Pre-game thread: Team FINLAND - Team CANADA

To achieve something significant. To go down in hockey history. To be remembered.

We - the Finnish - do not get chances like this every day.

To win Team Canada - IN TORONTO !! IN THE WORLD CUP FINAL !! - would be something unthinkable. We would definately be remembered.

Anyhoo.. We. Are. Ready.

Game on.

World Cup Final: Canada 4 Finland 1

As I am on record as having predicted last month, before the tourney began. :win:

I tell ya, if Canada loses, I am not going to mind losing to the great Finnish hockey fans.

Hockey is #1 in Finland and the fans would deserve a champ.

That being said.. go Canada. ;)

I tell ya, if Canada loses, I am not going to mind losing to the great Finnish hockey fans.

Hockey is #1 in Finland and the fans would deserve a champ.

That being said.. go Canada. ;)
Me too. If Canada is going to lose, Finland would be the one team or country where I wouldn't mind.

I tell ya, if Canada loses, I am not going to mind losing to the great Finnish hockey fans.



If there's one team I wouldn't mind losing to, it would be the Finns. However, there really isn't any team I truly wouldn't mind losing to. It's all about winning!!! :D

I wouldnt be heart broken too if we lose to the Finns especialy against Saku!!

so will Bredour be back by tuesday?

Go Finland!!!!


Suomi!

so will Bredour be back by tuesday?

I sure hope so because Luongo's performence wasn't to convincing.

Go Finland!!!!


Suomi!

Sorry but Finland has no chance. :)

Sorry but Finland has no chance. :)

oh we'll see about that ;)

Sorry but Finland has no chance. :)
Don't be an idiot. Their is a reason Finland is here. Some people thought they didn't have a chance against the Swedes or the Americans as well.

This Finland team deserves alot of credit, give it to them.

Don't be an idiot. Their is a reason Finland is here. Some people thought they didn't have a chance against the Swedes or the Americans as well.

This Finland team deserves alot of credit, give it to them.

Believe me that I knew all along that Finland will meet with Canada in the final. I give them tonns of credit but you have to admit that Canada has a to much power and skill for the Finns.

Believe me that I knew all along that Finland will meet with Canada in the final. I give them tonns of credit but you have to admit that Canada has a to much power and skill for the Finns.

If it so happens that the pesky little Finns win - I´LL BE QUOTING YOU !!

GO FINLAND GO !!!

If it so happens that the pesky little Finns win - I´LL BE QUOTING YOU !!

GO FINLAND GO !!!

No problem :p: .

Believe me that I knew all along that Finland will meet with Canada in the final.
Wa...? Before the tourney I scoured the net trying to find non-Finns who thought Finland would be in the final, and found nobody who thought they would go all that way only to lose in the end.

Except me. ;)

Here's evidence of my pre-tourney prediction, Canada wins 4-1 over Finland in the Final, along with extended reasoning as to why.

Just scroll down to the 6th post, dated August 30th:
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=20750&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=45


Smoothskater, okay, I admit you might be one of the very small minority who thought likewise. But it's hard to believe because, of over 75,000 who voted in the nhl.com poll before the tourney, under 2% chose Finland to go all the way, and I suspect that most of those were Finns.

Slovakia was the overhyped "longshot" pick; the Swedes and Americans were given a lot of credit for aged star forwards despite the lack of goaltending, I mean, obvious lack. Russia was considered talented but unorganized, yet suddenly received a bandwagon of supporters after the first few games of the tourney, as did Finland after a great start.

The Finns are NOT lucky to be in the final, NO luckier than Canada (and arguably less so). Finland played their game, and did it well. They deserve to be there. Having enough role players is more important than assembling an all-star team, as Canada learned in putting together this year's team.

Wa...? Before the tourney I scoured the net trying to find non-Finns who thought Finland would be in the final, and found nobody who thought they would go all that way only to lose in the end.

Except me. ;)

.

Hey Man,

I also predicted the Finns in the final.

In fact I had a final standings of

1.Canada
2.Finland
3.Czech


It helps because I'm a huge Koivu/Ruutu fan and I just had a feeling with Kipper playing the way he did in the playoffs and the leadership of Koivu that the Finns would make it.

Unbiased Canadian

I am at least glad Summanen listened when Yurzinov preached. Because Aravirta sure didn't.

Wonder if we'll see Maltby and Nieminen go in for some of the rough stuff :D

Finland is a good team, but tonight was the championship game. Finland beat the Czechs earlier, but the Czech Republic was a totally different team when they played the finns, seeing how they lost to sweden as well but destroyed them a week later. Tonight, the Czechs played an awesome game and thoroughly outplayed Canada. I just don't see the Finns being able to outplay the Canadians.

Hey Man,

I also predicted the Finns in the final.

In fact I had a final standings of

1.Canada
2.Finland
3.Czech

Unbiased Canadian
Did you post your prediction anywhere?

And how unbiased a Canadian are you to reason from being a Koivu/Ruutu fan to choosing them to be in the final? ;) Biased Canadiens fan you !

Finland is a good team, but tonight was the championship game. Finland beat the Czechs earlier, but the Czech Republic was a totally different team when they played the finns, seeing how they lost to sweden as well but destroyed them a week later. Tonight, the Czechs played an awesome game and thoroughly outplayed Canada. I just don't see the Finns being able to outplay the Canadians.
Summanen makes pretty decent on-the-fly changes and I wouldn't be surprised to see him deploy three shut-down lines. If Finland is to win this, it is not going to be by outplaying, but outhustling them. And with the energy guys team Finland has... It wouldn't be the biggest long shot in the world.

Finland is a great team, with good players. Canada is a good team with great players. We'll see what matters more.

Wa...? Before the tourney I scoured the net trying to find non-Finns who thought Finland would be in the final, and found nobody who thought they would go all that way only to lose in the end.
.
Ah, I picked Canada - Finland final. Right on this very messageboard, in the polls board.

Canada is going to destroy Finland.

Humiliate them!

Canada is going to destroy Finland.

Humiliate them!
hopefully both Ruutu and Nieminen runs over their goalie though :D

I'm a Canadian citizen with two Finnish parents, this game confuses me more than anything.

I'm a Canadian citizen with two Finnish parents, this game confuses me more than anything.

Have the cake and eat it too...?

Lose-lose -situation ? Win-win -situation ?

Tell me more...

Ah, I picked Canada - Finland final. Right on this very messageboard, in the polls board.
Yes! I looked and can see that there is evidence that you and littlehossa picked Finland as well. (You're not of Finn heritage are you? I'm not. They just had the second best balanced lineup for this tourney on a smaller ice surface, in my opinion.)

We are in the minority.

Shoot! 48% of HFboard users polled chose Sweden to be the team with a greatest chance to win it all, if Canada doesn't. Nearly half! :lol One guy posted that he wanted to change his vote because he realized that defense wins championships, Finns have Kiprusoff and Sweden is weak between the pipes (understatement).

There have been few surprises in this tourney for us, eh? Few at all.

Finland is a good team, but tonight was the championship game. Finland beat the Czechs earlier, but the Czech Republic was a totally different team when they played the finns, seeing how they lost to sweden as well but destroyed them a week later. Tonight, the Czechs played an awesome game and thoroughly outplayed Canada. I just don't see the Finns being able to outplay the Canadians.

Last night's game was not the final.
There's two unbeaten teams in the final, how one earth can that not be a final??

But I hope the Canadian press go wild and say "last night was the final", then our boys will read those, get fired up, and hound Canada behind their net, in their own zone, and score the goals necessary to win just like they did against the US.

This team Finland refuses to think of itself as a poorer-cousin as works harder, hits harder, hits more, chases more agressively and never gives up.

I tell ya, if Canada loses, I am not going to mind losing to the great Finnish hockey fans.

Hockey is #1 in Finland and the fans would deserve a champ.

That being said.. go Canada. ;)

Russian and Slovakian fans appeared to be more into the games than the Finns at the games I went to. They were all great fans. All hockey fans are great fans. I'm rooting for Finland on Tuesday; I'll be curious to see the reaction to the style of play.

Go Canada Go

The Fins deserve this one but if they want it they'll have to get through Goliath :yo:

Finland is a good team, but tonight was the championship game. Finland beat the Czechs earlier, but the Czech Republic was a totally different team when they played the finns, seeing how they lost to sweden as well but destroyed them a week later. Tonight, the Czechs played an awesome game and thoroughly outplayed Canada. I just don't see the Finns being able to outplay the Canadians.

This subject can be specualted as much as possible, but it won`t change the fact that there is Canada and Finland playing in the final.
Saying Czech was totally different team against than against finns and swedes for the first time, truth! But do you think that Chech is that much better team (6-1) than Sweden. No it`s not. Truth is Sweden played like crap in that game(sameway as Chech did in the beginning), they were tired because game against Finland. Sameway finns were tired after that game and played like crap against Germany. Considering that we could say that Finland-Sweden game was the championship game, cause both teams played so hard that they could play on their own level after that game.

Finland is a good team, but tonight was the championship game. Finland beat the Czechs earlier, but the Czech Republic was a totally different team when they played the finns, seeing how they lost to sweden as well but destroyed them a week later. Tonight, the Czechs played an awesome game and thoroughly outplayed Canada. I just don't see the Finns being able to outplay the Canadians.

:shakehead
Finland and Canada are the best teams in this tournament, no matter how you twist it. Czech lost to Finland and did not make it to the finals. There is absolutely no way anyone can twist that into Czech being the second best.

By the way, nobody saw Czech being able to dominate against Canada either but it happened. Canada still won.

Finland does not have the best team, or the second best team, or even the third best team in this tournament, but there is no team I fear more in the final. I would rather my beloved Canada play anyone else. The reason is simple: Finland has a goalie that could do to Canada what Richter did to Canada in 96. Beat them all by himself.

I just hope this game is not as dull as the US/Suomi semifinal.

Finland does not have the best team, or the second best team, or even the third best team in this tournament, .

READ MY LIPS:Finland is now atleast second best TEAM in this tourney.Maybe finland dont have superstar players in roster but as a TEAM finns are atleast second
best. :lol:

My quick breakdown:

Goaltending - If Brodeaur plays I say its even, if not, Finns advantage.

Defence - This in early season tournament with insane amount of skill on ice, so it is hardly suprising that defencive play has been less than perfect. Still Canada hasn't really impressed that much here, Finnish dman on the other have mostly looked great which I attribute to solid team effort and confidence on Kipru. Advantage Finns.

Offence - Canada. The big difference is Sakic - Lemieux.

Special teams - Canada, mainly due to a more effective PP. Both Finnish PK and PP units leave lot to be desired.

Intagibles - Finns. They have no real preasure and the Niinimaa/Summanen mess seems to have been overcome, they are perfectly happy being underdogs. Canada has looked nervous, and I don't see that chancing. Reffing is almost always an advantage to the home team, and in this case could be more so on than usual. Still, if the refs just don't call anything, it will favour the Finns because of Canada's better PP.

Finland's defensive play is better than the Czechs, so I don't see Canada having as many scoring chances as they did against the Czechs. However, Finland's offense is nowhere near that of the Czechs, so I don't see Canada's D overwhelmed like they were vs. the Czechs.

Talent wise Czechs > Finns

However, Kiprusoff > Vokoun

Canada should outplay the Finns, but Kiprusoff is capable of stealing the game.

It should be a 2-1 or 3-2 game.

Too bad it won't be as wide open and entertaining as Canada-Czechs. Finland will be trapping (aggressively, not passively), but I don't blame them: they want to win.

I like our chances against Canada. They had a lot of problems with Czech forcheck and i think Finland's forcheck is better than Czech's. Also our defence is better than Czech and hopefully also goaltending.

However i think we will see better Canada in the final than yesterday.

I like our chances against Canada. They had a lot of problems with Czech forcheck and i think Finland's forcheck is better than Czech's. Also our defence is better than Czech and hopefully also goaltending.

However i think we will see better Canada in the final than yesterday.


i couldnt agree with you more ;)

even though I hope that Finland will win :yo:

at least they wont give up easily what ever happens :handclap:

--sisulla loppuun asti---

Finns will win. I know this because they always win the big games when I miss them.

I have night shift at work so I can't watch the game... meaning Finland will win 8-1.

wow. Finns being optimistic.... wtf? :dunno: :amazed: :confused:

Canada should be wary, insanely wary of the Finns. The Czech Republic played like men posessed for the memory for the late and great 21. Finland is on the cusp of reaching immortality, one step away from accomplishing the greatest acheivement in Finnish Hockey history and being revered as gods in their country (They are demi-gods right now probably but demi-gods fade within the backdrop of history, gods don't). Very few of the Finnish players have ever won anything (Jere is probably the only one whose got some hardware, WJCs and WCs don't count, I'm talking about the real stuff; Lord Stanley and Canada/World Cup and of course how could I have forgotten? the Olympic Gold) and they are like rabid dogs, they are damned hungry. Summanen is a crazy fuc*er, Koivu is a great leader and Kipper is one hell of a goalie. And Finland is probably the only other country where hockey is number one, Canada's game you say? Suomi is dying to claim it as their own. The Finns are to be feared.

My prediction... is that I have none, that's how wary I am of the Finns.

Canada should be wary, insanely wary of the Finns. The Czech Republic played like men posessed for the memory for the late and great 21. Finland is on the cusp of reaching immortality, one step away from accomplishing the greatest acheivement in Finnish Hockey history and being revered as gods in their country (They are demi-gods right now probably but demi-gods fade within the backdrop of history, gods don't). Very few of the Finnish players have ever won anything (Jere is probably the only one whose got some hardware, WJCs and WCs don't count, I'm talking about the real stuff; Lord Stanley and Canada/World Cup) and they are like rabid dogs, they are damned hungry. Summanen is a crazy fuc*er, Koivu is a great leader and Kipper is one hell of a goalie. And Finland is probably the only other country where hockey is number one, Canada's game you say? Suomi is dying to claim it as their own. The Finns are to be feared.

My prediction... is that I have none, that's how wary I am of the Finns.
World cups, Canada cups etc. (and for most of this players stanley cups) don't come close to say an olympic medal.

World cups, Canada cups etc. (and for most of this players stanley cups) don't come close to say an olympic medal.
Ah my apologies for that, I'll have to add that in, can't believe it slipped my mind.

Very few of the Finnish players have ever won anything (Jere is probably the only one whose got some hardware, WJCs and WCs don't count, I'm talking about the real stuff; Lord Stanley and Canada/World Cup and of course how could I have forgotten? the Olympic Gold)
Nieminen and I think Hahl too have also won the cup (with Avs.) And we have Kurri on staff :) Now that I think of it, didn't Summanen win the cup with the Oilers too?

I have confidence in Canada, but I hope they don't go into this game thinking this is Finland of old. Hell, even Finland of old beat us in the bronze medal game 6 years ago. Hopefully Gretzky remembers that...

The team I feared the most were the Czechs, and Canada squeaked by them. Other than that, I have confidence Canada could beat anybody in the tourney. Not saying it'll be easy, or that Finland won't win, but I'm betting on Canada.

Nieminen and I think Hahl too have also won the cup (with Avs.) And we have Kurri on staff :) Now that I think of it, didn't Summanen win the cup with the Oilers too?
Was Hahl was regular? I remember Nieminen now, he had a great postseason. Kurri well, I was talking about the players lol.

I have confidence in Canada, but I hope they don't go into this game thinking this is Finland of old. Hell, even Finland of old beat us in the bronze medal game 6 years ago. Hopefully Gretzky remembers that...


I remember that too. Well, since we saw off the Czechs last night, there's no better time to reverse the second setback of Nagano '98, the lost bronze medal. Tough game, but I don't think the Finns think can score the way the Czechs did.
And hopefully the scare last night smartened us up a bit. 3-1 Canada.

I don't really think it matters who wins because in the end hockey is the big winner. Another game like last night or the Finland-Sweden game and hockey wins.

Winners come and go but hockey needs to grow to the level of European football. Let's get the world interested in this great sport. And if you think I'm off my rocker, the world cup is being broadcasted to 62-67 countries. Not bad for a winter sport.

Good luck to both teams and I hope they put on a great show. (P.S. I wouldn't mind losing to the Finns - but I am rooting for Canada)

Sisu!

Yes! I looked and can see that there is evidence that you and littlehossa picked Finland as well. (You're not of Finn heritage are you? I'm not. They just had the second best balanced lineup for this tourney on a smaller ice surface, in my opinion.)
We are in the minority.

Nope, never even been to Finland.

Right from the onset of this tournament you knew Finland had strong goaltending and played a very good tight team defence game, that will get you the wins everytime. Especially if your opponents (Sweden) have the worst goaltending in the tournament.

I think that Finland have chance to win this world cup, but so has Canada. Of course I believe in our boys!:D But everything is possible. And I think I wrote that wrong...:)
SUOMI RULAA! MIETTIKÄÄ SITÄ!!!:D

Canada won the coin toss (heheh..yeah sure..) and they will be the home team and have advantage in line changes.

Will be a hard fought match. Finland has been defending as a team much better than Canada or Czechs did, but of course Canada has more tools for scoring. Both have excellent goaltending so I doubt we will see lots of scoring. I have to believe in Finland and predict a 3-1 win. Jokinen, T.Ruutu and Selänne for Finland, Smyth for Canada.

Why exactly would Canada need to win a coin toss, in theory? They had a better record than the Finns, 3-0-0 compared to 2-0-1.

I like our chances too. If we (Finland) stick to our defensive, high forecheck game-plan, and if Kipper is himself, we might even win. Hell, I think that I'm being overly confident here. I agree with some previous posts, our forecheck & D is way better than Czechs. And Kiprusoff is probably the best goalie in this tournament.

Of course Canada will outplay us offensively, but every team in this tournament, except Germany of course, would probably have done that too. On defense it's going be to be pretty equal I think, at least if Brodeur won't be able to play. On the special teams, at least on the PP, (Sakic, Mario, Iginla) the Canadians also have an advantage. But...

It's the heart that will win the game (as always, though). The Sisu. And we've got lots of it. It's the last chance to win something big (at least on the international level) for Selänne, Koivu, Lehtinen, Peltonen, Numminen etc, and they know it. Like someone wrote up there, if Finland wins, the players will be gods.

My very, very optimistic prediction:

CANADA - FINLAND 2-3

Draper
Mario

Koivu
Nieminen
Selänne

About Tay-moo Sell-ah-knee. About everyone has been bashing him for a year now, it's true that he had a bad season with the Avs, but in the World Cup he has, in my opinion, played well. He has never played with this kind of aggression and passion. The "vi**u" after the USA game describes his attitude now. Sure it isn't the old Teemu, it isn't the sniper. He doesn't have the scoring touch, the nose for the net or whatever. Self-confidence issues I think. Plus, his biggest asset, his speed has reduced, maybe it's the knee, who knows. But he still has a lethal shot. And he'll use it to score the biggest goal in the Finnish hockey history. I hope.

That's my cocky and arrogant North American-style prediction, and now I'll jump off Summanen's "I believe / Our day" bandwagon and say that Canada will win 5-1. Oh yeah, and if we win, we did it in a wrong way and the final was already played in the Canada-USA round robin game.

Why exactly would Canada need to win a coin toss, in theory? They had a better record than the Finns, 3-0-0 compared to 2-0-1.

Because it has nothing to do with record but the fact that both won their pools (at this point they are both equally #1) and have since won their semi's...

Thats how it was, but like I said Canada won the alledged coin toss.

My prediction is that the score will be 1-1 with 4 minutes left in the third... then all hell will break loose ;)

but I don't think the Finns can score the way the Czechs did.


True. BUT... Finland will freeze the tempo of the game. They will DEFEND. They will HIT !! They will make the Canadiens frustrated. And then - when Team Canada thinks that they have everything under control - we strike. Just like we did against Team USA. We will force you to play the game OUR WAY !

And WE WILL WIN !!!


GO FINLAND GO !!!

Sisu!


YESSSS !!!!!!

(for those of you who are not Finnish, "sisu" means - roughly translated - GUTS. As in having the guts to do something)

We will not be a walk in the park. A day at the beach.

We WILL be a handful.

Game on.

Canada-Finland 1-2. After the game everybody says that it was "a dull and väärin voitettu game". But all the canadians can comfort themselves by listening "the best of Celin Dion". :help:

Looks like the Koivu line will matchup against the DDT line, that should be a good matchup.

Canada-Finland 1-2. After the game everybody says that it was "a dull and väärin voitettu game". But all the canadians can comfort themselves by listening "the best of Celin Dion". :help:
No one likes Celin Dion in Canada. That's why she is in Vegas.

And the winner will recieve...this peice of crap trophy
http://images.tsn.ca/images/stories/20040821/cup_3208.jpg

Wa...? Before the tourney I scoured the net trying to find non-Finns who thought Finland would be in the final, and found nobody who thought they would go all that way only to lose in the end.

Except me. ;)

Here's evidence of my pre-tourney prediction, Canada wins 4-1 over Finland in the Final, along with extended reasoning as to why.

Just scroll down to the 6th post, dated August 30th:
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=20750&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=45


Smoothskater, okay, I admit you might be one of the very small minority who thought likewise. But it's hard to believe because, of over 75,000 who voted in the nhl.com poll before the tourney, under 2% chose Finland to go all the way, and I suspect that most of those were Finns.

Slovakia was the overhyped "longshot" pick; the Swedes and Americans were given a lot of credit for aged star forwards despite the lack of goaltending, I mean, obvious lack. Russia was considered talented but unorganized, yet suddenly received a bandwagon of supporters after the first few games of the tourney, as did Finland after a great start.

The Finns are NOT lucky to be in the final, NO luckier than Canada (and arguably less so). Finland played their game, and did it well. They deserve to be there. Having enough role players is more important than assembling an all-star team, as Canada learned in putting together this year's team.


don't get hurt while patting yourself on the back :joker:

To achieve something significant. To go down in hockey history. To be remembered.

We - the Finnish - do not get chances like this every day.

To win Team Canada - IN TORONTO !! IN THE WORLD CUP FINAL !! - would be something unthinkable. We would definately be remembered.

Anyhoo.. We. Are. Ready.

Game on.
-----------------

This would be like GREECE defeating Portugal at EURO2004...........IF it were to happen that is.........Good Luck.......you're gonna need it.

Cheers!~

monkey_00

My Prediction:

Finland 3.....Canada 2 (In Overtime)
Miikka Kiprusoff- MVP

It's gonna be a great game. I'll enjoy it, because it'll be the last elite-level game I see for a long time I'm sure.

Go Canada!

4 -2 win by Finland. Kiprusoff stands on his head and makes up a little for losing the Stanley Cup.

Finland is a great team, with good players. Canada is a good team with great players. We'll see what matters more.

This quote is probably the most intelligent I've read on this thread. It resumes this world cup to a tee.

Now Canada has to make itself a great team.

I'm gonna miss the game cuz I'm workin Tuesday night :cry: :cry: :cry: :banghead:

Now Canada has to make itself a great team.
Yes! Sometimes people forget that a good team is more than the sum of its parts (a bad team, less than).

I laugh when people go "This team has player A+B+C+D+E, so they will win" like with the Avalanche last year (NY Rangers most years lately).

The NHL all-star game is loaded with offensive talent but would get their butts kicked by many Stanley Cup champion teams with talent and coordination in all those aspects of the game underrepresented among superstars (aggressive forechecking, penalty killing, taking puinishment near the crease, blocking shots, checking forwards, big hits,... not to mention chemistry and the like).

Finland has all the parts of a great team, all the so-called "role players", and they are playing together well. Canada needs to bench some scorers and put all the parts out there, as they should have earlier in the tourney, and play together well as a team. I expect they can do it. But not with a bunch of Richards, Lemieux, Lecavalier out there often!

Canada 4 Finland 1... but only if they play a team game.

Canada was so good against Russia and Slovakia, but then Czechs were really tough opponent. I hope we´ll win.

Taistele Suomi!

My quick breakdown:

Goaltending - If Brodeaur plays I say its even, if not, Finns advantage.

Defence - This in early season tournament with insane amount of skill on ice, so it is hardly suprising that defencive play has been less than perfect. Still Canada hasn't really impressed that much here, Finnish dman on the other have mostly looked great which I attribute to solid team effort and confidence on Kipru. Advantage Finns.

Offence - Canada. The big difference is Sakic - Lemieux.

Special teams - Canada, mainly due to a more effective PP. Both Finnish PK and PP units leave lot to be desired.

Intagibles - Finns. They have no real preasure and the Niinimaa/Summanen mess seems to have been overcome, they are perfectly happy being underdogs. Canada has looked nervous, and I don't see that chancing. Reffing is almost always an advantage to the home team, and in this case could be more so on than usual. Still, if the refs just don't call anything, it will favour the Finns because of Canada's better PP.

Say whaaat? You mean to tell me that Kiprusoff is as good as Brodeur? Not even close. Goaltending will be a huge advantage for Canada if Brodeur plays.

Intangibles - Canada without a doubt. Too much heart and too much character in the dressing room to lose this game. Do the Finns have a Mario Lemieux or Joe Sakic in the room? Not to mention Canada is on home ice.

I think the Finnish fans here are underestimating the team. I know the players definately are not...but you're dealing with the best goaltender in the world by a huge margin (Brodeur..who will most likely be playing), the best defenseman in the NHL, the top two goal scorers, the highest point-producer in the NHL, the mvp of the playoffs, etc etc. It's no surprise right now that they're undefeated...they know how to handle pressure and win big games.

As much as that Czech game scared me, I know tomorrow night you're going to see Canada's best game of the tournament.

Say whaaat? You mean to tell me that Kiprusoff is as good as Brodeur? Not even close. Goaltending will be a huge advantage for Canada if Brodeur plays.

Now look who's underestimating who. Brodeur is the best goalie over the last 12 years no doubt, but Kipper is red-hot right now and Marty is human too, especially if he'll be playing with a sore hand.

If Brodeur plays - slight advantage Canada.

Luongo vs. Kiprusoff is a wash.

Intangibles - Canada without a doubt. Too much heart and too much character in the dressing room to lose this game. Do the Finns have a Mario Lemieux or Joe Sakic in the room? Not to mention Canada is on home ice.

Canada has home ice advantage, but it can also be a burden. What happens if the Finns score first? Then you HAVE to answer back as soon as possible, because it'll become more and more difficult every minute as the crowd grows impatient...

As for character in the locker room...the Finns hold the likes of Saku Koivu and Teppo Numminen in high regard. Koivu isn't the first European captain of the Habs by accident.

I think the Finnish fans here are underestimating the team. I know the players definately are not...but you're dealing with the best goaltender in the world by a huge margin (Brodeur..who will most likely be playing), the best defenseman in the NHL, the top two goal scorers, the highest point-producer in the NHL, the mvp of the playoffs, etc etc. It's no surprise right now that they're undefeated...they know how to handle pressure and win big games.

And I think you are underestimating Finland. Sure we (I'm half-Finnish) are the underdogs, but if you're expecting a 6-1 blowout, you'll be sadly dissapointed.

As much as that Czech game scared me, I know tomorrow night you're going to see Canada's best game of the tournament.

Same can be just as well said about Finland. After seeing how the Finns outhit, outskated and just ouworked the US, I can easily say that they have what it takes to pull off another upset.

Should be a great game.

Good luck team Finland :yo:

Say whaaat? You mean to tell me that Kiprusoff is as good as Brodeur? Not even close. Goaltending will be a huge advantage for Canada if Brodeur plays.

Intangibles - Canada without a doubt. Too much heart and too much character in the dressing room to lose this game. Do the Finns have a Mario Lemieux or Joe Sakic in the room? Not to mention Canada is on home ice.

I think the Finnish fans here are underestimating the team. I know the players definately are not...but you're dealing with the best goaltender in the world by a huge margin (Brodeur..who will most likely be playing), the best defenseman in the NHL, the top two goal scorers, the highest point-producer in the NHL, the mvp of the playoffs, etc etc. It's no surprise right now that they're undefeated...they know how to handle pressure and win big games.

As much as that Czech game scared me, I know tomorrow night you're going to see Canada's best game of the tournament.

Has Kiprusoff been worse than Brodeur this year in your opinion? Thought so. Stop using stupid remarks like "huge advantage"...nobody at this level has HUGE advantage. Huge advantage is Marty Brodeur vs. a 18 year old CHL goalie. The margin between Kipper and Brodeur is a very fine line. Stop kidding yourself.

You think the Canadian heart is somehow bigger and better than the Finnish one? That pretty much sums up your horrible bias and vast underestimating of opponent. That is boarderline insulting to even suggest that the "heart and character" are somehow a Canadian trademark that everyone else lacks. Take Koivu for example. There you have heart and character just as much as ANY of your Canadian hockey hero ever. The only thing preventing you from seeing this is the fact that Koivu is not Canadian.

Everybody knows Canada is filled with talent and has the best pack of individuals in this tournament. You could argue Sweden and Russia had the second best packs of individuals..see how that worked out. You are like one of those kids who count....

"We have Sakic, Lemieux, Iginla, Brodeur......and they have nobody I have heard of so we win 10-0. Sakic scores 2 per game against no names always, mario 4, Iginla 3 and St.Louis will throw one in as well.."

Hockey is a team game. Finland has been playing several international tournaments with this core of players. They know eachother very well. They have loads of experience together. They are a Team. Finland has had the best team defense so far. Of course I am expecting Canada to play better defense than they did in the Czech game. They are mainly a young bunch and not as experienced and it takes more time to learn eachother.

Canada is the big favourite here, but trying to list names and proving your point as Canada being a sure thing by a "HUGE MARGIN" or whatever lame exaggerations people love to throw around in these boards is just fooling yourselves. Finland won in Nagano, in SLC Canada won 3-2 and neither time we didnt have goaltending even close to what we have today. Maybe you wanna start thinking about that and stop being blinded by all the fancy names in the backs of the red jerseys. Come tuesday night, they mean jack ****. :teach:

I think a lot of people are getting a little too worked up. Finland is a great team and they have not come this far by accident. However, Canada does have an amazing line up.

If I were to bet on it I would choose Canada win. This game could go either way though. I am very sure that it will be close, exciting, and like some other people mentioned earlier if Canada is to lose at least it is to a great team like Finland.

I'll be Cheering for Canada! :jump:

Has Kiprusoff been worse than Brodeur this year in your opinion? Thought so. Stop using stupid remarks like "huge advantage"...nobody at this level has HUGE advantage. Huge advantage is Marty Brodeur vs. a 18 year old CHL goalie. The margin between Kipper and Brodeur is a very fine line. Stop kidding yourself.

You think the Canadian heart is somehow bigger and better than the Finnish one? That pretty much sums up your horrible bias and vast underestimating of opponent. That is boarderline insulting to even suggest that the "heart and character" are somehow a Canadian trademark that everyone else lacks. Take Koivu for example. There you have heart and character just as much as ANY of your Canadian hockey hero ever. The only thing preventing you from seeing this is the fact that Koivu is not Canadian.

Everybody knows Canada is filled with talent and has the best pack of individuals in this tournament. You could argue Sweden and Russia had the second best packs of individuals..see how that worked out. You are like one of those kids who count....

"We have Sakic, Lemieux, Iginla, Brodeur......and they have nobody I have heard of so we win 10-0. Sakic scores 2 per game against no names always, mario 4, Iginla 3 and St.Louis will throw one in as well.."

Hockey is a team game. Finland has been playing several international tournaments with this core of players. They know eachother very well. They have loads of experience together. They are a Team. Finland has had the best team defense so far. Of course I am expecting Canada to play better defense than they did in the Czech game. They are mainly a young bunch and not as experienced and it takes more time to learn eachother.

Canada is the big favourite here, but trying to list names and proving your point as Canada being a sure thing by a "HUGE MARGIN" or whatever lame exaggerations people love to throw around in these boards is just fooling yourselves. Finland won in Nagano, in SLC Canada won 3-2 and neither time we didnt have goaltending even close to what we have today. Maybe you wanna start thinking about that and stop being blinded by all the fancy names in the backs of the red jerseys. Come tuesday night, they mean jack ****. :teach:

Ahah. Someone got worked up :joker:
Well, without spending more than a couple minutes, here's a few things.

You're basically claiming Canada is full of individuals, and Finland has a much better 'team' game. Personally I feel they are even as far as teamwork is concerned, and obviously invidiual players are going to be better in Canada.

You mentioned something about Canadians not even knowing about Finnish players. Nice try. I know I would say...every one of them except for the ones playing in the Finnish league. Even then, I know some of them vaguely. I think you're trying to make it sound as if I have no respect for Finland. I think they've come a long way, and I like their real fans (I'm pretty sure you're nothing but a troll :)).

Anyways, we'll see tomorrow. If you're expecting Finland's superior heart, teamwork, goaltending, and everything else you claim to beat Canada...you're going to be dissapointed my friend.

Ahah. Someone got worked up :joker:
Well, without spending more than a couple minutes, here's a few things.

You're basically claiming Canada is full of individuals, and Finland has a much better 'team' game. Personally I feel they are even as far as teamwork is concerned, and obviously invidiual players are going to be better in Canada.

You mentioned something about Canadians not even knowing about Finnish players. Nice try. I know I would say...every one of them except for the ones playing in the Finnish league. Even then, I know some of them vaguely. I think you're trying to make it sound as if I have no respect for Finland. I think they've come a long way, and I like their real fans (I'm pretty sure you're nothing but a troll :)).

Anyways, we'll see tomorrow. If you're expecting Finland's superior heart, teamwork, goaltending, and everything else you claim to beat Canada...you're going to be dissapointed my friend.

I guess discussing things with an open mind and without trying to insult or push down the other is not an option with you so I rather leave it to others.

I was not the one making claims about superior heart or whatever. Maybe you should read first, then react

BTW...when I claimed that Finland was the most united team I also told you why I thought that way and explained what I based my claim on. What you are giving me in return is your opinion based on absolutely nothing.

...nobody at this level has HUGE advantage. Huge advantage is Marty Brodeur vs. a 18 year old CHL goalie. The margin between Kipper and Brodeur is a very fine line.
No goaltender can be said to be clearly better than Kiprusoff in 2004.

Goaltending won't be the difference.

The powerplay is where's there's a HUGE advantage in my opinion. 5-on-5 the Finns will do fine but the Swedes showed that Finland has trouble both staying out of the penalty box and neutralizing a man advantage.

Canada 4 Finland 1... with a couple of pp goals.

The powerplay is where's there's a HUGE advantage in my opinion. 5-on-5 the Finns will do fine but the Swedes showed that Finland has trouble both staying out of the penalty box and neutralizing a man advantage.

Canada 4 Finland 1... with a couple of pp goals.

Finland just played horribly against Swedes. Had nothing to do with their great PP (although it was the best PP in this tournament). Finland had no trouble staying out of the box with USA other than that Ruutu penalty and that ridiculous call on Berg in the last minutes (which few U.S sports writers described as a good effort to tie the game by the refs).

We just have a tendency of choking with Sweden. Finland was struggling to get their defense going in that game, and Sweden did not do any better either. In the semifinal we saw a different Finland.

EDIT: Finnish PP is not as bad as the record shows in this tournament. Selänne-Koivu-Lehtinen (Or Peltonen), Timonen-Numminen (or Salo)...

I've seen them work wonders before, they just havent been that hot in this tournament. They have everything it needs to click though.

Finland just played horribly against Swedes.
What? Many of us who posted on the game thread thought they played very well 5-on-5 for most of the game. Some disagree of course. That's fine.

What? Many of us who posted on the game thread thought they played very well 5-on-5 for most of the game. Some disagree of course. That's fine.

I am one of those who disagree. Both Sweden and Finland played way too open coast to coast hockey for the first period. Of course it was exciting but not a winning style of hockey. And Finland played bad on PK even though one could argue it was Sweden being that good...no..they were brilliant, but Finland made silly rookie mistakes on those PK's.

It was not a very good game from team Finland. The game against USA and Czech were both so disciplined. Like Summanen said, the players were too worked up to play Sweden..the emotion level was too high and that resulted in sloppy play.

Ahah. Someone got worked up :joker:
Well, without spending more than a couple minutes, here's a few things.

You're basically claiming Canada is full of individuals, and Finland has a much better 'team' game. Personally I feel they are even as far as teamwork is concerned, and obviously invidiual players are going to be better in Canada.

You mentioned something about Canadians not even knowing about Finnish players. Nice try. I know I would say...every one of them except for the ones playing in the Finnish league. Even then, I know some of them vaguely. I think you're trying to make it sound as if I have no respect for Finland. I think they've come a long way, and I like their real fans (I'm pretty sure you're nothing but a troll :)).

Anyways, we'll see tomorrow. If you're expecting Finland's superior heart, teamwork, goaltending, and everything else you claim to beat Canada...you're going to be dissapointed my friend.

Look into the team work in team Finland, covering up for each other, knowing each other's weaknesses and strengths, playing well together etc. and it becomes very apparent that the majority on team Finland has had way many more games together (in world champs etc.) than the canadian team's players have.

Its gonna be a good game...
i agree with those who have Finland as a better TEAM. But Canada is not far off that - they are a good TEAM.

Talent obviously falls to Canada - the top tier in every category of player (tough, skill, hands, skating, speed, finesse - total package) Finland is talented but not as deep.

Canada has dominated the majority of every game they played except against the Czechs. And that Czech team was playing a lot different in that game than when the Finns played them earlier, so it's hard to compare.

Does Canada have a size and toughness advantage? Will they be able to set up in front of Kipper? Speed? The Finns kept up with the Czechs pretty well...Canada seemed to have trouble with that...Is there a speed advantage?

I don't think it will come down to goalies - goalies have little to do with scoring chance creation. And both of these goalies are solid. (Luongo too)

(after re-reading - sorry for the worthless post but oh well...i wanted to post something)

Its gonna be a good game...
i agree with those who have Finland as a better TEAM. But Canada is not far off that - they are a good TEAM.

I agree fully. Well put. Canada plays well as a team.

This morning, at around 7:50 am EDT, one of the radio personalities, on Mix 99.9 Toronto, had an unique perspective on the W.C. He basically said that the tournament was rigged in favor of Canada, and to a lesser extent USA. His reasoning on the fact that Team Canada only had to travel from Ottawa to Montreal and to Toronto, with adoring fans at each stop, especially the ACC. The European pool teams had to jet to other countries, and take transatlantic flights for the later rounds. If Canada win, he feels it won't be that satisfying of a victory. On the other hand, he thinks a Finnish victory would be a form of redemption. Remember, this guy was broadcasting from Toronto.

This morning, at around 7:50 am EDT, one of the radio personalities, on Mix 99.9 Toronto, had an unique perspective on the W.C. He basically said that the tournament was rigged in favor of Canada, and to a lesser extent USA. His reasoning on the fact that Team Canada only had to travel from Ottawa to Montreal and to Toronto, with adoring fans at each stop, especially the ACC. The European pool teams had to jet to other countries, and take transatlantic flights for the later rounds. If Canada win, he feels it won't be that satisfying of a victory. On the other hand, he thinks a Finnish victory would be a form of redemption. Remember, this guy was broadcasting from Toronto.
well... if the tournament is aranged by a league based in those two countries, of course it's gonna be rigged...

Oh btw... I have to say I am very impressed by the play of Numminen and Timonen, and if I would be allowed to choose... That'd be the top pairing of the tournament.

This morning, at around 7:50 am EDT, one of the radio personalities, on Mix 99.9 Toronto, had an unique perspective on the W.C. He basically said that the tournament was rigged in favor of Canada, and to a lesser extent USA. His reasoning on the fact that Team Canada only had to travel from Ottawa to Montreal and to Toronto, with adoring fans at each stop, especially the ACC. The European pool teams had to jet to other countries, and take transatlantic flights for the later rounds. If Canada win, he feels it won't be that satisfying of a victory. On the other hand, he thinks a Finnish victory would be a form of redemption. Remember, this guy was broadcasting from Toronto.

It is rigged, thats why it was called the Canada cup.

I just called in sick for work. I'M WATCHING THE GAME!!!! :D

well... if the tournament is aranged by a league based in those two countries, of course it's gonna be rigged...

He did mention that as well. However, he neglected to mention that the NHLPA also was involved in World Cup planning.

My prediction

Canada 3 (Doan, Sakic(PP) & Lecavalier(EN)

Finland 1 (T. Ruutu)

It is rigged, thats why it was called the Canada cup.
Not anymore, as you know it is the World Cup of Hockey now. The Canada Cup was more fair because at least all national teams played in Canada. I hope that for the next World Cup, European teams will complain and demand that all the tournament games be played in one region with limited traveling like a normal tournament.