On a perfect day for bandy, a few hundred rabid fans turned out to see Sweden take home its second consecutive world championship.
This was far and away the most exciting match the Swedes had, and the outcome was in question until the very end.
The game opened with a bang. Goaltender Mikael Forsell made a daring long, low pass on one bounce to Sweden's forward Hasse Johansson. The Vasterås star took the pass at the midline and drove in to the goal untouched to make it 1-0. This brought the crowd to life, and spirits remained high throughout the match.
Sweden was in control for most of the first half, and led 4-1 until the Russians put one past Forsell just seconds before the pause. That was a huge goal for Russia, and put them right back in the match just as it seemed to be slipping away from them.
The second half was much more of a contest, and the Russians put the pressure on when they made it 5-4 with just a few minutes to go. Vetlanda's Jonas Claesson (at least I think it was him) sealed the victory with a late goal. Both teams had several good scoring opportunities during the second half.
Finland took the bronze in a morning match against Kazakhstan.
Sweden had defeated the Finns yesterday 8-4, in a game that was close until the Swedes broke it open in the second half. Just as in the first match between these two new members of the European Community, the Finns seemed to tire after putting up a very good fight early on.
I was unable to catch any of the USA's matches, so I am unable to comment on just how close they are to being world-class. They did finish ahead of the Hungarians and our neighbors to the north, however.
The crowd did their best to treat this as the world event that it was. It must have felt strange for the players to fight for the world championship in front of a crowd smaller than that at most Division II matches in Sweden. After the trophy and medals were presented, a few of the players took the trophy and started a victory lap around the rink, until they realized that there weren't any fans on the other side to wave to!
Grattis Sverige!