I was at the Sweden-Finland match last night. Several hundred fanatics, some of whom had actually seen a game before, packed the John Rose Oval in Roseville.
The match between the Nordic rivals opened slowly, with the first goal coming late in the first half. Our boys in yellow looked a little tentative. Most of the play was in the Swedish end of the rink.
In the second half things opened up a bit more. The Finns scored a second goal on a beautiful breakaway and seemed to be in command, but after that they started to tire a bit and the Swedes began to get a few chances. They scored three goals in a fairly short time frame, including the final one with just a few minutes left.
Things will be heating up a bit from now on. Today at 5 the Swedes take on the Russians. The USA is 2-0, building their confidence against Canada and Hungary. The Hungarians seem to be the doormats of the tournament, having opened with a 27-0 loss against Kazakhstan. The standings in the preliminary round are:
Russia 2-0 Sweden 2-0 Kazakhstan 2-0 USA 2-0 Canada 0-2 Hungary 0-2 Finland 0-2 Norway 0-2Games today: Canada-Hungary, Norway-Finland, Russia-Sweden, USA-Kazakhstan
More later,
David