2003 IIHF World Junior Championship

Finland 3
Sweden 2
Round Robin
Saturday, December 28, 2002
Halifax, NS

Finland Conquers Persistent Sweden

Before a near-capacity crowd of 10,089, Finland edged next-door neighbours Sweden 3-2 in a key Group B confrontation in Halifax on Saturday night. The victory elevated Finland to a 2-0 record, with a pair of tough games remaining, while the loss dropped Sweden to 0-2, now a long shot to make the medal round.

"Tonight’s game was very tight," said highly-touted Finnish prospect Joni Pitkanen, "Sweden has a very good team, and they played us well. We knew they would come out and play us hard after losing big to Canada, they had something to prove. In the end though, we were very happy with our play and, of course, the result."

Alexander Steen, the Canadian-born son of legend Thomas Steen and Sweden’s captain at this World Junior Championship, said that the loss was a bitter pill to swallow. "It hurts to lose our first two games, but now we have a new task. I thought that we played well, and had a very good chance to win, but in the end we came up a little short. Now we have to pick ourselves up and move on, focus on the next game. This tournament is short, and every loss hurts, but we cannot cost ourselves another one by mourning this one."

Both teams came flying out of the gates to start the game, but it was Finland that struck first. Just two minutes in, a point shot by Jussi Timonen eluded Swedish goaltender Michal Zajowski, trickling behind him before it was finally urged in by Jussi Jokinen. The goal did nothing but fire up the Swedes, though, and they controlled play for the rest of the period, outshooting the Finns 14-3 after eighteen minutes.

The second period featured a slower, more calculated style of hockey by the two teams, which, in turn, translated into scoring chances and goals. After scoring to tie the game 1-1, Sweden soon took the lead when Simon Skoog grabbed a rebound and promptly fired it to teammate Robert Nilsson, standing on the opposite side of the slot. He made no mistake and gave Sweden its first lead at 2-1. Before the period ended, however, Finland replied. On the power play, Tuomo Ruutu received a Joni Pitkanen pass at the side of the net and shovelled it past Zajowski.

The third period featured great goaltending at both ends as the teams combined for twenty shots and numerous quality chances. The stalemate was broken with five minutes to go when Finland capitalized on yet another power play opportunity. The Finns completed a bang-bang play to perfection that ended in Sean Bergenheim lifting the puck over a helpless Zajowski. Finland killed a Swedish power play late to hold on to the narrow 3-2 victory.

The win gives Finland the inside track to the medal round, now needing a mere point in either of their last two games to secure their spot. Sweden, on the other hand, must win both of their remaining contests to have a chance to advance to the second phase of the championship.

Daniel Bonner
Game Night Reporter


Box Score
FIN

1

1

1

3

0

Compte
SWE

0

2

0

2

0


Scoring/Buts :
02.35 1 - 0 EQ FIN 2. TIMONEN, Jussi (21. LEHTISALO, Juho)

Penalties/Pénalités :
11.42 2 min FIN 10. BERGENHEIM, Sean HOOK
12.54 2 min FIN 3. JAAKOLA, Topi IL-EQ
16.20 2 min SWE 4. LINDSTROM, Joakim HI-ST
18.20 2 min SWE 4. LINDSTROM, Joakim HI-ST
Scoring/Buts :
20.54 1 - 1 EQ SWE 24. STEEN, Alexander (13. SKOOG, Simon 12. BECK, Mattias)
27.57 1 - 2 EQ SWE 29. NILSSON, Robert (13. SKOOG, Simon 17. PAULSSON, Marcus)
31.55 2 - 2 PP1 FIN 15. RUUTU, Tuomo (4. PITKANEN, Joni 20. JOKINEN, Jussi)

Penalties/Pénalités :
29.51 2 min SWE 7. LEETMA, Jonas TRIP
31.35 2 min SWE 4. LINDSTROM, Joakim HO-ST
37.11 2 min FIN 28. JALASVAARA, Janne HOOK
Scoring/Buts :
54.30 3 - 2 PP1 FIN 10. BERGENHEIM, Sean (4. PITKANEN, Joni)

Penalties/Pénalités :
46.35 2 min FIN 24. FAGERSTEDT, Juha ROUGH
53.27 2 min SWE 11. ALMTORP, Jonas INTRF
56.25 2 min FIN 2. TIMONEN, Jussi INTRF

Players of the Game FIN Unavailable
Joueurs du partie SWE Unavailable

Goaltenders FIN 1. LEHTONEN, Kari
Gardiens de but SWE 30. ZAJKOWSKI, Michal

Shots on Goal by Shots on Goal by

1st/1re

2nd/2e

3rd/3e

Final

Shots on Goal by FIN

9

11

12

32

Tirs au but par SWE

14

8

7

29


Officials Referee/Arbitre Tor Johnsen
Officiels Linesmen/Juges des lignes John Costello
Miroslov Halecky

Attendance/Assistance 10,089

Sweden-Finland Set to Renew Rivalry

The Saturday night World Junior Hockey Championship match-up in Halifax between Sweden and Finland will be an emotional one for these neighbouring nations. Finland is confident coming into this game after a strong 4-0 win over Germany on Thursday. Sweden hopes to rebound from an awful 8-2 loss to Canada that same night.

Finnish goalie, Kari Lehtonen, is happy with the way the team played in front of him against the Germans. He says his mates need to play the same way against Sweden: “No penalties, just don’t try to do too much offensively.”

“It’s always tough to play against Sweden because we are like United States and Canada,” says Lehtonen, referring to the common border and resultant rivalry. “There’s something between us. [Thursday afternoon, the crowd] was okay. But because Sweden played against Canada, that’s why they’re going to cheer for us.”

Sweden’s Alexander Steen wants to put the game against Canada out of his mind for Saturday. “We’ve just got to do our thing,” he concluded, “work really hard and skate a lot. Canada really outskated us. The Finns are really good skaters, too, so we’ve got to pick up that part of our game. The neutral zone was good for us, but we’ve got to score on our scoring chances.”

This game also will be a showcase of talent earmarked by NHL scouts. Four of Finland’s players were first-round picks in the 2002 or 2001 NHL Entry Draft (Jesse Niinimaki, Kari Lehtonen, Sean Bergenheim and Tuomo Ruutu) while two from Sweden (Alexander Steen and Frederik Sjostrom) got the first-round nod.

Born in Canada, Steen says playing for Sweden means a lot to him. “I miss Canada when I’m not here, but I guess I feel a little more Swedish. I’ve got the (Swedish) jersey on. It’s just gotten to be like that.”

Finland is one of the favourites to win the tournament because of their strong showing in the last two World Junior Championships. They took home the bronze in 2002 and the silver in 2001. Lehtonen, Ruutu and Jussi Jokinen were members of both those teams and want a gold to complete the set before they move up to the pro level.

Jen McCauley
Staff Writer


 

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