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Finland, without its NHL stars, tops Canada for hockey world title

By OlympicTalkMay 26, 2019, 4:40 PM EDT
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Finland’s roster for the world men’s hockey championship included zero players who finished the 2018-19 season on an NHL team. Didn’t matter, the Finns knocked out the last three nations to win world titles en route to their first gold since 2011.

Finland beat Canada 3-1 in Sunday’s final in Bratislava, Slovakia, getting two goals from captain Marko Anttila, a 2004 Chicago Blackhawks draft pick who plays in the KHL (and has never played in the NHL). Anttila also scored the lone goal in Saturday’s semifinal with Russia.

The most notable name on Finland’s roster may be its youngest. Forward Kaapo Kakko, 18, could be the No. 2 pick in the NHL Draft behind American Jack Hughes.

Finland became the first nation to win a world title without a player who finished the season on an NHL roster since at least 1993, not counting the 1995 and 2005 lockout years. The NHL didn’t participate in the Olympics until 1998.

Canada’s roster was headlined by Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray, Nashville Predators forward Kyle Turris as captain and Philadelphia Flyers veteran forward Sean Couturier. But it lacked the superstars of recent years like Connor McDavid (2018), Claude Giroux (2017), Brad Marchand (2016) and Sidney Crosby (2015).

The Russians had stalwarts Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Ilya Kovalchuk but were blanked by Finland in the semifinals and ended up with bronze over the Czech Republic. They eliminated the Patrick Kane-captained Americans in the quarterfinals.

MORE: Great Britain gets first win at hockey worlds in 57 years

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U.S. eliminated by Russia at men’s hockey world championship

AP
By OlympicTalkMay 23, 2019, 4:34 PM EDT
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Finland, without its NHL stars, tops Canada for hockey world title U.S. diving roster for world championships finalized at nationals Kerri Walsh Jennings, Brooke Sweat Kerri Walsh Jennings, Brooke Sweat win first tournament title together

The U.S. lost to Russia in the elimination rounds of the men’s hockey world championship for the third time in five years, falling 4-3 in the quarterfinals in Slovakia on Thursday.

Full statistics are here.

The U.S., captained by 2010 Olympic silver medalist Patrick Kane, extended its world title drought. The last gold at a standalone worlds came in 1933. The Americans lost in the quarterfinals in 2017 and earned bronze in 2018, sandwiching an Olympic quarterfinal exit in PyeongChang without NHL players.

The Russians, with stalwarts Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Ilya Kovalchuk, get Finland in Saturday’s semifinals. The other semifinal pits Canada against the Czech Republic.

Canada escaped Switzerland in the quarterfinals. New Jersey Devils defenseman Damon Severson scored with .4 of a second left to force overtime. Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone tallied the game winner.

NHL All-Stars Jack Eichel, Ryan Suter and Cory Schneider adorned the U.S. team, with Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill at the helm for a third straight year. Earlier in the tournament, Kane passed Miracle on Ice star Mark Johnson for the U.S. record for most points in world championship history.

MORE: Great Britain gets first win at hockey worlds in 57 years

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Great Britain gets first win at men’s ice hockey worlds in 57 years

AP
By OlympicTalkMay 20, 2019, 4:40 PM EDT
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Finland, without its NHL stars, tops Canada for hockey world title U.S. diving roster for world championships finalized at nationals Kerri Walsh Jennings, Brooke Sweat Kerri Walsh Jennings, Brooke Sweat win first tournament title together

Lord Stanley would be proud. Great Britain’s men’s ice hockey team pulled off its biggest win in more than a half-century on Monday.

Great Britain beat France 4-3 in overtime at the world championship in Slovakia, in its last game of the tournament, to avoid relegation and remain in the top division of worlds in 2020 with the likes of the U.S., Canada and Russia.

France, whose streak of 12 straight top-level world championship appearances ends, had led 3-0 in the second period.

“We just don’t know when we are beaten,” golden-goal scorer Ben Davies said, according to Ice Hockey U.K. “This just underlines what GB is all about.”

It marked the Brits’ first win at a top-level worlds or Olympics since 1962. Great Britain last qualified for an Olympics in 1948. Its only top-level world championship appearance since 1962 was in 1994, when it lost all five games by a combined 44-7.

At these worlds, Great Britain was outscored 38-5 in its first six games, all losses. It came into the 16-nation event as the lowest-ranked team at No. 22 in the world.

“No one knows anything about U.K. hockey, and the first couple of days here people were laughing at us,” defenseman Ben O’Connor said, according to The New York Times, which reported that fans dressed as Queen Elizabeth II, Mary Poppins, Beefeaters, cricket bats and the Olympic ski jumper Eddie “the Eagle” Edwards to the Brits’ 6-3 loss to the U.S. last Wednesday.

(h/t @OlympicStatman)

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