My first post will be a rant, but rightly so.
Pure class on the Russian finishing, but the Swedes really made them look good. It's a clichée, but the ref was also a joke. As example, Bäckman got a hooking penalty while holding his stick in one hand. It barely lifted off the ice. He has to drop it on the ice not to get a hooking or what?
The Russians threw themselves to the ice very easily several times, no diving penalties. Mats Sundin got a stick in his face, no call, then the russian who was twice as big as Samuelsson throws himself like he got shot with a rifle. Penalty Sweden. It was a joke. You think it's women's hockey out there, no tackles allowed. Sundin crashes the net with the puck and has a Russian defender on his back. Goalie interference when another Swede puts the rebound in the net. The disallowed goal was ok (the puck moved out from the crease).
The biggest fault is not on the kindergarden ref, of course, he's just a big nuisance. It's on the Swedish players who seem unable to make a 2 inch pass to eachother. They are unable to skate, they are unable to pass, they are unable to tackle (when they tackle, they get a penalty). They constantly let the Russians get on odd man rushes very easily. You DON'T give away the puck like the Swedes did each and every time, embarassing to watch.
The only ones who fought for 60 min were Sundin, Påhlsson, Holmström and Lundqvist. The Russians were pissed after the loss yesterday and wanted this game much more than the Swedes and it showed. They had very lucky bounces as well, Sweden unlucky bounces. They are also more skilled than the Swedish team looking player for player, if the Swedes doesn't play as a team, they'll lose.
Our coach doesn't show any qualities at all. Statement months before the Olympics: "If there will be the NHL judgement on penalties, special teams will be even more important than before. His two biggest mistakes:
1. Where are the fcking reserves?! Canada (and probably USA) has 2-3 reserves on place, ready to jump in. Sweden has zero. Zip. None. It's very unsure if Forsberg will play. WHERE IS NYLANDER? If the coach waits for Forsberg to say that he can't play until he flies in Nylander, I have to book a ticket to Torino to personally beat Bengt-Åke in the face with a wooden plank. If he AGAIN picks a player from Swedish Elitserien, I will resign my position as a Swedish fan. During this weekend, it was clear that Mattias Norström had received a major concussion (thank you LA Kings for not sharing that information earlier). Did he fly in a reserve, just in case? Noooo. He waited and waited. Was Ronnie Sundin from Frölunda the first choice as a replacement for Norström? Or a panic choice?
2. What about those "even more important special teams", Bengt-Åke? First, you refused to pick Holmström for the first team. When Näslund said no, then he could play. Maybee. Perhaps. But can he play in the Swedish PP? Can Lidström play in the Swedish PP? Nooooo... let's roll on the lines and let's give defensive center Jörgen Jönsson from Färjestad, defensive defenseman Kenny Jönsson from the 2nd Swedish division the most icetime in PP. Can you spell the word O-F-F-E-N-S-E and P-O-W-E-R-P-L-A-Y, B-Å? Are we playing SH or something we have missed here?
When he finally, FINALLY, after one and a half game, 5-0 against Russia and 10 minutes to play, gets the brilliant idea to "Hey, let's try to score on PP!", he mirrors Lidström and Alfredsson, (a miracle he even knew he could play Alfredsson at the blueline in PP) playing Alfredsson on the right (WRONG!) and Lidström on the left (WRONG AGAIN!). It takes 5 seconds to create the Swedish PP: Lidström, Alfredsson, Sundin, Zetterberg, Holmström. Done. It took our coach 6 months. And he still doesn't get it right.
If he doesn't want to coach, give the job to someone else. He gives a whole new meaning to the word passiveness.
Sweden is now missing 6 D-men (that's a whole team folks) and 2 world stars. That is too much for just about any team. Norström, Johnsson, Timander, Lilja, Hävelid, Kronwall, Näslund and probably Forsberg (results today in 6.30h). This won't end up good. Let us be eliminated with dignity and end the pain.
If we don't start giving Lidström and Öhlund alot of ice time (we are missing 6 D-men for crying out loud) we will be punished. I hope the team and the coach understand that they can't play around in the sandbox anymore. Glad this came now and not in the quarter final this time.
These lines are all screwed up. 
