GDT: Semi-Final | United States Vs Finland | 9:30 PM ET | NHLN/TSN

[Summer Rose]

Everything is set, except for needing to stay up for 4,5 hours just to witness the start of the game. You lucky north american people.

Luckily the first one starts in an hour

9:30 isn’t exactly a fun start time, but we got nothing on your after-midnight starts. I’d have preferred the 6 p.m. game.

 

[Husqvarna]

I think he hit the party drinks a tad bit early as usual

I lean towards USA taking it 3-2 or 4-2 with an empty netter. But still pretty nervous about the Finns pulling an upset. Especially if they start on time this time around.

Years of that sweet water Budweisser joke of a beer around in the world. A empty bottle without nothin'... and I did'nt know why even care.

The new and improved Finland line will kill you Canada.

I care of Finland.

 

[jj cale]

Years of that sweet water Budweisser joke of a beer around in the world. A empty bottle without nothin'... and I did'nt know why even care.

The new and improved Finland line will kill you Canada.

I care of Finland.

Your heads not in the game, you are playing the U.S today, take care of that first.

 

[Gsus]

9:30 isn’t exactly a fun start time, but we got nothing on your after-midnight starts. I’d have preferred the 6 p.m. game.

4:30am (Finland) must be one of the worst starting times for a game. It's not really morning (at least for me) but its way past midnight.

 

[MMANumminen]

Sometimes an underdog will prevail

 

[Mestaruus]

I’m guessing your point is the Finns have players who played a lot this year before this tournament. The US guys started behind, but are getting into season form now.

My understanding is that USA had a way longer training camp for this tournament than Finland did, so I don't think you can say that Finland has an advantage with that when the Finnish players didn't do stuff together nearly as much as USA has recently.

At least what I read was that during the fall USA's players didn't have their seasons started so they were practicing together. I can tell you that Finnish players hardly got any training done since the summer together and before arriving to Canada they were split in bubbles of 5 players (or something, it was a very small amount) for few weeks because of covid. How do you do proper training with that?

I know that Russia's u20 has played a tournament against men and even won that tournament (EHT) and Canada has had a long training camp as well together.

I don't think people can say that Finland has had any kind of an advantage with that stuff compared to the other semifinalist countries, quite the contrary.

 

[Summer Rose]

4:30am (Finland) must be one of the worst starting times for a game. It's not really morning (at least for me) but its way past midnight.

I tried getting into English soccer when I lived in Hawaii where games usually kicked off around 4-5 a.m. I took the approach of waking up early and cooking a traditional English breakfast on Saturdays

Being an early riser in Hawaii isn’t so bad anyway because 7 p.m. eastern is 1 or 2 p.m. Hawaii time (Hawaii doesn’t observe daylight savings time).

 

[IceHockeyDude]

I think the Finns give up a lot of dangerous scoring chances, especially imo after they get trapped on their forecheck. The US has too much elite scoring talent for the Finns to play that aggressive forecheck. That’s why I think this game will get out of hand.

Odds do favor US but anything can happen in one game. Finns got some boost after the quarter-final game. If they play like they did the last two periods against the Swedes we could see an upset. Imagine the Finns skating like maniacs all over the place for say 10 minutes american kids could start having some confident-issues.

 

[Mestaruus]

Any word yet on finish line up for today's game?

Copy pasted from a finnish news site but you'll probably understand it.

Goalie - Maalilla:
1 Kari Piiroinen

1-viisikko:
22 Roni Hirvonen – 15 Anton Lundell – 23 Mikko Petman
2 Santeri Hatakka – 4 Ville Heinola

2-viisikko:
21 Mikael Pyyhtiä – 27 Juuso Pärssinen – 34 Aku Räty
35 Mikko Kokkonen – 10 Kasper Puutio

3-viisikko:
19 Petteri Puhakka – 28 Henri Nikkanen – 33 Brad Lambert
6 Eemil Viro – 7 Topi Niemelä

4-viisikko:
36 Benjamin Korhonen – 20 Samuel Helenius – 29 Kasper Simontaival
12 Matias Rajaniemi

13th Forward - 13. hyökkääjä:
32 Matias Mäntykivi

Removed from the line up: Roby Järventie.

 

[Fatass]

Odds do favor US but anything can happen in one game. Finns got some boost after the quarter-final game. If they play like they did the last two periods against the Swedes we could see an upset. Imagine the Finns skating like maniacs all over the place for say 10 minutes american kids could start having some confident-issues.

Could the Finns have a bit of a downturn after beating Sweden? That was a huge win for them.

 

[Dexter Colt]

4:30am (Finland) must be one of the worst starting times for a game. It's not really morning (at least for me) but its way past midnight.

You're just going to stay up all the way and treat it as a night game rather than a morning game? Mad respect. You seem as determined as your team

 

[Fisticuffer]

U.S coaching staff won’t allow their players to look past their formidable opponent like many of the fans are. If a reality check is required, they’ll get one. I honestly doubt the players aren’t smart enough to recognize how close the teams are anyway though.

 

[Husqvarna]

Copy pasted from a finnish news site but you'll probably understand it.

Goalie - Maalilla:
1 Kari Piiroinen

1-viisikko:
22 Roni Hirvonen – 15 Anton Lundell – 23 Mikko Petman
2 Santeri Hatakka – 4 Ville Heinola

2-viisikko:
21 Mikael Pyyhtiä – 27 Juuso Pärssinen – 34 Aku Räty
35 Mikko Kokkonen – 10 Kasper Puutio

3-viisikko:
19 Petteri Puhakka – 28 Henri Nikkanen – 33 Brad Lambert
6 Eemil Viro – 7 Topi Niemelä

4-viisikko:
36 Benjamin Korhonen – 20 Samuel Helenius – 29 Kasper Simontaival
12 Matias Rajaniemi

13th Forward - 13. hyökkääjä:
32 Matias Mäntykivi

Removed from the line up: Roby Järventie.

 

[Mestaruus]

Could the Finns have a bit of a downturn after beating Sweden? That was a huge win for them.

I do see that as a possibility. Finland wants that revenge from the practice match defeat though and USA wants to pay back last year's quarterfinal loss against Finland. I think that a Finnish sport site said that Finland has beaten USA 18 times and USA has beat Finland 16 times in u20. That was a quite surprising statistic to me.

 

[Husqvarna]

... and THAT Finland first a lot will kill you USA-lot.

Remember.

 

[Gsus]

You're just going to stay up all the way and treat it as a night game rather than a morning game? Mad respect. You seem as determined as your team

My sleep rhythm has been f***ed for some time after the holidays so I think I'll manage. I have the alarms set but worst case scenario is that I'll go off at like an hour before the game and find it hard to wake up for the alarm

Few years ago I used to watch about 40 Flyers games 2am Finnish time, then sleep for ~2 hours and leave for school. It's hard to be a hockey fan at times.

 

[IceHockeyDude]

Could the Finns have a bit of a downturn after beating Sweden? That was a huge win for them.

I think now they play without any pressure. If they win, great. If they lose, that's fine. But in the minds of the players, winning it all is the one and only goal for them.

 

[Fatass]

I think now they play without any pressure. If they win, great. If they lose, that's fine. But in the minds of the players, winning it all is the one and only goal for them.

I really do hope you’re right, because I’d much rather watch a close game, than the blow out I’m predicting.

 

[heynowbababooey]

USA fan here. Anyone who thinks this game with be a blowout for the US is crazy. Game is gonna be tight. Hoping for a USA win but wishing Finland good luck as well! Teemu4eva

 

[Dexter Colt]

Few years ago I used to watch about 40 Flyers games 2am Finnish time, then sleep for ~2 hours and leave for school. It's hard to be a hockey fan at times.

Damn that's rough. But at least you had a good school system to go to, as a trade-off for the lousy game times

I hope you manage to stay awake for the game tonight! I hope it's entertaining, and may the best team win.

 

[Husqvarna]

I think now they play without any pressure. If they win, great. If they lose, that's fine. But in the minds of the players, winning it all is the one and only goal for them.

 

[IceHockeyDude]

I really do hope you’re right, because I’d much rather watch a close game, than the blow out I’m predicting.

I hope so too. Good luck with Russia!

Edit. But i'm still rooting for Russia.

 

[lwvs84]

This will probably be a close game. My prediction is first team to 3 wins it. I think it'll be 4-2 (including an empty net goal).

Either way, good luck to both teams, here's hoping both win tomorrow

 

[karhukissa]

Could the Finns have a bit of a downturn after beating Sweden? That was a huge win for them.

No. Even some Finnish fans don't realize how good our coach is, and in general Finnish coaching has been the best for years now (maybe with Sweden).

Our playstyle which has brought us multiple medals with mediocre teams gives us the chance to win any game against anyone. Question is: are our players good enough to play it. Not too sure, USA has a huge edge on individual talent this year. So USA is the clear favourite but we have a chance.

Let's go back to 2016, Finland has the best team on paper along with Canada. Exactly the same game structure, well gold. Same thing has happened multiple times due to our system. But this year not too sure if players are up for it, we'll see. It isn't coincidence that Finland often seems to clutch and caught everyone by surprise "Bbut they are not as good on the paper". Still makes me giggle year after year.

 

[Fried Tree Sap]

No. Even some Finnish fans don't realize how good our coach is, and in general Finnish coaching has been the best for years now (maybe with Sweden).

Our playstyle which has brought us multiple medals with mediocre teams gives us the chance to win any game against anyone. Question is: are our players good enough to play it. Not too sure, USA has a huge edge on individual talent this year. So USA is the clear favourite but we have a chance.

Let's go back to 2016, Finland has the best team on paper along with Canada. Exactly the same game structure, well gold. Same thing has happened multiple times due to our system. But this year not too sure if players are up for it, we'll see. It isn't coincidence that Finland often seems to clutch and caught everyone by surprise "Bbut they are not as good on the paper". Still makes me giggle year after year.

There are some teams I just never feel confident betting against regardless of how they look on paper or how well they've played in the round robin. Finland is definitely one of them (Russia is another, but so far they're not living up to it)