Finland wins bronze over U.S. in men's hockey

CBC Sports ^ | Feb. 22, 2014 | Mike Brophy

[rickmichaels]

It was over in a flash. A Finnish Flash. For Team USA, however, it was more like a flash finish.

Team Finland scored two goals in 11 seconds early in the second period to snap a 0-0 tie en route to a 5-0 victory in the bronze medal game Saturday.

Veteran Teemu Selanne, playing in his 35th Olympic hockey game, scored two goals including the game-winner to lead Finland. It was a wonderful conclusion to what has been a splendid Olympic hockey career for a classy gentleman.

Selanne scored on a nifty backhand shot at 1:27 of the second period and then off the ensuing faceoff, the Finns charged into the American zone with Jussi Jokinen, notching his second goal of the Olympic tournament. That was the game.

The United States generated very few quality scoring chances in the game as the Finns appeared to have a tad more interest in the outcome of the game.

The Finns added three third-period goals to ensure the victory.

[Revolting cat!]

Being the first or last not getting the joke, on the other hand, is really bad!

[Revolting cat!]

The hell with the Olympics! We need World Series and Super Bowels in all sports where “world champions” will always be American!

[Alberta's Child]

LOL.

Reminds me of the days when the Soviet team would walk through the preliminary round by beating teams like Poland and Japan by 20-0 scores. I mean -- how do teams like that end up in the same tournament?

[stormer]

And the Finns have medaled in 6 of the last 8 Olympics.

[Alberta's Child]

... Super Bowels ...

I'm not sure what would be more comical here -- if this was a type-o or if it was deliberate. ROFL.

[Revolting cat!]

Seriously now, was Jamaica competing in Sochi this time?

[ken5050]

I thought that Bateman was in favor of continuing NHL participation, especially since the Russian and Canadian players want to play for their national teams..I can't see the NHL attempting to stop it. Do you have a source for the comment?

BTW..thanks for the great job you did with these Olympics. It's appreciated.

[Alberta's Child]

Finland has a reputation for being a difficult hockey team to assess on the international stage. They're certainly one of the top countries in the world, and they've got plenty of Olympic and IIHF world championship medals to prove it. I think they're currently #2 in the IIHF world rankings, after Sweden.

And yet Finland has never won an Olympic gold medal in hockey. Go figure.

[Revolting cat!]

They play ice hockey in Africa?

And why not?

[TomGuy]

I know!

They lost in protest, so Obama’s IRS couldn’t be getting any money for the Olympic medals.

:)

[Hulka]

But they beat the Russians and that’s a good thing and something they should be proud of.

[darkangel82]

They had one bobsled team, that’s it.

[dfwgator]

I still think we’re better off with a team of amateurs that spend a year before the Games learning to play together...You can’t just put a team of all-stars together in two weeks and expect them to gel.

[Hulka]

Where is Africa (you do know Africa in not a ‘nation”. . .right?)

;-)

[hoagy62]

Well, yes...you are correct. There IS that.

[TomGuy]

Dubai has one of the largest indoor ice skating facilities in the world:

[FreedomGuru]

“They play ice hockey in Africa? “

You’ve never watched the Somalian Sonics? :-)

[Yaelle]

Awwwwwww. I taped the game but haven’t watched it. Might not, now.

Congrats to Teemu!

[Alberta's Child]

I'd say the odds of the NHL sending players in 2018 are pretty slim. Three things come into play here:

1. The season-ending injury to the Islanders' John Tavares, the third-leading scorer in the NHL entering the Olympic break, illustrates a major problem for NHL teams with these tournaments. Most general managers in the NHL hate the Olympics for this reason.

2. The NHL's leadership isn't convinced that interrupting the NHL season for two weeks is a net positive for the league. Sure, they get a lot of exposure for hockey in general ... but there's no certainty that this translates to the bottom line of the NHL.

3. One big issue that's seen more discussion this year than in prior years is that the IOC and IIHF do not provide any concessions at all to the NHL. The NHL does not get any benefits from the Olympics in terms of licensing, promotional concessions, or anything of that sort. In fact, I believe the NHL wasn't even allowed to stream any video from the Olympics on its cable network or its website.

4. The 2018 Winter Olympics are going to be held in South Korea. As with these Sochi games, the time difference with North America is going to be something on the order of 6-12 hours (depending on your time zone). The lack of any live prime-time television coverage of medal round hockey games will diminish the interest of the NHL substantially. In terms of TV exposure, there's a huge difference between broadcasting a USA-Canada game from Vancouver or Salt Lake City and broadcasting it from Asia.

[Alberta's Child]

I’m sure the Russians agree with you!