Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Labour Day Weekend Wrap Up

Hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend. I didn't get a chance to add anything to the blog, however I did get to watch two full games of hockey! After an entertaining game between Finland and Sweden, saturday night saw team Canada take care of the Russians with relative ease, winning 3-1. The game was fairly entertaining although it didn't feel anything like a classic Canada vs Russia confrontation. Perhaps that had to do with the complete lack of atmosphere at the Air Canada Centre. Too bad the rest of the games aren't in Montreal or somewhere out west, it would be nice to have some noise in the building.

The 'exhibition' games finally ended yesterday as Finland narrowly escaped embarrassment with a 2-1 victory over Germany. Nice to see the Germans put up a solid fight. Before the game defenseman Janni Niiniimaa left the team after a conflict with head coach Raimo Summanen. An interesting time to bail on your team, to say the least. From what I have read it sounds like Summanen is the Finnish equivalent of Mike Keanen and most Finnish fans are siding with Niiniimaa.

The other European quarter-final is currently underway, the Czech Republic is leading Sweden 2-0 after one period of play. It appears the Czechs have finally gotten their sh*t together after a lackluster start to the tourney. Sweden meanwhile would be tremendously disappointed if this score holds up. Many picked the Swedes to take the European division but of course their question marks in goal continue to be a serious issue. Of note, it appears that the Sedins have not seen any action in the tourney. This is due to their current contract status, no contract = no insurance.

Later tonight Russia takes on the U.S. in St Paul. Can the Americans get it together? I don't think so, I fully expect Russia to defeat the Americans. At this point the Russians have shown that they are more talented and simply want it more. Of course anything can happen...

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