GDT: May 14 • Quarterfinal • Finland vs. Czech Republic

[FinPanda]

5 million population in Finland and almost 2 million people watched this game.

 

[Lepardi]

Everyone in Finland turns into a hockey expert once the WC's come along

What Mertaranta (finnish commentator) calls = the truth even tho he doesn't know half the time what's happening on the ice anymore

And some of you people who consider themselves "real hockey connoisseurs" think that in order to be a real expert you have to always disagree with Mertaranta. That's probably why so many Finnish hardcore hockey fans are justifying the horrible call on Kontiola that gave the Czech Republic the power-play on which they scored their third goal. The biggest infraction in that play was committed by the Czech player, when he grabbed Kontiola's stick. It's called holding the stick in the rulebook and it's a two-minute penalty. There's no way the Czechs should have ended up with a powerplay there.

I personally didn't like the whining in the Finnish media after last year's final against Russia or the U20 final against Sweden one bit, cause there was no real basis for it. In this case Finland has a real beef. They had a goal disallowed for no good reason and the Czechs scored two goals on bogus power-plays.

 

[Lepardi]

Yes, they are known to be drunk most of the time and always very bitter. Seeing everything painted in black.

Actually, there is a time when Finnish people cheer up quite a bit. It's when they get to go to a very, very poor country like Thailand, Estonia or the Czech Republic. The reason Finnish people are happy in those poor countries is because the beer is practically free there. And the Finns do love their beer.

 

[Tulipunaruusu*]

Actually, there is a time when Finnish people cheer up quite a bit. It's when they get to go to a very, very poor country like Thailand, Estonia or the Czech Republic. The reason Finnish people are happy in those poor countries is because the beer is practically free there. And the Finns do love their beer.

You then must be happy to hear about the recent economical development in Finland. Happy hours indeed.

 

[Ishibashi]

Actually, there is a time when Finnish people cheer up quite a bit. It's when they get to go to a very, very poor country like Thailand, Estonia or the Czech Republic. The reason Finnish people are happy in those poor countries is because the beer is practically free there. And the Finns do love their beer.

lol. In EU only Cyprus has a worse-performing economy than Finland. Lets hope the beer gets a bit cheaper so you can afford to get drunk.

 

[SotasicA]

Actually, there is a time when Finnish people cheer up quite a bit. It's when they get to go to a very, very poor country like Thailand, Estonia or the Czech Republic. The reason Finnish people are happy in those poor countries is because the beer is practically free there. And the Finns do love their beer.

You realise you're really embarrassing the rest of us Finns? You sound like you're 12, and haven't yet understood how running your mouth online just makes you look like an idiot.

And for the Czechs taking the bait -

You're better off ignoring dumbasses.

 

[Lepardi]

You realise you're really embarrassing the rest of us Finns?

You mean I'm embarrassing the rest of a nation that's "drunk most of the time and always very bitter"?

 

[Sami]

Lol! What the hell is happening here?!

 

[Lepardi]

Shame that a team with better offensive individuals, game plan and more chances created won.

Icehockey games should not be decided by "who's the better team". If that was the case, Belarus would have never won Sweden in an Olympic quarter-final. They were outplayed and outshot by a way wider margin than Finland in this game. Ice-hockey games should be decided by who scores more goals. In this game, both teams scored four goals and two Czech goals came on bogus power-plays (Kontiola's penalty, and the slash on Kemppainen not being called).

The Finnish media is usually way out of hand when whining about referees. For instance, last year's U20 final agaisnt Sweden and WHC final against Russia were not decided by the refs by any means, albeit there were horrible calls in both games. But maybe you should sometimes try to take penalty calls for what they are, and not just form your opinion based on what Mertaranta or the Finnish media says (meaning you always have to disagree with them just to show everyone you're so much smarter than the docile masses). In this game between Finland and the Czech Republic refereeing mistakes played a huge role, and Mertaranta's comments or whoever had the better players or more scoring chanches, or the fact that you think you're almost too good for this country don't change that fact in any shape or form.

I can assure you that when the refs saw the crucial mistakes they made in the second period on video, they didn't go "oh well, we totally blew it, but that's totally fine cause the Czechs had more scoring chances in the game so it's only right they won". It's a referee's nightmare. You disallow a goal for no good reason and an unwarranted 4-on-3 powerplay ensues. That's when you start hoping that "please, don't score on this one so I'm at least partially off the hook". And ofcourse they do score.

 

[Tulipunaruusu*]

If ice hockey games were decided only by scoring why are you japping about the referees again...

Shouldn't we concentrate on how Finland despite playing the most cynical defensive hockey in this tournament allows opponent more than enough chances (leading into those valuable goals) in both 'meaningful' encounters against United States and Czech Republic? I wouldn't focus so much on latest Russia-Finland fixture since you could argue it was more beneficial to lose that game... At least the likes of Norway felt the wrath of Finland.

Or how Finland in recent elimination games has allowed the other side (Russia, Czech Republic) suddenly play quite efficient powerplay? Wasn't penalty killing this team's strenght going into that game with 0 goals allowed or something...

If every powerplay nowadays suddenly turns into 'momentum' for the other team I wouldn't blame the referees but the rules for having introduced penalties into the game.

So, the result was below mediocre campaign ending in tears for the Finnish team. If someone saw anything else than bronze 'winning' team in this bunch I'd like again to remind that Finland as a ice hockey nation should always thrive for gold in this tournament. And not only thrive but be every year able to raise such a team that could win it more often than every 15 years.

That is such a faraway dream it somehow doesn't get people behind the idea of rising into a far more competitive ice hockey nation somewhere in the near future. Improvements to IIHF refereeing seem to be more valuable cause to stand behind.

 

[Lepardi]

Or how Finland in recent elimination games has allowed the other side (Russia, Czech Republic) suddenly play quite efficient powerplay? Wasn't penalty killing this team's strenght going into that game with 0 goals allowed or something....

The second goal scored by the Czechs was practically scored on a 5-on-3 because Kemppainen was without his stick. He was without his stick because of an obvious 2-minute infraction by the Czech player. It should have been a 4-on-4 at that time, not a 5-on-3. Very hard to score a PP goal on a 4-on-4.

And the bogus penalty on Kontiola led to a 4-on-3, which is way easier to score on than a 5-on-4. AND it shouldn't have been a powerplay in the first place either.

If ice hockey games were decided only by scoring why are you japping about the referees again...

Because when a team gets two(2!) goals as direct results of horrible refereeing mistakes, it doesn't go away just by saying "those mistakes don't matter, the better team won". The Italians are not gonna forget about the refereeing fiasco that was South Korea 2002, nor should they. You have every right to feel you have a genuine beef when the refs totally screw you over, and no scoring chance stat will change that.

That is such a faraway dream it somehow doesn't get people behind the idea of rising into a far more competitive ice hockey nation somewhere in the near future.

Ofcourse it would be nice if Finland could outplay the Czech Republic in its home ice. But I'm also happy with just outscoring them, which is what Finland did on Thursday when you don't count the goals that the Czechs got as direct results of blatant refereeing mistakes. And ofcourse I'd like to see Finland rise into a "far more competitive hockey nation". It's not gonna happen. Which is why a bronze medal in the WHC is a result for the Finnish team now, and it will be a result in the future. This time around, the referees played a huge role in Finland not getting to play for that bronze medal.

If every powerplay nowadays suddenly turns into 'momentum' for the other team I wouldn't blame the referees but the rules for having introduced penalties into the game.

I have no interest in chastising the referees. It's a fast game and they have to make their decisions without all the replays we get to see. It's only human to make mistakes. What I find disgusting is that even after seeing all those replays some people still aren't willing to admit that the refereeing mistakes were absolutely crucial in this game. The referees themselves will be the first to admit it once they see the tape.

 

[Faterson]

I'm also happy with just outscoring them, which is what Finland did on Thursday when you don't count the goals that the Czechs got as direct results of blatant refereeing mistakes.

That's a funny way of interpreting a clear-cut loss. By those standards, Slovakia won at least silver in Prague 11 years ago, because the referee should have called a penalty against Canada (tripping Slovakia's goaltender behind Slovakia's goal just prior to Canada's game-winning goal in the semifinals). Should have, would have, might have. Welcome to virtual reality, courtesy of Lepardy. The amount of ceaseless whining in this thread is astounding and, I suppose, makes the Czech win seem even more deserved.

 

[Lepardi]

By those standards, Slovakia won at least silver in Prague 11 years ago, because the referee should have called a penalty against Canada (tripping Slovakia's goaltender behind Slovakia's goal just prior to Canada's game-winning goal in the semifinals).

Did you happen to take math at school? Sounds like Canada got ONE goal as a direct result of a refereeing mistake. In the game on Thursday the Czechs got TWO goals as direct results of blatant refereeing mistakes, and one goal was wrongfully taken away from Finland. That equals THREE goals. Are you able to fathom the matchematical difference between a goal and three goals?

I'm not saying Finland would have advanced with fair refereeing. There's no guarantee Finland would have won the game even if those mistakes didn't happen, but they surely would have had a much better chance to do so.

BTW. As you're from Slovakia, you probably know a little something about soccer. Do you remember this game between Italy and South Korea in 2002?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfuaNWPjkIw

Do you also genuinely believe that the result of that game is not tainted by the terrible refereeing? And do you think the Italians were just sore losers when they felt a little bit hard-done-by after that fiasco? There's a slight difference between having one crucial call go against you and being the victim of multiple blatant refereeing mistakes-

 

[FinPanda]

Please stop already. The game ended days ago.

 

[Faterson]

the Czechs got TWO goals as direct results of blatant refereeing mistakes, and one goal was wrongfully taken away from Finland. That equals THREE goals.

You must have watched a different game (again, virtual reality?). I observed it carefully (as more or less an impartial observer) and saw none of those events. As to "taken away", if you mean the one where Kontiola punched the defenceman in his face in the crease, yep, that was blatant, which is why the goal was correctly disallowed. It all boils down to: referees make their calls, and the calls may or may not be correct, and fans may not agree with those calls, but retroactively subtracting or adding goals (not) scored as a result of those calls and declaring oneself the winner of lost games... well, that suggests middle-school at best. With that imaginative method, Slovakia is a dynasty, winning at least 3 Worlds golds and an Olympic silver. And then I wake up...