My, My …
… Hey, Hey ( Out of the Blue ) … Into the Black.
Hello Finland !
This is the way the natural born Canadian Toronto ( Maple Leafs ) rocker - Neil Young - would’ave it back in the 1979 days.
Talkin’ about my - my fourteen year old son Christian, named after you-know-who-of-Buffalo Sabres-center-fame, did throw the videotape of the Finland –Sweden game out from the balcony ( on the fourth level ! ) after Finlands loss. He recorded it for me as I was workin’. He was sitting watchin’ the game with a couple of ( Swedish ) friends from his hockeyteam over here in Jönköping. Too good he didn’t throw the video recorder … or the TV the same way. My son is by the way born over here in Svearike, but once a Finn – always a Finn. Remember.
Everybody knows this is nowhere ( Torino ) – and everybody in the whole world knows which team was the best hockey team of the competition – Finland. One loss – they won the rest. With a team including, the ever so hated Antti-Jussi Niemi and Petteri Nummelin, remember freakin’ that.
NOBODY expected anything from the Finnish team, but they proved ‘em wrong, and Erkka Westerlund is the king of cool. And zero the hero - Antero Niittymäki - is a hero for years to come. Believe my word. Teemu Selänne won the point scoring competition of the Olympics before another Finn – Saku Koivu. Five from Finland among the top seven tells something about it. The chickens from Sweden did a cheap trick ( and did to get to meet Switzerland in the quarterfinals ) due to a lay-down-stay-down game against Slovakia. I rate ‘em nothing. And if I did get the chance, I would give the head coach Bengt-Åke G. ( BÅG ), a good ( verbal ) hiding. Kinda Chelsea Grin, without the grin, if you know what I mean – even thou’ I’m a West Ham supporter …
Revenge is sweet. And Finland will come out in full force in the Latvia world champion chips later on. You did see the last of ‘em old born with a silver spoon in hand lucky Swedish faces like; Peter Forsberg, Mats Sundin and Niklas Lidström in the Torino Olympics ( thanx to that, Lord ) and you wont se ‘em around anymore. But you will see, not necessarily already in the World Championships, the likes of Olli Jokinen, Saku Koivu and Jere Lehtinen will rule the game for years to come. They are too old too die young. Or not.
Maybe a Vancouver Shakedown ( Nazareth -76 ! ) for Finland ?
An Olympic gold medal is just what the doctor order for Finland. After two losing games in two big finals in latter years; The World Cup and The Olympics.