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IIHF World Championship: Canada vs. Finland |
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Written by ChrisBrownstone
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Monday, May 12 2008 |
Another great Wolrd Championship blog by Brett Noiles (Knowzley):
Canada is first in their division! Not only has Canada beaten the United States, but after finishing off Finland by a score of 6-3 this afternoon, Canada is the team to beat.
Canada started off quickly by setting the pace with a beauty goal by Getzlaf, his 1st of the tournament on a semi-breakaway, 33 seconds in. Finland responded as quickly as they could, as Anti Pihlstrom would pick up a mishandled pass and come in shorthanded on Leclaire and score short side, breaking the goal net camera in the process. Doan would put Canada back up 4 minutes later when he got a beautiful pass from Kunitz and buried it from a weird angle.
The game continued to be physical into the 2nd, with minimal shooting by both teams, as Canada would only have 8 shots on net by mid way through the 2nd. Even with Finland dominating the first part of the 2nd, Canada was able to score two goals, one by Heatley, his 8th of the tournament, and another shorthanded goal by Patrick Sharp, who does a lot of that in Chicago with the Blackhawks.
The third period was an unsuccessful effort of a comeback by Finland as they would allow a quick goal by Doan that redirected off a stick and a visor before going in, and yet another goal from Heatley on a beautiful pass from Nash who was behind the net. The Fins, however, were able to quiet the standing ovation by the Canadian fans in the last few minutes as they would score a magnificent passing play goal with 23 seconds left in the game, but alas too little, too late.
Canada was somewhat lucky to get a win out of this game. They were outplayed by a large margin throughout the whole game, but I give Canada credit as they did score on almost all the chances they had. Finland played great, and kept up with Canada physically and mentally, but they just couldn’t get the puck to the net effectively enough to get the W.
Players of the game for this game were hard to find. All players on Canada played all right, and none really stood out. Heatley had two great goals, however, so I guess he can be considered Canada’s player of the game, if not Leclaire. Anti Pihlstrom was an easy choice for Finland, as he not only scored two goals, but was gritty and worked hard the whole game.
Prime Minster Stephen Harper was present for the game, as he sat beside the Halifax Premier, and Nicholson, the head of Hockey Canada. Harper would leave when Heatley would score the last of Canada’s goals, to save some time on the ride home to Ottawa.
Canada faces off against either Latvia or Germany for the quarterfinals. Cam Ward will be in net for upcoming game, despite Leclaire’s solid stats. Tune in and watch some great hockey.
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