Finland  17 - Germany   1
Finland  13 - Suisse    0
Finland   1 - USA       2
Finland   1 - Canada    4
Finland   8 - China     1
Winner of Bronze Medal
 
Team Finland was the most interesting squad to watch in the
tournament.  They have a core of wonderfully talented players.  I was
very impressed with the attack game they used at the start of the
week.
 
To describe the attack, if you have ever seen John Marchetti's swarm
offense at Providence College, you have the basic idea.  Take those
weaving patterns, elongate them for the large ice surface and add a
few extra curls to the patterns and you have the set.  Now, run it
for attacking and fore-checking, and also use it as a back-checking
pattern!  The result is you have players flowing all over the ice,
constantly picking up speed off the angular momentum of the turns.
It was marvelous.  Bill Cleary and Badger Bob would have been smiling!
 
The downfall of the Finns occured when they played Team USA and slowed
their swarm down.  They also started to use it only to attack.  When
the USA got the puck, they would retreat outside the USA blue line!?
That was a major mistake.  They just gave way too much respect to the
players on Team USA.  I believe they could have won that match if they
had believed in their own talents and run the swarm as usual.
 
Against Team Canada they did not use the swarm attack at all.  I guess
they were totally freaked out by what the Canadians "could" do.  In
its place they tried to match Team Canada's power game.  That was
too tiring for them.
 
Against Team China in the bronze medal game Finland stayed with the
flat attack.  I think they were tired and saw they could just rely
on individual talent to win the game.  It was disappointing to watch
a team play so well, and then give it up.
 
Goalies:
Liisa-Maria Sneck was the outstanding goalie for the championship.
She was a tower of strength in the net for Finland.  A big stand-up
netminder she played her angles well and made the tough save look
easy.
 
Defenders:
Kirsi Hanninen was good at both ends of the ice.  On defense she read
plays well and was super tough to get by.  On offense she had a real
good shot from the point, and made excellent passes as well.
Paivi Halonen played a great game breaking up rushes.  Her speed
and quick thinking let her stop plays that other larger defenders
just couldn't see.
 
Attackers:
Riika Nieminen is one of the best strikers I have ever seen.  She
plays with a lot of heart.  A great skater and passer, Nieminen was
all over the ice.  Her shot from the point on power plays was deadly.
Add to that, when the team needed help in its own end, she was there
to rag the puck or break it out.  Riika is just an outstanding player.
Katja Lavonius was a linemate of Nieminen's and had a heck of shot.
Those two combined for some marvelous plays.
Hanna Terrijoki is another special player for Finland.  A wonderful
skater who had fine touch and a gift for scoring or setting up goals.
Sari Krooks and Petra Vaarakallio were linemates with Terrijoki.
Both would periodically come swooping in and make the big play.
Tiia Reima and Sari Fisk play together on another line.  Both showed
some strong skating and clinical finishing.
 
Looking back I suppose what hurt Finland the most was that they only
played three lines.  Both the USA and Canada had four lines.  Finland
played three units of five players.  I always like that approach
because all the players can interact better.  However you need that
fourth line (doubling a defense pair?) if you are going to last in
a tournament.  I now can see how Finland beat Team Canada in an
exhibition game the week before the games.  If they could have stayed
with their game plan I think they would have ended up with the silver.
Team USA had better get its act together, because the Finns are moving
up!
 
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 good shooting
 rhun
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