Saturday. 28 May

14:20 Moscow time, Tampere, Nokia Arena, Finland – USA;

18:20 Moscow time, Tampere, Nokia Arena, Canada – Czech Republic.

This is what the semi-final doubles of the World Championship in Finland look like. The young American team will face off against the most experienced team of this tournament and current part-time Olympic champions. And the reigning world champions struck the Czechs, who held the first tournament with a foreign coach. The winners of these pairs will meet in the final to be held on Sunday, May 29.

So how did these couples get together?

Canadians have done the impossible! The world champions saved themselves from embarrassment by shooting the quarterfinals with Sweden at 0:3.

The most outstanding match, of course, was played by the Canadians with the Swedes. Even before the quarterfinals started, they seemed like the couple with the most promising sign. But he did not justify himself for 56 minutes. The Swedes coped very easily with a status rival. But Dalin’s removal allowed the Canadians to raise their heads, and Nylander’s foul in extra time awarded a semi-final ticket. Two goals with an empty net are great. Another overtime win is already a brand. A year ago, the Russian team felt this for themselves.

The Canadians woke up Barzal, showed character, and that stretch was 21 of 27 that the Canadian team finished in their favour. If we consider not only the World Cup, but also the World Cup with the Olympics. Basically, animals. But no less than to admire the Canadians, I want to grieve the loss of the Swedes. They haven’t won a single playoff game since Johan Garpenlev replaced Rikard Grönborg, with Tre Kronur winning two consecutive golds. Swedish fans can barely breathe that the NHL stars are reluctant to go to the national team, and the coach has left the post, where the team itself plays in an unconventional style.

“We just played very badly against the Russians during the Soviet era.” The Swedes suffered another embarrassment in a major tournament

It is difficult to say how long Kari Jalonen will continue in her post. Finn, the head of the Czech national team, is an atypical story even in an exotic location. However, it is too early to draw conclusions from local experts on how much more effective it is. The Czechs have only beaten the Germans in the playoffs so far, which is hardly a success. Especially if you have a master like David Pastrnak in your deck. But the battle with hockey’s founders is a good test for Jalonen and his team. But even the bronze medal will be a success for them. By the way, everything Czechs seem to have replaced Russia in the top four teams on the planet. Recall that before this tournament, our team took third place in the IIHF ranking.

The guards of another Yalonen – Jukka – did not surprise. After all, would anyone else be surprised at Marco Anttila’s transformation from a stamp to a sniper? The tall veteran doesn’t stand out much at club games, but dons the national team jersey and starts scoring important and sometimes life-changing goals. As soon as the Olympic champions “burned” 0:2, he sent a double to the Slovaks, but could score a hat-trick. Slovakia’s beautiful young team has once again hinted at their bright future, but it’s still too early to beat the Finns with their systems that have been debugged over the years. Perhaps the Slovaks just didn’t have enough goals for genius Juraj Słafkowski, who was the team’s top scorer with 9 (3 + 6) but the national team of the country he played for didn’t give in.

Well, the real sensation was created by the Americans. Could we have imagined a few years ago that in the USA-Switzerland game, the favorites would be their rivals, not Stars and Stripes? However, the “raw foodies” brought a flock of Enakhelli to this tournament and made it through the group stage undefeated. Only one victory over the Canadians is worth anything! A younger-than-normal team, even as the Americans go to Finland. Of course, the youngest of the tournament with five students on the roster. And only one representative from NCAA Ben Myers designed the winning pair. Switzerland did not respond with a single goal to the three goals of the Americans. His brilliant attacks stopped in an instant. Neither was his Russian-speaking forwards Philip Kurashev and Denis Malgin. The long-awaited Swiss breakthrough will have to be delayed for at least another year.