Canada vs United States in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey Final

[LeafsNation75]

During the 2004 World Cup of Hockey in the Semi-Finals the United States had lost 2-1 to Finland which meant they would not be playing Canada in the Finals. If that never happens does Canada still end up winning or does the United States win it's second straight World Cup? Not sure if it matters but during the Round Robin of the tournament Canada had already defeated the United States 2-1 during their first game.

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[CharlestownChiefsESC]

During the 2004 World Cup of Hockey in the Semi-Finals the United States had lost 2-1 to Finland which meant they would not be playing Canada in the Finals. If that never happens does Canada still end up winning or does the United States win it's second straight World Cup? Not sure if it matters but during the Round Robin of the tournament Canada had already defeated the United States 2-1 during their first game.

That tournament was Canada's to lose. The US was playing on borrowed time as all the vets of from the 91 cc to 02 Olympics were all starting to show their age. Outside of a turn back the clock performance by Keith Tkachuk I just dont see them beating Canada in a 1 game final.

 

[Big Phil]

The U.S. at that time had more or less the same core from 1996. They were older and by 2004 had a lot less starpower. Canada was loaded in that tournament, especially up front. I remember the first period of the round robin game with Canada vs. US. We outshot them 19-6 or something like that but only had a 1-0 lead at intermission. It was one of those games where they were definitely outclassed but the 2-1 final score didn't reflect that.

I guess anything can happen with one game, considering Canada needed overtime to beat the Czechs and an early 3rd period goal to beat the Finns 3-2 in the final. So there were a couple of tight wins for them outside of the two times they thrashed Slovakia. But while they were the better team against Finland they didn't overpower them the way you would have thought they did on paper so if the U.S. sticks to a tight checking game they could have made it close. But I doubt that 2004 team loses to the U.S.

 

[JackSlater]

Who knows what would have happened in a one game situation. I'd give USA very poor odds of winning a seven or more game series, but it would be quite possible in a one off. The mid-2000s were very lean for USA though so it would have been quite an upset.

 

[LeafalCrusader]

That 04 US team was kind of underwhelming IMO.

Team USA

Goalies:

29-Rick DiPietro (New York I.)
30-Ty Conklin (Edmonton)
42-Robert Esche (Philadelphia)

Defence:

2-Brian Leetch (Toronto) ‘A’
3-Aaron Miller (Los Angeles)
6-Eric Weinrich (St. Louis)
10-Paul Martin (New Jersey)
20-Ken Klee (Toronto)
24-Chris Chelios (Detroit) ‘C’
26-John-Michael Liles (Colorado)
28-Brian Rafalski (New Jersey)


Forwards:

7-Keith Tkachuk (St. Louis) ‘A’
9-Mike Modano (Dallas) ‘A’
11-Tony Amonte (Philadelphia)
12-Brian Rolston (Minnesota)
13-Bill Guerin (Dallas) ‘A’
15-Jamie Langenbrunner (New Jersey)
16-Brett Hull (Phoenix) ‘A’
19-Scott Gomez (New Jersey)
21-Bryan Smolinski (Ottawa)
22-Steve Konowalchuk (Colorado)
27-Jeff Halpern (Washington)
33-Craig Conroy (Los Angeles)
37-Chris Drury (Buffalo)
39-Doug Weight (St. Louis) ‘A’
55-Jason Blake (New York I.)

Anything could happen in a 1 game elimination but I wouldn't bet against Canada.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

The U.S. at that time had more or less the same core from 1996. They were older and by 2004 had a lot less starpower. Canada was loaded in that tournament, especially up front. I remember the first period of the round robin game with Canada vs. US. We outshot them 19-6 or something like that but only had a 1-0 lead at intermission. It was one of those games where they were definitely outclassed but the 2-1 final score didn't reflect that.

I guess anything can happen with one game, considering Canada needed overtime to beat the Czechs and an early 3rd period goal to beat the Finns 3-2 in the final. So there were a couple of tight wins for them outside of the two times they thrashed Slovakia. But while they were the better team against Finland they didn't overpower them the way you would have thought they did on paper so if the U.S. sticks to a tight checking game they could have made it close. But I doubt that 2004 team loses to the U.S.

I was at that Canada/U.S. game. I recall that Canada dominate but I didn't realize the shots on goal were that bad.

The most memorable part of that game for me was seeing Mario Lemieux play defense like a normal NHL player.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

The U.S. at that time had more or less the same core from 1996. They were older and by 2004 had a lot less starpower. Canada was loaded in that tournament, especially up front. I remember the first period of the round robin game with Canada vs. US. We outshot them 19-6 or something like that but only had a 1-0 lead at intermission. It was one of those games where they were definitely outclassed but the 2-1 final score didn't reflect that.

I guess anything can happen with one game, considering Canada needed overtime to beat the Czechs and an early 3rd period goal to beat the Finns 3-2 in the final. So there were a couple of tight wins for them outside of the two times they thrashed Slovakia. But while they were the better team against Finland they didn't overpower them the way you would have thought they did on paper so if the U.S. sticks to a tight checking game they could have made it close. But I doubt that 2004 team loses to the U.S.

When Team Finland gets it together, they are usually among the most frustrating opponents imaginable.

 

[Fatass]

That 04 US team was kind of underwhelming IMO.

Team USA

Goalies:

29-Rick DiPietro (New York I.)
30-Ty Conklin (Edmonton)
42-Robert Esche (Philadelphia)

Defence:

2-Brian Leetch (Toronto) ‘A’
3-Aaron Miller (Los Angeles)
6-Eric Weinrich (St. Louis)
10-Paul Martin (New Jersey)
20-Ken Klee (Toronto)
24-Chris Chelios (Detroit) ‘C’
26-John-Michael Liles (Colorado)
28-Brian Rafalski (New Jersey)


Forwards:

7-Keith Tkachuk (St. Louis) ‘A’
9-Mike Modano (Dallas) ‘A’
11-Tony Amonte (Philadelphia)
12-Brian Rolston (Minnesota)
13-Bill Guerin (Dallas) ‘A’
15-Jamie Langenbrunner (New Jersey)
16-Brett Hull (Phoenix) ‘A’
19-Scott Gomez (New Jersey)
21-Bryan Smolinski (Ottawa)
22-Steve Konowalchuk (Colorado)
27-Jeff Halpern (Washington)
33-Craig Conroy (Los Angeles)
37-Chris Drury (Buffalo)
39-Doug Weight (St. Louis) ‘A’
55-Jason Blake (New York I.)

Anything could happen in a 1 game elimination but I wouldn't bet against Canada.

I can understand why that roster lost to Finland.

 

[Sentinel]

Keith Tkachuk suddenly caught a lightning in a bottle in that tournament. Anything could happen.

I wish Russia didn't have as many refusals.

On OP: a team that gets beaten in the group stage, often beats the same opponent in the knockout stage.

 

[NyQuil]

Jagr was dynamite against Canada.

We literally couldn’t get the puck off his stick.

 

[CHIMO]

Might have to bust out my 2004 World Cup DVD this holiday break. That Canada vs Czech game was unreal. I remember thinking Lecavalier was really on his way to mega superstardom.

 

[notDatsyuk]

I recently watched the final.

That was the year Finland served notice that they were probably the second greatest hockey country.

Considering that their population is about the same as Minnesota, less than the GTA, (and less than half that of Moscow) that's impressive.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

we would have been robbed of tuomo ruutu’s biggest moment and for that i would be sad

 

[LeafsNation75]

I recently watched the final.

That was the year Finland served notice that they were probably the second greatest hockey country.

Considering that their population is about the same as Minnesota, less than the GTA, (and less than half that of Moscow) that's impressive.

During the Final against Finland I remember Canada's 2nd goal from Scott Niedermayer was a shot that Miikka Kiprusoff should have saved and not let the puck get past him.

 

[JackSlater]

Jagr was dynamite against Canada.

We literally couldn’t get the puck off his stick.

That Czech game was really tough. I thought that Canada was pretty solidly outplayed in the semi-final but Luongo played well and kept the team in it. He and Thornton both had fairly big moments in that tournament, Luongo replacing Brodeur on short notice and Thornton being the best player in the championship game, that are more or less forgotten. Probably due to the forgettable nature of that edition of the tournament.

 

[Big Phil]

I was at that Canada/U.S. game. I recall that Canada dominate but I didn't realize the shots on goal were that bad.

The most memorable part of that game for me was seeing Mario Lemieux play defense like a normal NHL player.

The shots came closer as the game went on, but that first period was one where I thought Canada should have put it out of reach right then and there.

That is also the game that Mario got frustrated and went over and fought Mike Konowalchuk. Well, not so much "fought" as much as it was more or less a roughing call, but still.

When Team Finland gets it together, they are usually among the most frustrating opponents imaginable.

They are always a pesky bunch. On paper Canada always has the upper hand with them by a significant margin but they never translate it on the ice so much. For whatever reason Finland always has played us tough. Other than the 1976 and 1981 Canada Cup games that were 11-2 and 9-0 games when Finland was green they always play us tough. 1991 we tied them in the round robin, lost in the Bronze medal game in 1998. Won a tight quarterfinal game in 2002 against them, lost in the round robin in 2006 and then needed overtime in the round robin in 2014. Always tight. Even the 2004 championship game probably shouldn't have been so close, but it was.

Might have to bust out my 2004 World Cup DVD this holiday break. That Canada vs Czech game was unreal. I remember thinking Lecavalier was really on his way to mega superstardom.

I thought so too. I figured this was his coming out party and he was right around the age that the likes of Lafleur started hitting his stride. But it never happened. He had that bizarre season in 2006 where the league opened up a bit in a way that you figure would benefit him. The next year he hit his prime though, but it was short lived.

 

[notDatsyuk]

During the Final against Finland I remember Canada's 2nd goal from Scott Niedermayer was a shot that Miikka Kiprusoff should have saved and not let the puck get past him.
Yep. Except for that one misplay, the game was about even.