WC SF: May 12th GDT - Russia vs. Finland

[Chimpradamus]

The Russian bear against the Finnish terrier. While Russia are the clear favourites, they also have the biggest pressure. The crowd will carry them or boo them to pieces. However, in this game I think the crowd will be a big help for Russia.

Morozov is out due to a knee injury, which is very unfortunate for Russia. He has been their best scorer and leads the entire tournament with 8 goals. He is also a killer on penalty shots. Now it's time for guys like Ovechkin to show their Russian heart.

Finland on the other hand has to play their game and try to play physical, aggressive and with a great deal of the famous sisu, as that might be their chance to upset the Russian team on Russian soil. Lehtonen can't have a bad game and Finland have to let the Russian defensmen commit mistakes instead of their own.

http://www.iihf.com/Hydra/Tournaments_07/output/WS/hydra.iihf.com/113/

Click to read more...

 

[ThinMcWhistle]

Nummelin out.

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kisaextra/200705116099594_ki.shtml

Finland will have to have a perfect game to beat the Russians. I predict that Russia will win this one. 5-3 final.

 

[ThinMcWhistle]

The Russian bear against the Finnish terrier. While Russia are the clear favourites, they also have the biggest pressure. The crowd will carry them or boo them to pieces. However, in this game I think the crowd will be a big help for Russia.

Morozov is out due to a knee injury, which is very unfortunate for Russia. He has been their best scorer and leads the entire tournament with 8 goals. He is also a killer on penalty shots. Now it's time for guys like Ovechkin to show their Russian heart.

Finland on the other hand has to play their game and try to play physical, aggressive and with a great deal of the famous sisu, as that might be their chance to upset the Russian team on Russian soil. Lehtonen can't have a bad game and Finland have to let the Russian defensmen commit mistakes instead of their own.

http://www.iihf.com/Hydra/Tournaments_07/output/WS/hydra.iihf.com/113/

Terrier? C'mon... That's Sweden. Finland is more like a Pitbull.

 

[Kaktus*]

Brylin will probably play for team Russia and hopefully we will shut down Ruutu line.

 

[Chimpradamus]

Terrier? C'mon... That's Sweden. Finland is more like a Pitbull.

You mean more like this?

 

[psycho_dad*]

Losing Nummelin is a huge problem for Finland. But at the same time, Russia lost Morozov so I guess it's fair then.

Russia has the better offense for sure, and they also have a bit better defense now that Nummelin is out. One BIG thing in favour of Finns is goaltending. Last time (5-4 russia won) Norrena sucked balls, and gave russians 4 easy goals. Lehtonen won't do that, so either Russians have to shoot better than they did in that game, or their goalie has to step up.

Biggest problem for team Finland will be the defense. At times against USA it was horrible. Against Sweden it was great. If they can do what they did against sweden, Finland has a good chance to advance. If they make mistakes like they did against USA, Russia will take this game.

Finland has been quite inconsistant in these games. If they can combine the defensive play of the sweden game and offensive play of USA game, Russia will fight for bronze on sunday.

But we shall see tomorrow. I think it's going to be an intense battle and I expect to see a lot of Jarkko Ruutu tomorrow....yapping, poking, falling, hitting...whatever it takes to drive the russians nuts and make them lose their cool.

 

[ThinMcWhistle]

You mean more like this?

Yeah, that's more like it.

 

[Kaktus*]

Losing Nummelin is a huge problem for Finland. But at the same time, Russia lost Morozov so I guess it's fair then.

While you can not replace Morozov, adding Brylin will help. Hopefully Ovechkin, Kovalchuk and Malkin can step up and do some demage.

Russia has the better offense for sure, and they also have a bit better defense now that Nummelin is out. One BIG thing in favour of Finns is goaltending. Last time (5-4 russia won) Norrena sucked balls, and gave russians 4 easy goals. Lehtonen won't do that, so either Russians have to shoot better than they did in that game, or their goalie has to step up.

Well, you forgetting one thing. Koshechkin played against Finland and gave up one soft goal. Koshechkin is out. Who was the goalie who shot out Czechs? Russians controlled 1st game for 40 minutes. I like our chances but I will not underestimate Finland.

But we shall see tomorrow. I think it's going to be an intense battle and I expect to see a lot of Jarkko Ruutu tomorrow....yapping, poking, falling, hitting...whatever it takes to drive the russians nuts and make them lose their cool.

You forgot to add taking penalties.

 

[psycho_dad*]

Well, you forgetting one thing. Koshechkin played against Finland and gave up one soft goal. Koshechkin is out. Who was the goalie who shot out Czechs? Russians controlled 1st game for 40 minutes.

Yes Russia controlled the first 40 minutes and finns were a bit lost. But the scoring chances werent anything special, Norrena just made them count. Lehtonen won't help you like that. Both teams have a different goalie this time, so we'll see how that goes. I think Finland will make a very boring game out of this one, defending with the whole unit and trying to press russians against the boards and keep them from the best scoring sector.

 

[RuuhkaTukka]

You mean more like this?

Now that is funny!

 

[Teme-84]

I can't put it into words how unfortunate it is to loose Petteri Nummelin for the rest of tournament. He was, absolutely, our most important defenseman. Now he can't play and to be honest, I'm a bit worried about tomorrow.. I definitely wish everything goes well. Petteri was already second defenseman who gets injured, now there must already be some forward playing in defense..

 

[psycho_dad*]

You forgot to add taking penalties.

I hope this referee knows the rules better than the last one, so I am hopefull that players will be allowed to hit clean this time.

If the refs send finnish players in the box every time a russian goes "boohoo", finland will lose.

 

[Den]

Where did the terrier come from?

 

[Den]

Nummelin out.

http://www.iltalehti.fi/kisaextra/200705116099594_ki.shtml
.

Why? What does it say?

 

[Systemfel]

Why? What does it say?

Because suffered some kind of leg injury against the U.S.

 

[Den]

I'm a bit worried about tomorrow..

 

[ThinMcWhistle]

Why? What does it say?

Says that xrays revealed a hairline fracture on his leg/knee. So he is out indefinitely.

 

[Teme-84]

But if our guys make the same thing as in Torino 2006 olympics against Russia, there's no reason to be worried. I mean, in case Finland succeeds in making Russian players frustrated. But, Ville Koistinen will be a very interesting name in the roster. He's a young guy and surely will have lost of power and enthusiasm on the ice in his performance.

 

[Chimpradamus]

Where did the terrier come from?

I don't know, I guess it's a mental image I got in my head. Allow me to explain myself. First, Swedish commentator Niklas Wikegård has said, if I don't remember it wrong, that "the Finnish forecheckers are rushing around like aggressive terriers on our defensemen". Second, Finnish hockey players in the national team haven't been that overly big, but quite small. Players like Teppo Numminen, the small but skilled defenseman in Buffalo, enhances that image.

If I'm allowed to generalize, Finnish hockey players are like terriers. Fast, aggressive, physical and when they got a bite on you, it's hard to make them let go.

The mental image of small Finnish hockey players isn't helped by the fact that one famous Finnish scoring line was called after the three ducklings Donald Duck takes care of, Huey, Dewey and Louie (Lehtinen - Koivu - Selänne, right?).

And oh, if you have a guy like Jarkko Ruutu on a team, which not only acts like a terrier, but barks as much as a terrier, I guess you're not that far off calling the meeting between Russia and Finland "the struggle between the bear and the terrier."

Ruutu in his prime. Hilarious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYPWCJ_0Km0

=

?

And no, if someone feels this is some kind of insult to Finnish hockey, it's not. It's respect.

 

[Chimpradamus]

Because suffered some kind of leg injury against the U.S.

Yeah, he received a hip check from a US player that hit him pretty bad over the legs.

 

[Den]

I don't know

Hey, isn't that dog on the pic topped by some other animal? Looks like a little bear

It would be also interesting to propose an explanation what makes Russian players look like a bear (well, other than the cumbersome D-men)? Huge? Slow? Keep on forgetting to score when they see honey? Ah, I got it: lazy.

 

[Phenomenon]

The mental image of small Finnish hockey players isn't helped by the fact that one famous Finnish scoring line was called after the three ducklings Donald Duck takes care of, Huey, Dewey and Louie (Lehtinen - Koivu - Selänne, right?).

Wrong. The name was given before 1994 Olympics for the youngster line Lehtinen - Koivu - Peltonen and they made it famous in WHC 1995 when they were without a doubt one of most dominant trios in WHC tournaments ever and sealed the gold medals for Finland. Selanne was at the same time playing NHL regular season (because it was the lockout year).

You are right that Peltonen was later on replaced by Selanne in the Olympics and World Cup etc. and this line has been one of the best lines for example in the past two Olympic Games and international tournaments in general.

 

[Chimpradamus]

Hey, isn't that dog on the pic topped by some other animal? Looks like a little bear

It would be also interesting to propose an explanation what makes Russian players look like a bear (well, other than the cumbersome D-men)? Huge? Slow? Keep on forgetting to score when they see honey? Ah, I got it: lazy.

Naaw, this is a Russian bear.

http://www.englishrussia.com/images/daily_photos/33.jpg
It's up to Ovechkin to start driving and not tagging along in the semifinal.

But seriously, the mental image of the Russian bear comes from several things as well I guess. First, it's the historical and political perspective. "Don't wake the Russian bear". Leave Russia alone, or you will wake the bear and get run over. This can also be applied to sports.

Then there is basketball, handball and hockey, where there are always a bunch of huge Russian guys playing defense (mostly). Big and slow, yes, but also very strong, impossible to move and hard to shoot over/around. And if they hit you, you either wish or actually will end up dead. And don't forget that bears never run out of stamina.

 

[Phenomenon]

It would be also interesting to propose an explanation what makes Russian players look like a bear (well, other than the cumbersome D-men)?

I don't know about a bear lookalike, but I loved Ovechkin's performance as the Toxic Avenger.

 

[PJM]

Second, Finnish hockey players in the national team haven't been that overly big, but quite small. Players like Teppo Numminen, the small but skilled defenseman in Buffalo, enhances that image.

There have been some smaller players in our national team over the years, but I would not say Teppo Numminen (185 cm / 90 kg) is one of them.