cold. I better go get my glove..."

 

[blitzkriegs]

As for Drury not being clutch, he drew that penalty and made the play for USA's 3rd goal. If anyone was, he was.

Have the standards for clutch play become so low that 'clutch' is now defined, of course through the eyes of Sabres fans in defending their 'own,' by setting up a goal when down by 2?

Clutch would mean actually scoring the go-ahead goal vs. SWE instead of giving it up. Or, tying the game today. If that happened, then scoring the GWG. None of which happened.

Sorry folks, there was NO clutch offensive play for USA in this tourney. Jokinen made the clutch play for FIN...

 

[TK79]

The reffing was horrible, but it went both ways.. The Finns could have closed the game earlier if the ref hadn't let the US back into the game with two very questionable calls that resulted in two US powerplay goals.. It made me mad to see Finland freeze completely in the final 15 minutes, we just don't know how to play with a lead.. Nitty was great, hope Teemu and Sami Salo are ok..

 

[RuuhkaTukka]

The reffing was horrible, but it went both ways.. The Finns could have closed the game earlier if the ref hadn't let the US back into the game with two very questionable calls that resulted in two US powerplay goals.. It made me mad to see Finland freeze completely in the final 15 minutes, we just don't know how to play with a lead.. Nitty was great, hope Teemu and Sami Salo are ok..

Stop with this ref bashing. As you said he didn´t have a best possible game, but it hurt both teams. We won and that is all that matters!

 

[Pepper]

Reffing was horrible but went both ways.

Good: Finland advances

bad: the way Finland played

 

[Wisent]

IIHF Hockey Rules:

"530 High Sticking
Carrying sticks above the normal height of the shoulders is prohibited and any player violating this rule shall be assessed, at the discretion of the Referee, a:
- Minor penalty (2)
QUOTE]

Only he wasn't carrying the stick. He shot the puck, every follow-through ends up above shoulder height.

The call was wrong.
And Devorski was horrible. HORRIBLE.

Even worse, Marouelli wasn't calling a lot of stuff in the eariler quarterfinal.
If that's a glimpse of the NHL playoffs, the league is gonna be in chaos as to what's a penalty and what isn't.

There is no discussion about this. If a stick higher than the shoulder causes an injury it is automatically called. Happens all the time and very consistently. Not in the NHL but in Europe it is called.