Goalkeepers
Finland
Kari Lehtonen is one of those goalkeepers who rarely make mistakes. And if he catches courage, it becomes impenetrable at all. With European teams in this championship, he played great. But with the Americans he showed himself well done only in a series of shootouts. Therefore, it is better for Canadians not to bring them. Just in case. Moreover, the US team and Eugene Malkin showed them the path to Lehtonen’s goal. The upper corners are at least near, at least distant, to choose from.
Canada
Andy Murray even in the playoffs continued the rotation of goalkeepers. Beating the Swiss from the frame was watched by Dwayne Roloson. The torment of the Swedes in the semifinals took place under the watchful eye of Cam Ward. Neither one nor the other gave reason to doubt his skill, so the coach has a difficult choice for the finals. So much so that Roloson is most likely to enter the match with the Finns - it's his turn.
Defenders
Finland
The Finns defend well with the whole team, which greatly simplifies the work directly to the defenders. Judging by the game with the Russian national team, all of them are positionally literate and strong in martial arts. The US team, however, can argue with that. Periodically, the American forwards turned the Finnish defense into a sieve, and the defenders were exposed as clowns. The main thing is to move more, more often and more accurately play the pass and have a physical effect. Then the Finnish defenders instantly lose impregnability. Canadians are able to do all of the above.
Canada
A very even selection of defenders, which allows coaches not to overexpose any one pair on the court. In the company of the Enkhael group of defenders, Corey Murphy, the acquaintance of the Russian defenders, was not lost. He copes with his immediate duties well, and begins the attack skillfully.
Forwards
Finland
The attack is rather mediocre, which, as we see, did not stop the Finns from reaching the finals. Other trump cards were found. However, when the opportunity arises, anyone can score. Inventive juniors Koivu and Ruutu. Hentunen is a quick and aiming throw. Wise by experience Peltonen and Lehtinen.
Canada
The attacking line of Canadians by name will not yield even to the Russian one. And in terms of efficiency, as we now see, it clearly exceeds it. Three out of four links are able to decide the outcome of the match - it’s even pointless to list them. And you never know which day will be more dangerous. Gone are the days when Canadians played straightforward power hockey. Today they can be crushed by forechecking, and arrange the layout in the best Soviet traditions, and even on the spot they are at home.
Special brigades
Finland
What are most Finns capable of, we saw at the preliminary stage. What they can without Nummelin, saw in the semifinals. Kukkonen and Saravo themselves may be good, but they can not be compared with Nummelin. Yes, and the classic Finnish piglet attacks against Canadians may not work. These guys can clean the space in front of the gate like no one else. In the minority, the Finnish national team has complete order - it cannot be otherwise when there is such a player as Jere Lekhtinen. And the organization itself in this component is fine with the Finns. They are mobile, tenacious and always ready to use the opponent’s mistake. The Russian team felt this on themselves.
Canada
The Canadians have enough players who regularly go to their clubs in special teams, and they successfully transferred their skills to the national team. The main striking force is a team composed of Rick Nash, Dion Fanuf, Michael Kammalleri, Shane Dawn and Eric Staal. On account of these players eight goals in the majority. In the minority Canadians have never missed a playoff yet, and therefore, there are no problems with this component.
Key players
Finland
The Finns lost their main player in the quarterfinals. Speech, of course, about the defender Petteri Nummelin . The Russian team managed to get through without it, but the blow to the effectiveness of the majority was a serious one. In the semifinals, the Finns had enough opportunities to play too much, but failed to do so. Of course, Russian hockey players defended themselves well, but the majority of the Finnish brigade clearly lacked meaningfulness. However, even without Nummelin, the Finns have enough players with charisma - for example, the owner of toothless smiles Ville Peltonen and three times the best forward of the defensive plan in the NHL, Hyere Lehtinen, who played a leading role in the 1995 gold team.
Canada
Canadians have no such obvious leader. In an attack, a young fighter (in a good sense) Rick Nash, and captain Shane Dawn, who is so desperate for his homeland, and Eric Staal, and even very modest by Enhael standards Matthew Lombardi can be the best scorers in this championship. Among the defenders, Eric Brewer, who has the maximum playing time, and the young star Dion Fanuf, who distributed seven assists in six games, stand out.
Story
For the Finnish national team, this will be the seventh world championship final in history. Only one of the previous six became for her "gold". Canadians have disproportionately more titles - of course, they became world champions 23 times. In case of victory, by the way, they will become the sole leaders in this indicator. So far, the USSR / Russia team has the same number of gold medals.
In the finals of the World Cup, the national teams of Finland and Canada met only once - in 1994. And then the founders of hockey won. It was a year before the first and so far the only victory for the Finns. So, if the team of Erkki Westerlund again fails to beat the Canadians, there will be hope for a good omen. True, in a year there will be no more Westerlund in Vancouver. This is his last world championship.
Summary
It appears that the Canadian team in the final match is a clear favorite. This is evidenced by its systematic set of revolutions during the championship, and the same ease with which the Swiss and Swedes were swept off the road. Moreover, the winning aura of head coach Andy Merey, who has already won two gold with Canadians. Only statistics are against them. A very long time ago, no one managed to become world champions, having won all the championship matches. And the Canadian team has just eight wins in eight games. Only it is unlikely that all this especially worries the Finnish national team. This team has already shown that it can fight, patiently wait for its chance, use it and even incapacitate rival leaders. So Canadians will probably have to sweat pretty. And keep your feet - especially your knees.
P. S. In a preview of the championship, it was these two teams that Sport Today called the tournament favorites. It’s nice to know that the choice was right. But it would be even more pleasant to make a mistake and see the Russian team in the final. Alas, not this time.