Velvet E. Sax said:
Turnovers in their own zone killed them...the Czech forecheckers were unbelieveable as well...
...uh...ha,ha..."foreCzechers"
Yes. The Czechs can play a forechecking style from time to time and the Finns usually do play an aggressive forecheck. The Swedes looked laughable trying to send in players to recover pucks first in the corners. (But if they managed to pass their way into the corners they did well, but that's another matter.)
Many Canadian hockey players and coaches, including Gretzky and Bowman, have commented
over the years on the similarity in style between Canada and Finland in terms of aggressive and tenacious forechecking. Where Finland has failed in the past, has been in dominant goaltending or clutch goal scoring or effective powerplay. Finland comes into this tourney without some of those other weaknesses (I still question the powerplay) and hence I predicted before the tourney that Finland would play Canada in the final.
In part due to an effective forecheck.
All of that aside, the reason I predicted before the game a
6-2 Czech win (recorded on page one of the game thread) is that Sweden plays without a goaltender! I've watched Tellqvist play exactly seven NHL games and he's looked awful in each and every one of them (even when they won he had moments of bad play); it should have been obvious that a rookie with no international experience would have been better than that sieve.
