Finns showing no fear of Canada
MALMO, SWEDEN — Team Finland is trying to achieve what few of its country’s world junior squads have in recent memory.
The Finns haven’t won a medal at the under-20 championship since earning a bronze in Vancouver in 2006.
A Finnish team hasn’t claimed gold at the tournament since 1998.
“I think about this tournament,” said head coach Kivi Karri, whose team faces Canada in a semifinal on Saturday. “We had a call to go to the best four. We did it.”
But does that mean his players are confident about their play off round matchup?
“I hope so,” Karri said. “We have to go over the limit if we want to go on tomorrow.”
That’s something Finland didn’t do a year ago. The Finns were fourth in Group A in Ufa, Russia during the preliminary round, their only win coming against Latvia.
They were then forced to play in the relegation round and finished the tournament in seventh place.
“It’s a good bounce back for this year,” said goaltender Juuse Saros, who has a 1.67 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage in the tournament. “We have learned from that.”
One of the returnees is Teuvo Teravainen, a 2012 first-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks, who hopes to make the jump to North America next season. The 19-year-old leads the Finns in scoring with nine assists, tops in the tournament.
“It means a lot,” Teravainen said. “Last year we have a really good team. Our tournament was a big disappointment. This year, maybe not so good team, but guys on the team have good chemistry.”
While last year couldn’t have gone any worse there is cautious optimism in Malmo.
Saros told Sunaya Sapurji of Yahoo! Sports at the world junior exhibition tournament in August that, “You don’t have to be God to beat them,” referring to the Canadians.
“I still feel so,” said Saros “I think we have a good team. Of course, Canada is very good, but I think we have a good chance to win.”
Special teams will likely be a big factor in the outcome of Saturday’s game. Canada’s power play proficiency is 29.2 per cent, while Finland’s penalty killing is tops in the tournament, allowing just one goal on 21 chances against.
“I see a hardworking team. I see a team that’s very structured,” said Canadian head coach Brent Sutter about the Finns. “I see a team that’s going to play North American hockey.” The Finns feel like they’re ready. “I have the information we need,” said Karri, having watched the Canadians in the summer, played against them in the pre-tournament and watched them during the event.
Karri also noted defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen, a Buffalo Sabres prospect, is regaining his health and confidence after struggling earlier in the tournament.
“He’s just had some bad luck. Two weeks away (from a concussion in December), then a fever and that stuff (at the tournament),” Karri said. “The way he practises for example, the games and in the locker-room, he’s excellent. He’s really grown.”
The Finns are in a spot they haven’t been accustomed to. This is only the second time in the last eight years they’ve reached the semifinal. They lost the bronze-medal game to Canada in 2012 in Calgary.
“We knew before the tournament we could beat every team that we’re playing against,” Teravainen said. “Now we have Canada and they’re a really good team. We don’t need to think too much if we lose or if we win. We’ll go, play our game and see what happens.”