Finland 4, USA 3 FINAL

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nik jr

Registered User
Sep 25, 2005
10,798
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definitely finns worst game.

finland should have called timeout in middle of 3rd. they were either scrambling or standing around, just letting usa control the play.
us were bad at start but better after timeout calmed them down. finns should have done same thing. :help:

the D was weaker and us forechecking was effective.

obviously, too many penalties.

i hate ruutu.

i think russia will beat finland.
 

Random Oracle

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Aug 3, 2005
2,112
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I thought it was a bad game by Finland, but I'll take the win anyway. Hopefully this is the team's one bad game in the tournament and we'll see a marked improvement against Russia. I'm not too optimistic about our chances, but I'll be happy if the team gives a good performance.
 

Kain

Registered User
Mar 10, 2005
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On the Road...Again
Nice game...

Niittymäki saved that last goal like no one's business! Jari Kurri was also about to have a heart attack like me! Either way, USA fought til the end, Finland didn't play as well as they've had in this tournament. I was hoping Russia woudn't win against Canada tonight, but of course they did.

It should be a tough match on Friday for Finland. Cheers to both teams tonight! :handclap:
 

Vulture

Registered User
Feb 19, 2006
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Chelíos was surprisingly good,

although he is ugly as hell, but he really was the one with heart. It wasn't a mistake to take him to Team USA, by far, there were much weaker men than him on the roster.

Bad game for finns, luckily we get Russia as our opponent for the next round. Finns never win Canada, but Russia we can we, no matter who is in their roster.
 

Raimo Sillanpää

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Mar 11, 2003
1,848
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Espoo, Finland
Westerlund is incapable of acting when action is needed. He's an Aravirta clone in that matter. Finland desperately needed a time-out to prevent that heart-attack ending we so nearly endured.

When will our coaching staff learn that we cannot sit back and become passive and hope we can get through by hanging on? It doesn't fit the Finish psyche and has never ever worked.
The problem is amplified as the assistants, Dufva and Virta are carbon copies in terms of character. They're passive coaches too and can't act. On the bench we need either a BS preacher like Tami, who at least acts and uses his time-outs. Or a Summanen/Jortikka psycho who will go red in the face and detail it out in no uncertain terms to our guys that you cannot become passive like we did.

Lost Salo. Ouch, now we're really lacking in physical d-men. Kukkonen isn't at that level, we really need Pitkänen there =(
 

MeN_Ace2

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Dec 22, 2002
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Portland, OR
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Raimo Sillanpää said:
Westerlund is incapable of acting when action is needed. He's an Aravirta clone in that matter. Finland desperately needed a time-out to prevent that heart-attack ending we so nearly endured.

When will our coaching staff learn that we cannot sit back and become passive and hope we can get through by hanging on? It doesn't fit the Finish psyche and has never ever worked.
The problem is amplified as the assistants, Dufva and Virta are carbon copies in terms of character. They're passive coaches too and can't act. On the bench we need either a BS preacher like Tami, who at least acts and uses his time-outs. Or a Summanen/Jortikka psycho who will go red in the face and detail it out in no uncertain terms to our guys that you cannot become passive like we did.

Lost Salo. Ouch, now we're really lacking in physical d-men. Kukkonen isn't at that level, we really need Pitkänen there =(


The thing is, I didn't see it like that at all... but I watched it here in the States not on Yle. :)

Today was the first time I felt Finland has finally learned how to win games like the other top teams. Sure they gave all of the possesion to US in the 3rd period but they beleived in their plan, and it worked. Unlike many Finnish fans on this forum, I felt Finland finally excelled at what the Czechs and Canadians have always been good at; protecting the lead by very simple defensive play and trying to make sure you minimize 2 on 1 etc.

Finland has a plan for these Olympics, and they are executing it perfectly IMO. The team is confident, and beleives they can win anyone as long as they play their game and stick to the plan. I feel Finland will go all the way now. Best team Finland has EVER had in a tournament, and the passion shows! :clap:
 

Orpik#44

Registered User
Feb 21, 2006
2
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The way USA was playing in the last period reminded me of those horrendous Finland-Sweden matches when Finland is leading by a few goals.. :eek:

Fortunately with a few early goals and Niittymäki playing great we managed to pull it off. USA played well and was maybe a bit unlucky too, some nice slapshots by Schneider.

Phew.. :bow:
 

Sampe

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
2,648
2
Vantaa
Random Oracle said:
Hopefully this is the team's one bad game in the tournament and we'll see a marked improvement against Russia.

My thoughts exactly. I wasn't impressed by the third period and I didn't think Finland play was completely controlled at all, and our three most offensively gifted forwards even sort of admitted as much after the game (Jokinen - "Too passive". Selänne - "Too cautious". Koivu - "Not a good game by us"). But what I was impressed with was winning even on a bad day. That still tells that something good is happening within this team. I'm confident that we'll play our best game yet against Russia.

Whether that will be enough or not, however, is an entirely different case. Russia is easily the scariest (and most entertaining) team left in this tournament IMO.

Btw, Jussi Jokinen will owe Petteri Nummelin quite a few beers by the end of the tournament. That's four wasted breakaways set up by Nummelin in 6 games and counting...
 

bolt boy

Registered User
Aug 2, 2005
53
0
Hockey Bay,Fl
Congrats to Finland, the only good thing to come out of this is that Waddell and Laviolette are gone. Heres to Jay Feaster and John Torterella leading The US in 2010.
 

Joe MacMillan

Registered User
Aug 10, 2005
4,882
102
Helsinki
MeN_Ace2 said:
The thing is, I didn't see it like that at all... but I watched it here in the States not on Yle. :)

Today was the first time I felt Finland has finally learned how to win games like the other top teams. Sure they gave all of the possesion to US in the 3rd period but they beleived in their plan, and it worked. Unlike many Finnish fans on this forum, I felt Finland finally excelled at what the Czechs and Canadians have always been good at; protecting the lead by very simple defensive play and trying to make sure you minimize 2 on 1 etc.

Finland has a plan for these Olympics, and they are executing it perfectly IMO. The team is confident, and beleives they can win anyone as long as they play their game and stick to the plan. I feel Finland will go all the way now. Best team Finland has EVER had in a tournament, and the passion shows! :clap:
Czech and Canada never become that passive in the final minutes of the game. It seems like it's our eternal problem and we've lost games many times because of that. In World Championships 2003 we had the 5-1 lead against Sweden after 30 minutes of play but we ****ing lost the game 6-5. We simply cannot keep the lead if we become too passive, last night the luck was on our side and thanks to Niittymäki we advanced. I don't say we were lucky to win the game but in the last minutes we were a bit lucky to keep the lead.
 
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