2006 IIHF Ice Hockey Junior World Championship

Switzerland 1 – Finland 4

FINLAND IN FINAL ROUND AFTER FINISHING OFF SWISS

By Andrea Lee

Although this was just the end of Round Robin play, Saturday’s Switzerland-Finland matchup was almost like a playoff game. Both teams were battling for third place in Group A to avoid the Relegation Round. Fortunately for the Finns, they did just that by beating the Swiss 4-1 in front of 8,335 Vancouver spectators.

Finland will now gear up for a Monday quarter-final encounter with their Scandinavian rivals from Sweden.

“We played twice against them this year, and won once in a home tournament and lost in a Russian tournament in November,” said Finnish Head Coach Hannu Aravirta. “It’s like USA versus Canada. It’s the same kind of hate and love feeling.”

“We have good fighting spirit, and today we had more to lose than to win, but on Monday we have something to win, and it makes the psychological approach a little different for the team, a little more positive.”

Tuukka Rask got the start in goal for the Finns and Reto Berra was between the pipes for Switzerland. Both teams seemed rather tentative from the first faceoff on, as the action on the ice was sluggish. But it didn’t take long for the first penalty of the game.

At 1:45, Swiss defenceman Raphael Diaz was sent to the box for holding the stick. One minute after, Team Finland capitalized on the opportunity by scoring a power play goal.

Forward Lauri Tukonen passed it to D-man Timo Seppanen, who took a shot from the point. Berra made the save but the rebound was picked up in front by Janne Kolehmainen, who backhanded it behind the Swiss goaltender.

The period ended with some pretty evenly matched play. The Swiss had 10 shots on goal and the Finns fired eight pucks at Berra.

The pace in the second period was similar to the first. Tukonen made the glass shake when he pounded Switzerland’s Yannick Weber into the boards.

During a 4-on-4 stretch, Swiss forward Julian Sprunger had a good scoring chance as he slid the puck in front of the net. But after the puck left his stick, he was slashed by Finland’s Leo Komarov, who ended up getting two minutes for his actions. Sprunger slid into the boards and was in obvious pain as he lay on the ice. He skated to the bench and into the tunnel holding his right hand, but he did return to the ice a few minutes later.

As the clock ticked down to end the second period, Sprunger stickhandled in all alone on Rask, but his scoring attempt just grazed the post.

The third stanza was more action-packed.

The play was in Switzerland’s zone when defenceman Raphael Diaz chopped the puck off the boards to try and get it out. Unfortunately for the Swiss, Finnish forward Petteri Wirtanen picked it up and passed to Tomas Sinisalo, who one-timed it past Berra to make it 2-0.

The goal announcer had barely had time to announce the goal when the Finns struck again 10 seconds later. This time Perttu Lindgren scored, with helpers from Aki Seitsonen and Tukonen, to make it 3-0.

“The third goal, that broke our legs,” said Switzerland’s Mathias Joggi. “We were there. It was 1-0, and even when it was 2-0, we were hot to turn this game [around]. Still, we never gave up.”

At 10:43, Finland’s Risto Korhonen was sent to the box for high-sticking and the Swiss made them pay. Eric Blum got it to Mattias Bieber, whose pass from the point made its way to Mathias Joggi. He roofed it over Rask to make the score 3-1.

But that was as close as the Swiss would get, as Finland sealed the deal at 19:49 with a Teemu Laakso empty-netter.

Final shots on goal favoured Switzerland 33-20.

Jeremy Gailland was the Player of the Game for Switzerland and Tomas Sinisalo was likewise honoured for Finland.

Finland will now face Sweden in the quarter-finals at GM Place on Monday, January 2 at 16:00. The Swiss will go head-to-head with Latvia at 13:00 in the Relegation Round, also on January 2, at the Pacific Coliseum.

“We are all down for sure, but tomorrow we have a day off,” said Joggi. We’ll get our energy back, and on Monday, we’ll go 102 percent to win against Latvia.”

PREVIEW: SWISS - FINLAND

By Greg Alexis

Switzerland: After pulling off the biggest semi-upset of the tournament so far by tying Team U.S.A. 1-1 on December 30, the Swiss team will try to keep that momentum going versus Finland. Switzerland sits in third place (one point up on Finland) in Pool A and only needs a tie to move on to the quarterfinals. After staying neck-and-neck with Canada in a 4-3 loss, the Swiss seem to have gained some confidence. Sure, they may not be pumping in the goals like the Russians or Americans, but they have made up for it so far with strong goaltending and unexpectedly physical play. Reto Berra will most likely get the start in goal, as backup Leonardo Genoni has yet to see any action in the tournament. In Switzerland’s three games in the tournament, Berra has a 2.00 GAA and an impressive .930 save percentage. Up front, forward Mathias Joggi leads the Swiss in scoring with four points (2-2) in three games. He notched the tying goal against the Americans. If Switzerland can get Finland into a tight-checking, grinding game, their chances of advancing to the quarter-finals will improve. After three games, the Swiss have shown they are more than capable of competing against the elite teams. If you don’t think so, just ask the Americans.

Finland: It’s put up or shut up time for the Finns. A win, and they are on to the quarter-finals. A tie or a loss, and the Relegation Round awaits. Finland sits in fourth place in Pool A with a record of one win and two losses. After starting the tournament with a Boxing Day loss to Canada, the Finns looked like they were about to turn the corner against Team USA December 28, as they jumped out to an early two-goal lead, only to see the Americans storm back to win 6-5. The team needs to bring the same aggressive, hard-skating game it used to beat Norway 9-1 if it wants to put an end to Switzerland’s surprising run so far. Forward Aki Seitsonen is tied for the scoring lead on the team with five points (4-1) and was instrumental versus Norway with two goals and an assist. Perttu Lindgren also came to life in that game with five points. As for who will get the start in goal for Finland, it’s wide open. At the start of the tournament, Head Coach Hannu Aravirta said he had two starting goalies, and so far he’s been true to his word, as Karri Ramo and Tuukka Rask have both seen action in the tournament. Finland has the edge offensively over Switzerland and will need to fire lots of rubber at the Swiss net. The Finns will want to get the early jump on their opponents, because the tighter this game is, the more it favours the Swiss.


Game Information/Renseignements sur le match
Game #/No. de match 20 Round/Ronde Preliminary
Arena/Aréna Pacific Coliseum Location/Lieu Vancouver, B.C.
Date Sat. Dec. 31, 2005
Time/Heure 08:00 PM PST

 

Box Score/Compte 1 2 3 Final
SUI 0
0 1
1
FIN 1
0 3
4

 

Goaltenders/Gardien(ne)s de but
SUI 20 Reto Berra On 1/00:00 Off 3/15:00
30 Leonardo Genoni On 3/15:00 Off 3/15:26
20 Reto Berra On 3/15:26 Off 3/18:55
20 Reto Berra On 3/19:49 Off 3/20:00
FIN 30 Tuukka Rask On 1/00:00 Off 3/20:00
Videos
Photos
2006 WJC: SWE 0 - FIN 1
Sweden vs. Finland at the 2006 World Juniors in B.C.
2006 WJC: SUI 5 - LAT 2
Switzerland vs. Latvia at the 2006 World Juniors in B.C.
2006 WJC: FIN 9 - NOR 1
Finland vs. Norway at the 2006 World Juniors in B.C.
2006 WJC: SWE 10 - LAT 2
Sweden vs. Latvia at the 2006 World Juniors in B.C.
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