12/21/24
February 24, 2006
Swedes rout Czechs, now they wait.: Apparantly some of the press called this one wrong, too. Now they get either Russia or Finland in the finals, and somebody else is waiting to see who gets the scoop.
Hyvä suomi!
posted by ursus_comiter at 04:33 PM on February 24, 2006
What he said....I think
posted by GoBirds at 04:36 PM on February 24, 2006
Kick ass! We've got a Swede-Finn gold medal final. This should be a grrrrrrrreat game! As for the Czech's, too bad. We should have an excellant bronze medal game, also.
posted by wingnut4life at 04:37 PM on February 24, 2006
For those who don't know their Scandinavian history (or haven't been watching Conan O'Brien), Finland gained independence from Sweden in 1917, and still has a decent-sized Swedish-speaking minority. Let's just say that this is a grudge match of sorts. And the Finns are obviously the team to beat.
posted by etagloh at 06:33 PM on February 24, 2006
Thank you very much for the history lesson, etagloh. To be honest, I didn't know about that. I just knew it from my favorite team, DA REDWINGS. We have quite a few Swedes and one Finn, and they're always joking about it. Ya learn somethin' new every day!
posted by wingnut4life at 06:45 PM on February 24, 2006
Actually, Swedish rule of Finland ended in 1809. Then it was the Russians' turn until 1917. And then Russia invaded Finland in 1939... So, the Finns got to stomp their bête-noir today. Make no mistake, the Finns and Swedes are indeed rivals, but friendly rivals. The two nations have an annual sports "battle", which is a big deal for both sides. There's a lot of exchange culturally, since there are a significant minority of native Finnish speakers in Sweden and vice versa. I'm really looking forward to this game!
posted by ursus_comiter at 07:01 PM on February 24, 2006
Finland was a Grand Duchy of the Romanovs. Listen to 'Finlandia" by Sibelius. An elegaic appeal for independence, with violins not violence.
posted by owlhouse at 08:22 PM on February 24, 2006
/possibly the only classical music reference in a hockey thread, ever.
posted by owlhouse at 08:23 PM on February 24, 2006
Here's the scoop on Finland.
posted by skydivemom at 08:32 PM on February 24, 2006
Man, this is good stuff. I'm really rooting for the Fins, they've been just a fun team and I have a good net-friend who's from Finland. What a great story for that team, and they've been absolutely fantastic, unbeaten throughout and thoroughly the most dominant team in these games. That extra wrinkle of their long-standing rivalry with Sweden, plus their history with Sweden and Russia.... I'm looking forward to this gold medal match! Go Fins!
posted by hincandenza at 12:39 AM on February 25, 2006
Kind of wish for the Finns myself, since it'll prevent a second issue of a 'Forsberg' stamp. Just hope NBC presents it at a rational time, not 2 AM.
posted by mrhockey at 07:28 AM on February 25, 2006
Just hope NBC presents it at a rational time, not 2 AM. This is what my listings say. The bronze medal game's today, and it should be a good one also.
posted by wingnut4life at 07:47 AM on February 25, 2006
Just hope NBC presents it at a rational time, not 2 AM. It's live at 8AM on the east coast and in CT. If you live on the west coast, you're stuck with either a tape delay or watching it streamed on the NBC site. Oh, you have to love NBC for that. And I stand very much corrected on Finnish history.
posted by etagloh at 09:58 AM on February 25, 2006
Finland is on fire. Antero Nittymaki is standing on his head. I'm a Flyers fan and I am looking forward to seeing Peter Forsberg try to light the lamp behind the big Finnish goalie. As disappointing as the US and Canadien teams were, this is going to be a helluva gold medal game. Since Sweden recently won the Big one, I gotta pull a bit for Finland.