On a lighter note........Tomi if you are out there

Hope you're enjoying the World Juniors Hockey (that's the ice version for anyone else who might read this) - your boys gave our boys a good old-fashioned hammering today. Hope they go on to beat Sweden in the final.

 

Couldn't watch the game today, but that's quite a surprising result - I was expecting Canada to beat us easily! It was only a few years ago when some hockey experts kept going on about how the future of Finnish ice hockey looks bleak, but I think we've been doing pretty well in those tournaments recently, and there are some decent young players coming through.

I'd actually like to watch these international games more often, but even the World Championships that they play every year is a bit of a joke. Only the few European hockey nations take it somewhat seriously, I wonder if most Americans and Canadians even know about it! And I doubt that even the most dedicated hockey fans get excited about the smaller tournaments that they play throughout the year. I think that the Olympic ice hockey is the real "World Cup" in hockey.

How's Karri Rämö doing, by the way? Is he the #1 goalie for the Flames?

 

I think most Canadians were surprised at how well the Finns played today - combined with the fact that Canada did not play well = miserable day all round from me when we factor in the football as well. Certainly the main event Canadians are looking forward to is the Olympics. We are current gold medal holders too, so expectations are high.

As for Ramo, well he is the the no.1 goalie. But given that we are the second worst team in the league, that is hardly a glowing endorsement of his abilities! Of course it is not all his fault, but I would take Kiprusoff back any day of the week! Good luck to Finland in the final.

 

I'm pleased to say that your wish came true.

[video=youtube;v8CpsNDn2s8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8CpsNDn2s8[/video]

So we beat Sweden 3-2 with an overtime goal, despite of a Willardesque performance by the referee. Every time we went a goal ahead, the referee started giving us penalties for every little "foul" - it started to get quite ridiculous especially in the third period when Sweden needed to equalise and get back into the game.

It's just a U20 tournament, but it's always great to beat our rivals Sweden, especially in their own backyard.

Too bad that Canada couldn't beat Russia in the 3rd place game, I really can't stand Russia in ice hockey, but I wouldn't be surprised if Canada win gold in the Olympics.

 

Fantastic result. It was 2-0 to Finland when we started our drive back to Calgary through the mountains. When we got cellphone reception back the first thing I checked was the result. Sounds like you have yet another great Finnish goalie coming through. We'll done to Finland. Shame about Canada.