Photo by Greg Hickman/ Flickr

The quarterfinal round of the World Championships saw several powerhouse nations eliminated from competition. First Canada was bounced by the Slovakian squad. Later the same day, Finland sent the United States packing. The defending championships move on to play Russia tomorrow to see who will get a shot at the gold.

For most of the game, the Americans held control in spite of the Finns striking first on the scoreboard. Forward Jesse Joensuu scored the first goal of the game in the second period, but there wasn’t a lot of time for the home fans to celebrate. Kyle Palmieri tied the game just 21 seconds later and the US took the lead on Bobby Ryan’s goal early in the third period.

The Finns kept coming and tied the game when a Jussi Jokinen pass deflected off of Mikko Koivu’s skate and past Jimmy Howard. To make it even more dramatic, the game winner came from Jesse Joensuu with just 9 seconds left in regulation time.

“I’ve watched the World Championships on TV for 18 years, and to be here now is fantastic,” said Joensuu. “Those were my first goals on the national team. Nice to get them now.” (Quote Source: NHL.com)

» Continue reading “Finland Ousts USA, Move On To Semifinals”

Kari Lehtonen Photo by Bridget Samuels/ Flickr

The defending gold medalists had a tough weekend at the World Championships. They looked unbeatable until falling 5-3 to Canada on Friday. Looking to right the ship against the Americans on Sunday, they were shut out 5-0. To make matters worse, the Finns lost goalie Kari Lehtonen to injury in the game against the USA.

Lehtonen left the game with just about 7 minutes to play after a Bobby Ryan fell on him in the crease. No exact word on the injury except the old stand by “undisclosed lower body injury” tale.

Sunday’s game was also notable for another bad reason. Defenseman Anssi Salmela was ejected from the game following a nasty hit on Alex Goligoski:

» Continue reading “Flailing Finns Lose Lehtonen To Injury”

 Unfortunautely, Canada rallied back on goals from John Tavares and Jeff Skinner to tie it. The third period saw a goal by Evander Kane . Kari Lehtonen was pulled in the final minute of regulation and Jordan Eberle scored an empty netter to seal the victory.

“The first period was great, even the second, but when they got the lead in the third, we just couldn’t get back,” said Valtteri Filppula. “We couldn’t play full 60 minutes the way we wanted, but I don’t want to take anything away from Canada.” (Quote Source: IIHF Website)

Tomorrow Finland will meet the United States, another team having a strong tournament with only one loss on their record.

Proud Finland By Scandinavia And The World

First and foremost, credit has to be given to the outstanding Webcomic Scandinavia And The World. They posted the drawing used in this post after Finland won the Gold Medal at the 2011 World Championships. Inspired by their character for Finland and the country’s coat of arms. Thanks for letting us share your work!

Not only is Finland one of the host countries for this year’s tournament, but they are coming in as the defending championships. Last week’s International rankings showed them as the number 1 squad in the world. This is the first time Suomi has topped the pre-Championship ranking since its introduction in 2004.

To say there is some pressure on the Finns to put in an outstanding performance may be a bit of an understatement.

One of the most surprising things about Finland’s success last year and going into this one is that their roster doesn’t command the star power that some of the other squads have. Canada, USA, and even Sweden are studded with NHL talent. Only six guys on their roster are active players in the National Hockey League.

Last year’s breakout star Mikael Granlund returns to represent his country. And we all remember what he did last year:

» Continue reading “Finland Looks To Defend Gold At Home During World Championships”