September 10, 2004
Finns set to face U.S. in World Cup Hockey
Create Our Day" has become the rallying cry of Team Finland as it aims for its first championship in a World Cup event.
But while coach Raimo Summanen spurred his players — and his country's hockey-mad fans — when he coined the phrase two weeks ago, opposing teams in this global tournament realize there's more to the Finns than fanciful hopes that they are a team of destiny.
The Finns are tough — probably the toughest team outside North America.
The Finns, who have never advanced to the final of a World Cup or Canada Cup, don't want people to get the wrong idea — goons they are not.
But when it comes to gutsy work ethic, fitness, and yes, flattening body checks, they are on par with Canada, the U.S. and any other country in this tourney.
"I think work ethic is the biggest thing for us," said Saku Koivu, who leads Finland into tonight's semifinal against the U.S. (7 p.m., ESPN 2), with the winner advancing to Tuesday's final in Toronto.
"When we work hard, our hardest, we play well as a team. We are not a good team if we are a bunch of individuals. We are checking ... we take the big hit when we can, but we aren't a team that relies only on hitting."
The Finns, who have never finished higher than third in this event (1991), left Helsinki after a hard-fought quarter-final win over Germany that had fans at home getting excited.
"I don't think anybody in Finland believed we would get this far," Summanen said after practice yesterday.
"Finland is just a small country so it would be huge for hockey in our country if we could win this tournament," added forward Teemu Selanne. "The celebration would be like the summer carnival in Rio (de Janeiro)."
The Finns, though, are relying on far more than emotions. Goalie Miikka Kiprusoff continues where he left off for the Calgary Flames in the Stanley Cup final, having risen from obscurity to become one of the finest young goalies in the game. Jere Lehtinen of the Dallas Stars and Kimmo Timonen of Nashville are having great tournaments offensively to complement the country's top scoring stars, Koivu, Selanne and Olli Jokinen.
But what's raising eyebrows in the tourney is the Finns' peskiness and physical play. Players like Ville Nieminen of the Flames are needling opponents very effectively.
It's something U.S. coach Ron Wilson is aware of, but isn't necessarily worried about.
"Let's not forget they are doing that in the European pool, but will they do it in the North American pool?" Wilson wondered.
"They know they won't intimidate us. ... But if they try to intimidate us, they're going down the wrong road. And conversely, I don't think we'll intimidate them either. Let's just see what happens."
The Finns say they have recovered from any jet lag related to their flight across the Atlantic on Wednesday.
They have become media darlings once again in their homeland, but endured a major distraction along the way.
Veteran defenceman Janne Niiminaa sparked headlines of discontent and disunity in the dressing room when he left the team in the preliminary round after feuding with the coaching staff over his role.
"That's behind us," Koivu said. "You don't want to see a teammate leave your team. Certainly it was a distraction before the Germany game. There's a lot of individuals and egos but just because one player and the coaches can't solve a problem ... doesn't mean the rest of the team can't be fine. We are together here. We're playing as a team."
QUARTERFINALS
Europe
#1 Finland 2, #4 Germany 1
#3 Czech Republic 6, #2 Sweden 1
North America
#1 Canada 5, #4 Slovakia 1
#3 United States 5, #2 Russia 3
SEMIFINALS
Finland vs. United States
Czech Republic vs. Canada