Team Finland Exits World Cup in Disappointment
Falling well short of expectations, Team Finland unceremoniously ends their World Cup of Hockey tournament play this afternoon trying to spoil Team Russia’s chances of moving to the semi-finals. As the Finns leave Toronto people seem to be asking how a talented team like this met with such a disappointing ending.
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Team Finland had high hopes and expectations going into the World Cup of Hockey. I mean why not expect that the Finns would do well in this tournament, they’ve been one of the most dominate teams in international play for some time now. Most recently to include a very strong performance in this year’s IIHF World Championships where they took home a Silver Medal by not losing a single game till that final Gold medal match.
The team was constructed with a ton of talent to include 21 NHL players (including three Minnesota Wild players) and 2 KHL players some of which are considered some of the best in the world at their respective positions. So looks like a recipe for a successful team that could win it all right?
Sep 18, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Team Finland Center Mikko Koivu (9) checks Team North America Center Mark Scheifele (55) in the third period during preliminary round play in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey at Air Canada Centre. Team North America 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports
That’s not exactly what’s happened though. Team Finland has been a disaster that seems to be slightly shadowed by the bigger trainwreck that was Team USA. In their pre-tournament match ups they started strongly with a 3-2 overtime win over rival Sweden, but since then have gone winless in four games to include their first two group play games. As a result of such underperformance the Finns are eliminated from the semi-finals and are relegated to trying to play spoilers against Team Russia this afternoon.
So what went wrong for this highly talented group from Soumi? Most experts would try to make the point that this is a very young Finland squad and that their inexperience was what led to their demise. I’m not really sure that was necessarily the case. The average age of Team Finland’s roster is 27 years old, so that’s’ not really that young, and additionally of the 23 players on their roster only 8 of them are under 25.
Sep 20, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Team Finland goalie Tuukka Rask (40) makes a save behind defenceman Olli Maatta (3) against Team Sweden during preliminary round play in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
Putting that notion to bed we’re really left with two major factors. The first and most obvious is the Finns had big names in goal who put up subpar performances. Tuukka Rask and Pekka Rinne were not their normal NHL All-Star caliber selves.
Rask allowed six goals in the second of two pre-tournament games against Sweden, but played much better in the rematch of the teams during the tourney only allowing one goal. Rinne played all the other games and allowed two goals to Sweden and three to the US in pre-tournament play, and in round robin play allowed four goals to Team North America. In the past the two goal tenders would have been sharper, but they both seem to be on a decline in their careers epically Rinne who really didn’t put up great numbers in Nashville last season.
The other factor is that the Finns were absent on the scoresheet. In the five game this team played they only scored nine goals. Pairing it down in their two round robin games thus far they’ve only notched 1 goal. Sure Finland’s always been a system team that isn’t flashy and takes its opportunities when they come, but they need to put the puck in the net more period.
Players like Mikko Koivu and Mikael Granlund who lit up the World Championship just a few months ago, were absent from the scoresheet in the round robin games. They needed to be the ones to spark the scoring as two of the team’s most experienced players. Additionally, Koivu as captain needed to motivate his team to get some goals, or do it himself. But as Wild fans we all know how that can work.
So as the Finns are set to scatter to the four winds this evening back to their NHL training camps or back to Russia to the KHL, you just have to sit back and wonder what’s next for the Finns? Whoever they choose for their next international venture they’ll need to make sure they can fix their goaltending and up the scoring a bit. This was a very disciplined team who played their system well, but as Team USA can confirm if your system doesn’t put pucks in the net…you can’t win.
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