Beware the Fins…

Team USA is just one win away from being in the Gold Medal game. First, however, they have a tough group of Finnish players in their way. The Fins are in the medal round for the second consecutive Olympics as they were in the Gold Medal game in 2006 against the eventual winners, Sweden. Now, lets think about this, with all the talent teams like Russia or the Czech’s have, how is it that Finland always seems to hang around? Well the answer is in the way they play the game.

They thrive on the smaller ice surface, much as the Americans do, but also play with tremendous patience as well as pride. This team is the most experienced of all the Olympic teams in the Men’s Tournament and it has shown. They play a solid defensive game giving up only 4 goals so far this tourney. Goalkeeper Mikka Kiprusoff, appearing in his first Olympics, has thrived so far, leading in save percentage at 94.67% (Ryan Miller is behind him at 94.44%). This Fin team is very discipline as well, they stick to what they do best and that is fundamentally sound hockey and when a team executes that, they are almost always staying out of the penalty box. The Fin’s are also a very close-knit team, with two brother combinations in the Ruutu’s and the Koivu’s. These guys have played with each other a lot over the years and know each other’s style very well; they mesh together. Finally, they will be playing with a lot of heart for their long time leader Teemu Selanne as this will be his last Olympics and what better way could it end than with gold around his neck?

A downfall for them has been their power play. In their last game against the Czech Republic they had four first period power plays and did not convert once and went 0-5 for the game itself. They also lack a true game changer, sure they have a lot of overall talent, but someone to take a game on to their shoulders is hard to find. I think Mikko Koivu may be their best guy to be able to do that, however, upstart Niklas Hagman has himself three goals so far this tournament, so who knows who could step up for them.

In any case, this will be a tough and physical game between Finland and the US. Team USA needs to establish their physical play throughout in order to make this game their own. Without that, they will be giving the Fins too much opportunity to move the puck around, which will eventually lead to clear shots.

So, before we look forward to a rematch in the Gold Medal game against Canada, we can’t sleep on this Finland team that is very capable of up starting this American run we have gone on. In any case…GO USA!