Finland espouses underdog role ahead of clash with Canada
Finns say their hopes for success in semifinal are strength in goal and tight defensive effort
MALMO, SWEDEN— For a country elbow deep in elite goalies, you’d think Finnish junior goalkeeper Juuse Saros would pick a countryman as his favourite.
But no, his fave goalie is Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“I like him because he’s very acrobatic and fun to watch,” says Saros. “It’s very entertaining.”
There might be a few Penguins fans who, in the playoffs anyway, might not agree.
Regardless, Saros, a prospect of the Nashville Predators, will be in net for Finland when they play Canada on Saturday (1p.m., TSN) at the world junior hockey championships.
The winner will play Sunday for the gold medal against the winner of SwedenRussia.
The Finns have cast themselves as the underdogs.
“Every time Finland plays Canada, we are underdogs,” said Finnish coach Karri Kivi.
Finland, a small country that tends to overachieve in world tournaments, is not to be taken lightly. Their game plan starts in net because they take goaltending seriously.
“As soon as I started at age 10 there were two goalie coaches on our team,” said Saros. “It’s very good that in Finland we have goalie coaches at an early age.
“When you’re so young, you can’t learn everything by yourself. It’s very important.”
Saros leads the junior tournament in goals-against average (1.67) and save percentage (.938).
Finland has other things going for them also.
Captain Teuvo Teravainen, a prospect of the Chicago Blackhawks, leads the tournament with nine assists, which puts him fifth in overall scoring.
Saku Maenalanen, another Predators pick, leads the tourney with six goals. And the Finns have about as solid a defence core as there is, with plenty of Canadian hockey experience. Mikko Vainonen, yet another Preds prospect, is learning his trade in the OHL with Kingston under coach Todd Gill, the former Maple Leafs defenceman. “He’s a good coach,” said Vainonen. “Tough, that’s good for us.” Vainonen is paired with draft eligible Julius Honka of the Swift Current Broncos. He’s deemed by many to be a potential first- or secondround pick. “It’s a big year for him, he’s an offen- sive D-man,” Vainonen said of Honka. “It’s good for us, because I’m more a stay-at-home defenceman.” Honka says his time in Canada will help him prepare for this game because he understands how Canadians play. “I think I know how Canadian guys play hockey,” says Honka. “There’s a lot of good players. (Jonathan) Drouin, (Griffin) Reinhart . . . they’ve got a lot of good guys.” Like Switzerland, Finland will try to play a tight defensive game, clogging up the neutral zone while relying on Saros’s goaltending to stop Canada’s shooters.
“We’re going to go a prevent-style,” said Saros. “We’re going to have good team spirit and our power play’s pretty good. I think those things will be important.
“We have a good team. We have a good chance to win.”
Canada beat Finland in a pre-tournament game.
“It wasn’t easy . . . we’re expecting a tough game,” said defenceman Derrick Pouliot. “We’re expecting hardnosed play, they’ve got some skilled players. They’re going to push us.”
Canada switches from the cozy 5,000-seat Malmo Isstadion to the modern 15,000-seat Malmo Arena.