GDT: Gold Medal Game - May 26 - Canada vs Finland

[Merya]

 

[Gobben]

You should be careful what you wish for, they have the money to give unlimited ice time to all of the population if they want to.

But we mostly all think here that they are up to their ears.

A good Norwegian hockeyteam...

I would rather throw myself from the Trollhättan falls.

 

[Gobben]

This has derailed a bit, in a nice way but still. I'm gonna say my farewells to this lovely thread.
Thank You to everyone who enjoyed this miracle. No matter where you come from, if you can love this kind of story, you are my brother in loving sports!
- M

It was a great final.

 

[Stubu]

You fail to realize the beauty of this Great Win, Greatest of All Times perhaps - or the beauty of the subsequent celebration and folk party in Finland (and around). It is only your loss. Maybe lost in translation over the Ocean.

You forgot the Ronnie Dio voice mod,

 

[Stubu]

Unironically I just pull the The Myth of Origin of The Northern Tribes here. In English. Nobody laugh. There maybe more literally correct translations of it available, but our Finnish Bible Genesis translation suffers from same problems. However, this one is the Original, or at least more closely representing what was in the mind of our forefathers and mothers!

Disclaimer: We can spam often what ever might come to our minds, but when it goes to Finnish identity, the last stand of us, ancient knowledge and wisdom, it goes to there. If the game of hockey can be used for spreading any agendas or ideology or faith, or piece of world literature for those who don't understand then it should be done so. In modern world this Fenno-Ugric Genesis isn't killed anyone:

RUNE I.
BIRTH OF WAINAMOINEN

IN primeval times, a maiden,
Beauteous Daughter of the Ether,
Passed for ages her existence
In the great expanse of heaven,
O'er the prairies yet enfolded.
Wearisome the maiden growing,
Her existence sad and hopeless,
Thus alone to live for ages
In the infinite expanses
Of the air above the sea-foam,
In the far outstretching spaces,
In a solitude of ether,
She descended to the ocean,
Waves her coach, and waves her pillow.
Thereupon the rising storm-wind
Flying from the East in fierceness,
Whips the ocean into surges,
Strikes the stars with sprays of ocean
Till the waves are white with fervor.
To and fro they toss the maiden,
Storm-encircled, hapless maiden;
With her sport the rolling billows,
With her play the storm-wind forces,
On the blue back of the waters;
On the white-wreathed waves of ocean,
Play the forces of the salt-sea,
With the lone and helpless maiden;
Till at last in full conception,
Union now of force and beauty,
Sink the storm-winds into slumber;
Overburdened now the maiden
Cannot rise above the surface;
Seven hundred years she wandered,
Ages nine of man's existence,
Swam the ocean hither, thither,
Could not rise above the waters,
Conscious only of her travail;
Seven hundred years she labored
Ere her first-born was delivered.

Thus she swam as water-mother,
Toward the east, and also southward,
Toward the west, and also northward;
Swam the sea in all directions,
Frightened at the strife of storm-winds,
Swam in travail, swam unceasing,
Ere her first-born was delivered.
Then began she gently weeping,
Spake these measures, heavy-hearted:
"Woe is me, my life hard-fated!
Woe is me, in this my travail!
Into what have I now fallen?
Woe is me, that I unhappy,
Left my home in subtle ether,
Came to dwell amid the sea-foam,
To be tossed by rolling billows,
To be rocked by winds and waters,
On the far outstretching waters,
In the salt-sea's vast expanses,
Knowing only pain and trouble!
Better far for me, O Ukko!
Were I maiden in the Ether,
Than within these ocean-spaces,
To become a water-mother!
All this life is cold and dreary,
Painful here is every motion,
As I linger in the waters,
As I wander through the ocean.
Ukko, thou O God, up yonder,
Thou the ruler of the heavens,
Come thou hither, thou art needed,
Come thou hither, I implore thee,
To deliver me from trouble,
To deliver me in travail.
Come I pray thee, hither hasten,
Hasten more that thou art needed,
Haste and help this helpless maiden!"

When she ceased her supplications,
Scarce a moment onward passes,
Ere a beauteous duck descending,
Hastens toward the water-mother,
Comes a-flying hither, thither,
Seeks herself a place for nesting.
Flies she eastward, flies she westward,
Circles northward, circles southward,
Cannot find a grassy hillock,
Not the smallest bit of verdure;
Cannot find a spot protected,
Cannot find a place befitting,
Where to make her nest in safety.
Flying slowly, looking round her,
She descries no place for resting,
Thinking loud and long debating,
And her words are such as follow:
"Build I in the winds my dwelling,
On the floods my place of nesting?
Surely would the winds destroy it,
Far away the waves would wash it."

Then the daughter of the Ether,
Now the hapless water-mother,
Raised her shoulders out of water,
Raised her knees above the ocean,
That the duck might build her dwelling,
Build her nesting-place in safety.
Thereupon the duck in beauty,
Flying slowly, looking round her,
Spies the shoulders of the maiden,
Sees the knees of Ether's daughter,
Now the hapless water-mother,
Thinks them to be grassy hillocks,
On the blue back of the ocean.
Thence she flies and hovers slowly,
Lightly on the knee she settles,
Finds a nesting-place befitting,
Where to lay her eggs in safety.
Here she builds her humble dwelling,
Lays her eggs within, at pleasure,
Six, the golden eggs she lays there,
Then a seventh, an egg of iron;
Sits upon her eggs to hatch them,
Quickly warms them on the knee-cap
Of the hapless water-mother;
Hatches one day, then a second,
Then a third day sits and hatches.
Warmer grows the water round her,
Warmer is her bed in ocean,
While her knee with fire is kindled,
And her shoulders too are burning,
Fire in every vein is coursing.
Quick the maiden moves her shoulders,
Shakes her members in succession,
Shakes the nest from its foundation,
And the eggs fall into ocean,
Dash in pieces on the bottom
Of the deep and boundless waters.
In the sand they do not perish,
Not the pieces in the ocean;
But transformed, in wondrous beauty
All the fragments come together
Forming pieces two in number,
One the upper, one the lower,
Equal to the one, the other.
From one half the egg, the lower,
Grows the nether vault of Terra:
From the upper half remaining,
Grows the upper vault of Heaven;
From the white part come the moonbeams,
From the yellow part the sunshine,
From the motley part the starlight,
From the dark part grows the cloudage;
And the days speed onward swiftly,
Quickly do the years fly over,
From the shining of the new sun
From the lighting of the full moon.

Still the daughter of the Ether,
Swims the sea as water-mother,
With the floods outstretched before her,
And behind her sky and ocean.
Finally about the ninth year,
In the summer of the tenth year,
Lifts her head above the surface,
Lifts her forehead from the waters,
And begins at last her workings,
Now commences her creations,
On the azure water-ridges,
On the mighty waste before her.
Where her hand she turned in water,
There arose a fertile hillock;
Wheresoe'er her foot she rested,
There she made a hole for fishes;
Where she dived beneath the waters,
Fell the many deeps of ocean;
Where upon her side she turned her,
There the level banks have risen;
Where her head was pointed landward,
There appeared wide bays and inlets;
When from shore she swam a distance,
And upon her back she rested,
There the rocks she made and fashioned,
And the hidden reefs created,
Where the ships are wrecked so often,
Where so many lives have perished.

Thus created were the islands,
Rocks were fastened in the ocean,
Pillars of the sky were planted,
Fields and forests were created,
Checkered stones of many colors,
Gleaming in the silver sunlight,
All the rocks stood well established;
But the singer, Wainamoinen,
Had not yet beheld the sunshine,
Had not seen the golden moonlight,
Still remaining undelivered.
Wainamoinen, old and trusty,
Lingering within his dungeon
Thirty summers altogether,
And of winters, also thirty,
Peaceful on the waste of waters,
On the broad-sea's yielding bosom,
Well reflected, long considered,
How unborn to live and flourish
In the spaces wrapped in darkness,
In uncomfortable limits,
Where he had not seen the moonlight,
Had not seen the silver sunshine.
Thereupon these words be uttered,
Let himself be heard in this wise:
"Take, O Moon, I pray thee, take me,
Take me, thou, O Sun above me,
Take me, thou O Bear of heaven,
From this dark and dreary prison,
From these unbefitting portals,
From this narrow place of resting,
From this dark and gloomy dwelling,
Hence to wander from the ocean,
Hence to walk upon the islands,
On the dry land walk and wander,
Like an ancient hero wander,
Walk in open air and breathe it,
Thus to see the moon at evening,
Thus to see the silver sunlight,
Thus to see the Bear in heaven,
That the stars I may consider."

Since the Moon refused to free him,
And the Sun would not deliver,
Nor the Great Bear give assistance,
His existence growing weary,
And his life but an annoyance,
Bursts he then the outer portals
Of his dark and dismal fortress;
With his strong, but unnamed finger,
Opens he the lock resisting;
With the toes upon his left foot,
With the fingers of his right hand,
Creeps he through the yielding portals
To the threshold of his dwelling;
On his knees across the threshold,
Throws himself head foremost, forward
Plunges into deeps of ocean,
Plunges hither, plunges thither,
Turning with his hands the water;
Swims he northward, swims he southward,
Swims he eastward, swims he westward,
Studying his new surroundings.

Thus our hero reached the water,
Rested five years in the ocean,
Six long years, and even seven years,
Till the autumn of the eighth year,
When at last he leaves the waters,
Stops upon a promontory,
On a coast bereft of verdure;
On his knees he leaves the ocean,
On the land he plants his right foot,
On the solid ground his left foot,
Quickly turns his hands about him,
Stands erect to see the sunshine,
Stands to see the golden moonlight,
That he may behold the Great Bear,
That he may the stars consider.
Thus our hero, Wainamoinen,
Thus the wonderful enchanter
Was delivered from his mother,
Ilmatar, the Ether's daughter.

//

/Off-topically topical good mood spam

I actually read it through and I can confirm there were no glaring mistakes. If you ignore the horrible 19th century British, King James esque language. Doesn't make it easy to read. It's only one collection of poems anyway. Origin questionable. I envy the Book of Kells. So nicely written.

 

[Stubu]

meidän poika on tullut kotiin

 

[Morokolli]

Those with inside knowledge tell that Mark Stone earned more money this season than Team Finland combined.

 

[BL92]

Off to work it is. Not gonna get anything done, just have my thoughts on this amazing win.

 

[Stubu]

Yup ... and a canuck from Toronto is to blame. But of course no one ever will remember x-cept the one from Toronto. Shake for me Canada ...

We should all, not just Finns, but the entire HFB community, be forgiving of Toronto. We know they have delusions of grandeur due to low rent NHL office placements. The other part might be the drinking water. Let us be merciful. Ontario is no Finland.

 

[Stubu]

Off to work it is. Not gonna get anything done, just have my thoughts on this amazing win.

I already returned home. Team has a "night off", nuff said.

 

[Stubu]

The big difference being that the Finns where armed and trained for it, more trained than armed in the start.
Being ready and willing to go is the most important thing when the time comes, 3,5 million Finns mobilized over 500.000 men and suffered some 100.000 KIAs.

There is the meme "Sweden bravely fights to the last Finn" and there're the memes "Let sleeping dogs lay" and "Water under a jolly big bridge". Choose your colors. Remain or leave. Or learn and post something funny. [E: Jebus Kirstuss' I'm getting confrontational. Better go get some zzz.]

 

[Stubu]

This has derailed a bit, in a nice way but still. I'm gonna say my farewells to this lovely thread.
Thank You to everyone who enjoyed this miracle. No matter where you come from, if you can love this kind of story, you are my brother in loving sports!
- M

come on Merja, we're just getting started here

TORILLA TAVATTIIN and now it's hangover

 

[albator71]

Thank you for giving us the best sport in world.

You are welcome brother

 

[albator71]

I love Finnish hockey, i always keep informed about your Liiga, i wish i could watch the games here in canada. i like all the european domestic leagues SHL, DEL, NLA, even the czech extraliga, i love the passion of the fans over there, the singing, the flag waving, the atmosphere is unique to europeans. Hockey doesn't belong to us, it belongs to who ever loves it.

 

[Stubu]

I love Finnish hockey, i always keep informed about your Liiga, i wish i could watch the games here in canada. i like all the european domestic leagues SHL, DEL, NLA, even the czech extraliga, i love the passion of the fans over there, the singing, the flag waving, the atmosphere is unique to europeans. Hockey doesn't belong to us, it belongs to who ever loves it.

worng. all your hockey is belong to us.

 

[Newsworthy]

Thank You and all the Canadians, including media, that in the end cheered this totally unexpected finnish gold.
I hope, even the most bitter Canadians, Russians and others can see some pictures from Helsinki celebrations and see how much this means to Finland. Would you have really wanted it to turn around, would you have had this kind of celebrations? Most of all, this TEAM did it! It's even bigger than Lake Placid. It's insanely impossible, yet... MÖRKÖ MÖRKÖ MÖRKÖ MÖRKÖ

It's hard to take your post serious when you say this is bigger than Lake Placid.

 

[Stubu]

It's hard to take your post serious when you say this is bigger than Lake Placid.

In a way it was bigger than Moscow. Go disagree with Merya all you like.

 

[FiLe]

Kiviranta gave it all 100%. Even when it was 10 seconds left with the puck in the Canadian zone he grinded until the horn sounded

I was definitely surprised I didn't see any news outlets, even the tabloids, picking this up and turning it into one of those "did you notice this?" stories. When the rest of the squad was piled up and celebrating the title, he was at the opposite end of the rink, tangled up with a Canadian. The refs actually had to break them up.

A kind, considerate boy, that Kiviranta. The Canadians and the zebras would have no idea how it's going to a feel, being in a pile as a world champion, so he decided to give 'em a little taste of it.

 

[FinPanda]

Thanks for all the Finns here. It was a great tournament to follow. I hope to see you next year. Poika saunoo etc. Incredible performance and it was so much fun to watch.

Also thanks to everyone here, a lot of discussion from people all around the world. Just the best thing to see. Great sport, mostly great people. Saltiness doesn't change that. I know we would have had some saltiness too.

 

[DaJackal]

I'd hope that fellow Finns wouldn't be so quick to condemn Canadian fans who belittle this tournament as salty whiners. It is a fact that most Canadians don't care about this tournament because it's not "best on best". I've seen the same arguments when Canada wins it. That said, I hope they would start to give it more credit, because until NHL players are available on Olympic ice again, this is the best we got. (World Cup is a gimmick IMO.)

Also, it's not like Finland can now say that they are the superior hockey nation. We won this year's WHC and it's great, but this sport is still dominated by Canada. Nowadays it's just gotten more even between the top six nations, so Canada's position as the undisputed #1 may change some day. But it requires more than 1 WHC win and 1 WJC win.

Enough with this, party on!

 

[RageQuit77]

Its wonderful thing when you find smile lingering on your face, regardless of rather bad physical feeling, caused by over-consumption of alcohol, thrill, messed up sleeping rhythm, and in my case absolutely too many cigarettes smoked for relieving the stress (normal pace is some 40+ fags per day, lately its been more like 60-70 per day). Yes! Damn f***ing unhealthy combination, particularly when eating times have been rather randomly distributed too, containing what ever low quality stuff available (beer has been most frequently appearing article on a groceries -list).

I'm happy how the tournament ended, but also for that it really ended. Aftermath have been certain ways easier than games itself.

And to Canadian fans. You'll gonna give us Finns enough hard times in the future, no worries. This time it was miraclously and historically our time. GG!

 

[Ippenator]

Thank you for your bitter tears. They go well with the salty tears of happiness I and half the nation have had from joy!
SPENGLER! gods...

And we won even Spengler Cup this year! Finnish Liiga team KalPa beat Canada (of course!) in the final...

 

[Tomas W]

Congrats Finland, a great display of sisu!

 

[FiLe]

Yeah yeah, this was just one WHC tournament, but I must say, in many ways this feels like the beginning of a new era in Finnish hockey - and especially in men's hockey. (With Juniors, we got to that same place about five years ago.) While the WHC may not be the most prestigious event in the hockey world, and Finland's still hunting their first best-on-best gold medal, this still is, in many ways, the first truly historically remarkable achievement for the Finnish National Team. Don't get me wrong, 1995 was an important milestone as well, but due to the NHL lockout and the extended season, we were back then one of the favorites for winning that tournament. In the end, it was not a massive surprise they took that one home.

While in the stats books this will be noted simply as one of the annual WHC titles, the story behind this one is something else regardless. Some Americans have clearly taken offense when it's been compared to their precious 1980 Miracle on Ice. Maybe it doesn't completely compare, maybe it does, but regardless, I think we could agree that this is, at the very least, the greatest underdog success story since "The Miracle". This was a squad that consisted of a couple of part-time NHLers, a bunch of players from Liiga and various other European leagues, backstopped by an AHL/ECHL level goalie. In the final round of the tournament they took on three squads chock-full of NHL talent - and beat them all. (Canadians may say this was their C/D team, but despite that it was still full of seasoned NHLers.)

It doesn't matter whether this was one of international hockey's marquee events or not - the sheer improbability of this achievement requires all the recognition it can get. And while I don't expect this to become any kind of regular occurrence - we're still going to finish many more tournaments outside the top podium than on it - I still feel like this marks a historical shift in Finnish hockey, for one simple reason: We've just captured a WHC title with the least impressive team Finland could imaginably field. Any team we send to any future major tournament can't be worse on paper, and many will be significantly better. So from here on out, whenever a Finnish hockey player says the stock line, "we can beat anyone in this tournament and win gold", they don't have to say it simply because they believe it - they can say it because it's a fact.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

I also think this will be remembered and appreciated for a long a time because how it happened.