EHM The Blue Line

Finland 3 - 2 USA

A weird game indeed. Poor refereing for one: total of atleast 88 minutes of penalties, out of which two were match penalties (the other I didn't see, but the one given to a US player was really silly, and nowhere near worth a 5+20, not even a 2 minute penalty), not counting the penalties that were given in the final scuffle when US player made a dirty hit on a Finn by the boards.

And on top of poor refereing in regards to penalties, the refs actually approved a Finnish goal that went in thru the side nets, not past the goal line! ... after reviewing the video tape...

I'm happy we won, but this game could've been so much better if someone would buy the refs a thick pair of glasses... -->

Must have been a ref from France.

Shadd666 wrote: Btw, France stays in the group A after 2 wins against Italy! Who will gently offer us a 9-0 next year?

You got the rights to be slayed one more year!

batdad wrote:Must have been a ref from France.

Worse. The game had a Russian crew, a.k.a. the Moscow State Circus.

Tasku wrote: (the other I didn't see, but the one given to a US player was really silly, and nowhere near worth a 5+20, not even a 2 minute penalty)

Actually, the clowns probably got that one at least half right. If it's spearing, it's an automatic 5+20 -- even if the act is an innocuous one in itself. Spearing, even at the sorta-halfway-maybe-kinda level, is just one of those things you don't do in the rink.

Jokinen's 5+20 was a joke; the act that led to Koivu's boarding penalty in the 2nd was more criminal than that (and should, IMO, have been 2+10, which would have been a major blow to Finland).

batdad wrote:Must have been a ref from France.

No way! Our refs are too bad to even being considered for the World Championships

holydogg wrote:You got the rights to be slayed one more year!

darn true! But it also gives more experience to the young guys, rather than playing at the group B level. We've got a long way to go before being something looking competitive, but there must be a start somewhere. An independant hockey federation, a promotion to the group A, avoiding the relegation... That's not giant steps, but it's a good start.

Kekkonen wrote: Actually, the clowns probably got that one at least half right. If it's spearing, it's an automatic 5+20 -- even if the act is an innocuous one in itself. Spearing, even at the sorta-halfway-maybe-kinda level, is just one of those things you don't do in the rink.

I would've called it "poking" or "tapping", but oh well... if those are the rules I'm not going to argue...


I actually heard from someone at my new workplace that the goal ref (or what ever they're in English) was instantly fired from his position after the game.

shadd666 wrote:An independant hockey federation, a promotion to the group A, avoiding the relegation... That's not giant steps, but it's a good start.

Only the fact France is in top16 is a HUGE achievement. Not bad for a nation of fromage and soccer lover

holydogg wrote:Only the fact France is in top16 is a HUGE achievement. Not bad for a nation of fromage and soccer lover

You forget the wine Very important here! Probably as important as hockey in Canada!

More seriously, France had already been in the group A during nearly all the 90's, under the Philippe Bozon era, and even made it to the 1/4 Finals of the Olympics of 1992. The renewal of the troops wasn't good enough to keep the team into the group A, was relegated, and missed some Olympics. The actual generation is better. They missed the Olympics in 2006 for just one goal, and now brought back the team in the group A. So that's not really a so huge achievement. We're just back to our level, as a weak group A team that fights against relegation every year and succeeds in it every year. Now we need to have more players in the various european leagues of a higher level, as the French championship is too weak right now to give valuable experience to our best players. Both Bozon and Huet made it to the NHL after playing in the Swiss league, for example. During this time, the federation needs to bring the teams back on track financially speaking. The whole championship has been a mess for too long to be competitive. Now there's more stability and things improve slowly. It will take time, but it's heading in the right direction, with people than actually know something about hockey, which was not the case before. Therefore, i wouldn't be surprised to see another frenchie making his way to the NHL in the upcoming 10-15 years, and hopefully some more later on.

Sweden goes through to the semi-final after beating Czech with 3-2 after overtime.

joehelmer wrote:Sweden goes through to the semi-final after beating Czech with 3-2 after overtime.

Thank you! At least bit of satisfaction after we end up...you know...:-/ in deep Adam Oates...

And Finland to face Canada in the semi's after 3-2 OT win over Team USA.

Tasku wrote:And Finland to face Canada in the semi's after 3-2 OT win over Team USA.

Actually, Russia. Sweden gets Canada.

Anybody know whether Kovalchuk will play? He got a 5+20 in the quarterfinal vs. Switzerland because of a hit that to me looked dirtier than the Jokinen hit on Gleason which got OJ suspended for one game (Kovalchuk's elbow was definitely up, and probably made contact with the Swiss guy's head).

Yeah... Russia...

My excuse: it was 6(-ish) am and I was tired when I posted.

I know... it's almost 5 pm, and I haven't slept since 2.05 am...

Anyway, Kovalchuk is out for the semi-final. It's a big but not huge loss for the Russians; he was only 8th in Team Russia's internal scoring race with 0+6 (granted, 4 of the ones above him are also at 6 points, but with some goals scored) and one of only two team members with a negative +/- (-1). I bet it hurts, but nowhere near as much as losing, say, Ovechkin (to throw out a name at random).

Canada and Russia go to the finals.

Finland vs Sweden in the Bronze Medal Game.

It would've been nice to finally win the gold, but I mean seriously... bronze medals is what really counts, I think.

GO RUSSIA!

Canada - Russia 4:4, end of 3rd period!
What a game!

Russia beats Canada 5:4 in overtime!
Kovalchuk has GTG and GWG !
The line of Kovvy-Feds-Ovvy did wonders in OT!

The host team curse remains unbroken...

Now the WC is over for a bit, time to try some analysis...
This is my take at Russia: http://www.russianprospects.com/public/ ... cle_id=576