WC Group B: Apr 28 GDT - Slovakia vs. Finland (5-2)

Official Tournament website: http://www.iihf.com
Follow the games on-line: http://www.iihf.com/hydra/tournaments/output/WS/
--------------------------------
Slovakia vs. Finland
--------------------------------

My prediction: 4-3 Finland

I'm looking forward to this one. Should be a great game by all means.

4-4 tie

The Slovakian crowd started this game already in the FIN-UKR match, that should add to the atmosphere.

Finland is the smaller and less talented team, but they haven't let that bother them for the last ten years. Slovakia will churn out some goals as the Finnish defense is mistake-prone, but Finland will poke a lot of holes in the Slovak lines too. Finland hasn't succeeded at crashing the crease yet and neither have the Slovaks at protecting it. It'll be a high-scoring game for sure.

Let's see how Ruutu can mess up Gaborik. :devil:

Slovakia will churn out some goals as the Finnish defense is mistake-prone, but Finland will poke a lot of holes in the Slovak lines too. Finland hasn't succeeded at crashing the crease yet and neither have the Slovaks at protecting it. It'll be a high-scoring game for sure.


I'm going with Slovak victory in this one. The Finnish team is too prone for errors. The hard forchecking game Westerlund and Summanen are using works well most of the time, but defensively the line up still falls apart way too often, and Slovaks certainly have the skill and speed to make the the errors count. 5-2 for Slovaks.

I'm going to go with 4-1 Slovakia.

Mäntylä, Niemi, Niinimaa are all error-prone. Söderholm has the tendency to join the rush at the wrong time, thus leaving the D open to counter-attacks. Satan, Hossa, Gaborik and company has the skill to take advantage on these mistakes.Finland's slick forwards will likely skate circles around the clumsy and slow Slovakian defense, but Finland probably won't be able to capitalize on their chances(as usual). :shakehead

Goals: Svk: Satan 2, Hossa, Bartecko
Fin: Nummelin

Tie 2-2.
Suomi Finland perkele: Jokinen 2
Slovakia: Hossa, Lintner 59.42

Hmm...
Offence: Slovaks clear advantage, although Finns may have better depth.
Defence: Finns. Slightly better group IMO and most importantly better suited to international ice.
Goaltending: I guess Noronen over Hlincka, although the difference may not be that great.

4 - 2 Finns win.

Tie 2-2.
Suomi Finland perkele: Jokinen 2
Slovakia: Hossa, Lintner 59.42

I thought perkele was a no no word :dunno:

Someone's opened the bottle a bit early :D.
I wish... but anyway you are absolutely right.

Speaking of drinking, howabout a HF designated bar for WC games? I have to work tomorrow so I'll propably watch this one at home, but maybe some others...

I thought perkele was a no no word :dunno:

It is. Bad Jyssy, shame on you...

Anyway, I think it will be a tight match that ends in 3-3 tie. Three goals is done in PP.

3 - 3

6-5 Slovakia. Should be a great game.

I thought perkele was a no no word :dunno:

Hehe..so did I ;)

After watching Slo-Usa game, i think Finns should win this one. Althouhg the crowd is about 95% with Slovaks, still dare to question the defensive playing of the Slovakian team. Its 1-3 for Finns.

4-1 Finland

Jokinen 2
Salo 1
Pirjetä 1

That penalty was a joke.

Slovaks on PP.

1-0 Gaborik

Noronen * that up!

1-1 Hentunen

could be a high scoring game this one.
Not a very good start by Noronen.

could be a high scoring game this one.
Not a very good start by Noronen.

Lasak allmost made the same mistake, allmost!

2-1 Bartecko (nice hand pass from Hossa to Demitra)

From where is this ref from, this aint a handball tournament!! :banghead:

man they are quick. 2-1 Slovakia. Beautiful goal.

man they are quick. 2-1 Slovakia. Beautiful goal.

Hossa carried the puck in his hand...

yup, saw that later, did not notice it at first :) I did not see anyone objecting
though? *weird*

entertaining first period

I did not see anyone objecting
though? *weird*

Yeah... I was wondering about that. Maybe no one saw that on the ice. It was pretty clear, though.

If that ends up being the game winning goal, I'm taking my baseball bat for a visit to the refs house.

EDIT: OK, maybe I was a bit hasty. It wasn't that "clear".

terrible hit by Bartecko, having his arms and stick so high up. Luckily Karalahti wasn't hurt.

What is wrong with the ref? How was that a penalty?

Miro Satan 3-2. Noronen isn't playing that well. I've seen him much better many times.

If only Finland had Lehtonen or Nurminen... or Kiprusoff...

I personally rank Noronen ahead of Nurminen, don't like him. Kiprusoff though, is Finland's best goalie at the moment.

I personally rank Noronen ahead of Nurminen, don't like him. Kiprusoff though, is Finland's best goalie at the moment.


I think Lehtonen (just won the series in AHL 4-0 and the team they won was better during the regular season) is Finland's best goalie, but Kiprusoff has been playing really well also. I think Nurminen is a little better than Noronen, but not much.

What's Gaborik looked like so far?

where do you watch the game? :dunno:

where do you watch the game? :dunno:

Finnish TV.

Finnish TV.
you lucky dog :banghead:

I personally rank Noronen ahead of Nurminen


Nurminen would've saved that one.

you lucky dog :banghead:

Yeah, I just love watching my team lose especially when basically every goal has been a mistake from my team instead of good play from the opponent.

well guys after horrible last night in bell centre i feel great again

go slovakia go :banana:

59.04 5 - 2 EQ Slovakia 18. SATAN, Miroslav
(41. LINTNER, Richard)

:yo: :yo: :yo:

What's Gaborik looked like so far?

Very good. He is creating scoring chances by himself, he is really good. Will be back in old good shape next season in Minnesota. He is really talented.

BTW, it was a fantastic game. So many good players, good speed, this is the best tournament for some time IMO.

59.04 5 - 2 EQ Slovakia 18. SATAN, Miroslav
(41. LINTNER, Richard)

:yo: :yo: :yo:

Empty-netter. No one cares.

Nurminen would've saved that one.

Maybe. For some reason Finnish goalies turn into "imuri" goalies when they play for the national team. That first goal by Noronen was disastrous. You cannot give the Slovaks the gift of allowing them to play a counterattacking game. They love to play that style and are simply too good at it.

I think it's pretty clear we won't be getting the gold medal this year. Might as well save my time and not watch the remaining slaughters.

I think it's pretty clear we won't be getting the gold medal this year. Might as well save my time and not watch the remaining slaughters.

Why is it clear? It was a decent game for both sides. Tournaments are long and usually teams lose at some point.

Niinimaa was HORRIBLE today. Noronen went down too fast on 2 goals and slovaks just went round him and put it in empty net.

Well, the better team won. Slovakia played smart after the 3-2 goal, not allowing Finland to use their speed and 4-line tactic to the fullest. One Koivu-Selänne duo, please - stirred, not shaken.

Btw, I thought Mäntylä played easily his best game of the tournament so far. Which isn't saying much, but you can still call it progress!

Why is it clear?

Because all the games they have played have been as pathetic as always.

It's kinda easy to be pessimistic when the team always screws up. The 95 win was a fluke.

The 95 win was a result of the other teams having even worse rosters.

That and they played together as a team but I wouldn't say it was a fluke. Team Finland has won medals after that and that clearly shows signs of continued progress imo.

Today the best team won. I still wonder a little bit why Team Slovakia chose to use two lines that much and why the ref let Hossa carry the puck in his hands. Maybe he didn't see it. Well, we lost the game so no need to cry about it. Next game against arch rivals Sweden. That game is a must win.

It's kinda easy to be pessimistic when the team always screws up. The 95 win was a fluke.

A bit of changed lyrics from the song Three Lions by The Lightning Seeds featuring Baddiel and Skinner: "but Finland's gonna throw it away, gonna blow it away, but I know they can play". Pretty much sums up my thoughts about our team some times. :banghead: :mad:

Kiprusoff has too bad fundamentals. I wouldn't bet on Summanen even choosing him for the world cup. And considering Kipper has said no to the national team before I wouldn't be too sure he'd accept playing.

Bad fundamentals? He's sure putting up some decent numbers for someone whose fundamentals are unsound. OK, perhaps Lehtonen has even better fundamentals, but I don't think your criticism of the Kipper is entirely justified.

As for turning down an invitation to play for Team Finland, I doubt anyone would decline a chance to play in the World Cup. It's a step up in importance from this little annual spring-time WC Tourney, and pretty much every NHLer wants to play for their country there.

Lehtonen and Kiprusoff as the goalie tandem for the World Cup.. It's got to be that way.

It is. Bad Jyssy, shame on you...

Anyway, I think it will be a tight match that ends in 3-3 tie. Three goals is done in PP.

Yeah, very bad...he should have gone with : EI SAA PETÄÄ or something :yo:

Ease up on Noronen, yes he made a mistake on the first goal but he also made some great saves. We got beaten on faceoffs, in corners and even outskated. This could've been really ugly if not for Noronen.

Slovaks offence is just plain sick, Lasak might be a weak point but the Finns didn't really test him.

When I said bad fundamentals I meant that he has worse fundamentals than the rest of contenders for goalie spots. Mainly we have Nurminen, Markkanen, Lehtonen, Toskala, Kiprusoff, (Norrena) and maybe even Noronen gunning for three goalie spots. Of this bunch Kiprusoff is the weakest technically.

Open Letter to Jorma Ollila - CEO Nokia

Please buy Chicago from Wirtz and give Tuomo a clean bill of health. Leijonat needs him.
Please buy Atlanta and have Lehtonen sent on an express flight from Chicago to Ostrava to be our #1 goalie.
Leijonat needs him.

Thankyou.

I guess the game was much like expected. A team with NHL-stars against a team with Euro-stars + NHL checking liners. The result shouldn't be a big surprise to anyone.
Oh well, the main thing of course is that our team has such a great attitude and team spirit, not to mention how awesomely they are 'linking their strengths'. Woohooo.

When I said bad fundamentals I meant that he has worse fundamentals than the rest of contenders for goalie spots. Mainly we have Nurminen, Markkanen, Lehtonen, Toskala, Kiprusoff, (Norrena) and maybe even Noronen gunning for three goalie spots. Of this bunch Kiprusoff is the weakest technically.

No he isn't. Nurminen is, by a mile actually. Not that technique matters as long as you can stop the puck, though - and right now Kiprusoff happens to be the best of the bunch in that department.

Ei saa peittää

sorry, my finnish isn't very good, hehe

Ease up on Noronen, yes he made a mistake on the first goal but he also made some great saves. We got beaten on faceoffs, in corners and even outskated. This could've been really ugly if not for Noronen.

Slovaks offence is just plain sick, Lasak might be a weak point but the Finns didn't really test him.

Can't blame Noronen(except for the first goal), Finland basically got steamrolled yesterday. The Lions were not ready when the game started and didn't really find any kind of groove until midway through the second period.Even then their feeble attacks mainly consisted of dumping the puck into the corner and loosing one on one battles there. They were unable to take advantage against the slow Slovakian defense, instead going into the corners were Svk was able to use their size and strengh. Right now the team can't score, makes terrible mistakes on defense and has average goaltending. :help:

BTW, it was a fantastic game. So many good players, good speed, this is the best tournament for some time IMO.

I disagree SWE-RUS is still the best game so far.

What was good.

- Couple of good looking goal by both teams
- two fast periods with contact and skillfull play
- Slovak forwards and Chara
- Peltonen & Kapanen-Hentunen-Pärssinen

What i really hated about this game = bad!

- Third period was painfull to watch. Slovaks went defensive (sort of 1-4 position), and Finland couldn´t answer the call
*they got no real scoring chances
*the four line "speed" tacktic didn´t work
*they did not have enough strenght in corner plays
*team capten Olli"päällikkö"Jokinen should of been the one to lift the team and score
- I really dont like the way Noronen jumps around like Hasek on 1 on 1 situations, his too ******* small guy for that, stay up!!!
- the German ref was not a good one, too much huggin and holding allowed - that took alot of the speed away from game. Also he did some weird calls and missed some :shakehead

Ref had some strange calls. Pavlikovsky played without the helmet and it was OK.
I think we were better this time. dominated first period, but finished only with 2:1 lead. I liked third period very much. It didn`t look good for fans, but finaly played good defense.

Ref had some strange calls. Pavlikovsky played without the helmet and it was OK.



Also, one hand pass went unnoticed. (I'm not talking about the Hossa one, but one much later)