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Are you Ready for Hockey’s Version of Woodstock? SWEDEN/FINLAND CANADA/USA |
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When it comes to hockey international rivalries, it really doesn’t get any better than today.
The one thing I will definitely give this tournament is that the scheduling was done perfectly and obviously done in a way that would set this up to keep almost everybody in it till the end.
Let’s talk population for a second to put some things in perspective for these four countries.
USA:340M
Canada: 41M ( just under 2 million more than the population of California)
Sweden: 10.5M (roughly the population of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro Area)
Finland: 5.6M (roughly the population of the Atlanta Metro Area or the DC Metro Area)
If you’re curious, like I was, the population of the Toronto Metropolitan Area falls right between Finland and Sweden at 7.2 million.
So it’s pretty remarkable that Sweden and Finland play Canada in the US so tightly.
Let’s look at styles:
On the Finns…
More than any other country in the world, the Finns play a system that is completely consistent throughout their youth hockey all the way up to pro hockey leagues. It is highly based around counter-attack and waiting for breaks. When they fall behind by one, they basically stay the same. When they fall behind by two or more, their top lines will take some more chances, and defensemen will start pinching. They’re all very well-rounded players for the most part, with the exception of the occasional pure offensive players like Selanne or Laine.
On Canada…
The Canadians go into every game with the intention of overwhelming their opponents with skill and speed. They can score off the rush or cycling. Their defensemen on these superstar teams tend to be the more offensive-minded defensemen, but are by no means weakly defensively. They’re going to give up some chances, which is why goaltending is so important to them. But they haven’t yet filled the role that Carey Price filled. The pressure is intense on this team and you can see it in that they play with more nerves then probably any other team. When they fall behind, it feels like the whole country is holding their breath. This is a especially true in the WJC where Canadian kids are incredible amount of pressure . There’s almost no way around it, even with the most experience players, but this is where Sidney Crosby become in play. I’ve been told many times he just relaxes everybody and says, “Don’t worry about any of that pressure. this just play.”
On the Swedes…
Their style pretty much fits directly between Canada and Finland. They have some highly skilled players and they like to score off the rush, they like to use their speed, and they tend to have very good defenseman. This particular defense is so good that they’re activated all the time . This gives them the ability to attack with four and sometimes even five players at a time/. There also kind of in between goalies right now as no one has stepped up to be the next King Henry..
On the Americans…
The tradition of USA hockey being physical is nothing new. The Americans like to ride their size and speed to a dominant advantage. They like to pound on the defense and cause mistakes. When ythey play against faster teams, they tend to counterattack a bit like Finland, but with much more risk. They usually don’t have the snipers that you’ll find on Canada or Sweden, but the loss of Patrick Kane was quickly filled in by Jack Hughes. They have the numbers when it comes to players playing the sport, so they are gaining on Canada’s skill all the time..
On the games today…
Both matchups today are classics and long-standing rivalries… in so many ways you could say these teams have been built to play against each other.
On Finland/Sweden
Finland likes to frustrate Sweden, and often Sweden will fall into that trap by taking too many chances, therefore giving the counter attack of Finland too many rushes… The more desperate team today is definitely Finland, as Sweden did get a point against Canada, but both teams know whoever loses this game is basically out. If Sweden wins in regulation that will set up a winner take all game between the US and Sweden in Boston. If Finland wins, they’re gonna need some help. However, if Finland wins today in regulation and Canada was to lose in regulation to the US, then Finland/ Canada will become a winner takes all game….I expect this game to be low scoring and I expect Finand to get better goaltending today.. My pick: Finland in OT… but that’s just purely. A guess…this is a tossup. I can see a Swedish blowout or a Finnish close win..
On Canada/US…
This will be a war. There’s no getting around it. Still not sure who is going to play goal for Canada, but we have heard about a lineup change for the US. The Americans are putting in Sam Bennett and take out Konecny… personally, I too would always pick Bennett over Konecny based on how incredible Sam’s been in the Stanley Cup playoffs. But I’m really disappointed that we’re not seeing BOTH on a line with Hagel. That would allow Bennett to be the center and he is so fast and good at being annoying as the first player into the zone on theforecheck… Konecny is also annoying and skilled. When I saw both on this team, I really looked forward to them playing on the same line. Especially against the Americans, and even more so after you saw the way the Americans played against Finland. Canada needs more grit in their lineup against the Americans so that they can annoy players like the Tkachuks, Miller, etc and get them off their game…. Today is the day that the Americans will miss not having Quinn Hughes in the lineup for sure. The Swedish defense is amazing and that’s the only reason Canada didn’t run away with that game…. however, the Americans have a major advantage in goal, so this game could go anyway…. I honestly don’t know what goalie I would play for Canada. However, I’m also not completely sold on Connor Hellebuyck in a game this house that requires much side to side movement and with so many snipers on team Canada. For whatever reason in the playoffs when he’s faced fast teams, he’s faltered. Personally, I would really consider Jake Oettinger in this one… and here’s a weird prediction for the future: Oetingger will start the final against Canada. Prediction: Canada in a shootout…..
Sit back, grab yourself a couple of cheesesteaks and enjoy this day. I will be in the comments posting thoughts as the games go on. Cheers.
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