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GDT: Quarter Final: Finland Vs United States | 11:30AM EST 5:30PM CET | FIN 1 - 0 USA

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Finland, best per-capita hockey nation on the planet, but will the opener against Sweden be their best game of the tournament?

If the USA can find that next gear, think they win fairly handily. Coaches need to unleash their 18 year-olds. Hopefully that superb OT goal against Czechia is indicative of things to come for Caulfield and Turcotte.
 
I think USA will win but I’m not comfortable making a prediction on this one. Finland is always scrappy and while hit by the injury bug, they have good enough defence and goaltending to make life difficult on the Americans. I don’t think they can score enough to win against USA if they need more then 3 but if Annunen keeps the US in check, Finland can take this game.
 
IceHockeyDude said:
3-1 win for the underdog
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Yeah. Heart says 3-1 for the Underdog. Head says 1-3 USA, and fear in my guts strongly about 1-6.

Half-baked performance of Finns this year isn't just enough, and I don't think Team USA would make their old cardinal sin and mistake anymore coming to the game with wrong attitude. Those days are over.
 
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If Finland would have won against the swiss I would most likely said USA today. I believe the best thing that could have happened was actually losing against a underdog in Finlands case, where all their errors was clearly displayed and now been able to work on them. Finland have the scoring depth but misses out on star talent which US has.

I´m gonna be a homer and call 4-2 Finland, might be completely wrong but i have a good feeling about this one.
 
Wahlstrom being upset by Finland once again. 3-2, Wahlstrom misses an empty net 1 second remaining.
 
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Ginger Papa said:
While I respect the Finnish Team, I think the difference will be the goaltending.

Spencer Knight has been solid.​
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That's the only thing that wouldn't be the difference maker for the US. They have better offense and defense but Annunen has done really well. Doesn't Knight have a sub. 900 save percentage?
 
teravaineSAROS said:
That's the only thing that wouldn't be the difference maker for the US. They have better offense and defense but Annunen has done really well. Doesn't Knight have a sub. 900 save percentage?
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Annunen has confience issue, once he let in a goal he will let in more goals.
 
vippe said:
USA has the better team, but I will never count out a Finnish squash.
I could see this one go to overtime.
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Joonas Suotamo?
 
teravaineSAROS said:
That's the only thing that wouldn't be the difference maker for the US. They have better offense and defense but Annunen has done really well. Doesn't Knight have a sub. 900 save percentage?
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Edit: Now that I've had some coffee, obviously the USA will also need to swarm & suppress right off the start:
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Hopefully it's a well played game from both teams with zero injuries.

Cheers
​
 
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8-1 USA. Honka and Thomson will play horrible and the poor Annunen will get destroyed early in this quarterfinal. Thomson will probably sit in the penalty box a couple of times, great captain... Raipe will have no answers just because he´s not good enough, neither tactically or mentally.
The Americans will have an extra eye on Puistola and Maccelli and therefor make them anonymous in this game. Ranta has only played one good game and he will probably not wake up for this one against tougher competition.
Räty brothers are just like Maccelli in this tournament, sometimes they show up and sometimes they don´t.
The only player who has brung an consistent work effort in every single game is Joonas Oden and therefor i hope he has a good game and impresses the scouts. He´s a good skater with a great motor, grinds and works hard in every shift. He has the potential to become a good fourth liner in the NHL, make no mistake about it.

Caulfield will probably wake up for this one and score three goals. Zegras will continue playing great and showcase his vision. Wahlström will absolutely toy with defenders like Honka and Thomson.
Kaliyev will probably score at least two goals in this one.
Last but not least, Turcotte has been underwhelming in the tournament and of course he will turn it around when they face Finland.

Obviously i hope i´m wrong because i´m rooting for my Leijonat, but hey you got to be realistic.
 
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Such a Finland -thing to tank that last meaningless round robin game and suddenly become the huge underdog again. Either way this should be a good one. People are way too early to write off a side that has won half of the golds in the last 6 years. I don't think they've looked very good so far in this tournament but they seem to hit a different gear once the real games begin. I highly doubt the USA will take them lightly though seeing as they want a revenge from the last years final.
 
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teravaineSAROS said:
That's the only thing that wouldn't be the difference maker for the US. They have better offense and defense but Annunen has done really well. Doesn't Knight have a sub. 900 save percentage?
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Yeah but he was also player of the game against Russia. He was hung out to dry against Canada, that's what ruined his numbers..
 
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Dread Clawz said:
Yeah but he was also player of the game against Russia. He was hung out to dry against Canada, that's what ruined his numbers..
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Yea the numbers are skewed because Annunen faced easier competition than Knight. I just don't think goaltending will be the difference maker unless one of them goes really hot (which does happen)
 
I love to face Canada and Russia but not Finland. Their style has been really difficult for us.
 
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