It was as much about who won medals as who didn't.
In a wide-open men's Olympic hockey tournament, Europeans grabbed all the prizes -- gold for Sweden, silver for Finland and bronze for the Czech Republic.
The big losers? How about Canada, Russia and the US.
PHOTO: AP
"I think the only conclusion that can be drawn from this tournament is that the level of competition among the top hockey nations is incredibly balanced," said Bill Daly, the NHL's deputy commissioner. "Records aside, there was no dominant team in this tournament."
Except for surprise quarterfinalist Switzerland, the other seven teams were 95-percent NHL. The larger ice surface neutralized any possible North American advantage and, with the finalists playing eight games in 12 days, the short tournament favored hot goaltending.
Sweden and Finland had it.
PHOTO: AFP
Sweden and New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist probably saved Sweden's 3-2 gold-medal victory against Finland on Sunday, making a sprawling save on Olli Jokinen in the final minute.
Peter Forsberg was the hero of Sweden's 1994 gold-medal team, but he savored this one more.
"I was so young the last time," Forsberg said. "This time, I understand."
The Swedes finished 6-2, beaten 5-0 by Russia and shocked 3-0 by Slovakia. The loss to Slovakia left them third in their group, put them against the Swiss in the quarters.
Swedish coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson hinted beforehand his team might not play hard against the Slovaks. The IIHF, which governs world hockey, sent an observer to the game and concluded the Swedes gave a full effort.
With one year left on his contract, Gustafsson was asked if he'd like to coach in the NHL.
"I don't dream about those things," he said. "It's not a goal, but it would be interesting."
Finland's goalie Antero Niittymaki was the tournament's most valuable player. Despite losing in the final, he gave up only eight goals in six games. Goaltending was supposed to be Finland's weakness -- top goalies Miikka Kiprusoff and Kari Lehtonen missed with injuries -- but the Philadelphia Flyers' goalie came through.
Finland finished 7-1, edging the Americans 4-3 in the quarterfinals, and battering Russia 4-0 in the semifinals. The Finns now have two Olympic silvers, two bronzes -- but no golds.
"It's a pity, losing the final after such a great tournament," forward Jere Lehtinen said. "We were always winning, and in the end we only got silver."
The defending world champions and Olympic gold medalists in 1998, the Czechs couldn't do it without injured goalie Dominik Hasek.
Hasek strained his groin in the opening minutes of the tournament and neither fill-in -- Milan Hnilicka and Tomas Vokoun -- was able to step up. The Czech were overwhelmed in the semifinals against Sweden, 7-3, but beat Russia 3-0 for bronze.
Russia left with no goals in its last two games, and no medals for only the second time in 50 years.
The Russians were the quickest, highest scoring team through the sixth game, a historic 2-0 victory over Canada in the quarterfinals. They were favorites going into the final four, but lost to the Czechs in the bronze-medal game, and 4-0 to the Finns in the semifinals.
The Czechs and Finns clogged up center ice and walled off the Russians at the red line.
"I just really think that teams figured us out," Russian goalie Evgeni Nabokov said. "Tactic-wise, those teams outplayed us totally."
The Canadians invented the game, and the loss to Russia produced scathing headlines across the vast country. A team filled with high-priced NHL stars failed to score in three of the last four games, and general manager Wayne Gretzky got the blame.
Defenseman Chris Pronger tried to explain.
"When you play six games in eight days, there's not a lot of time to practice and get that cohesiveness," he said. "If you look around at a lot of the countries, they are so familiar with each other and the ice. It's tough to make that adjustment in eight days."
Gretzky, who wiped away tears after losing to Russia, picked older players instead of going with youth. He also arrived in Turin amid distractions over his alleged links to a sports gambling ring.
US Hockey is in transition, and not many expected the Americans to do much. They didn't. At the same time, most anticipated the team would do more than just tie Latvia and beat Kazakhstan -- both teams with only a handful of NHL players.
Against elite clubs the US lost all four of its games, each by one goal. Keith Tkachuk, a former 50-goal scorer in the NHL, had no points -- nor did New York Islanders Jason Blake and Mark Parrish.
The Slovaks were 5-0, won their group, but lost 3-1 to the neighboring Czechs in the quarterfinals.
The Swiss, with only three NHL players went out in the quarterfinals 6-2 to the Swedes. But their run included stunning wins over the Czechs (3-2) and Canada (2-0).
"You lose a lot of energy when you have to play teams that you are not as good as," Swiss forward Martin Pluss said. "We tried very hard, it was just not there at the end."
ROUNDUP
Italy concluded the Turin Winter Games with an unexpected gold medal and glowing praise from International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge.
Giorgio di Centa won the 50km cross-country race by less than a second in a thrilling sprint finish.
He received his gold on a much bigger stage than any other winner at these Games.
When he stood on the podium to receive his gold medal at the closing ceremony on Sunday night, a 35,000-strong crowd waved a sea of tiny Italian flags. Helping bestow the medal was di Centa's sister, Manuela, an IOC member and winner of seven Olympic medals.
Rogge delivered his final verdict on the Turin Olympics, describing the games as "truly magnificent."
"You have succeeded brilliantly in meeting your challenge," Rogge said in his closing address. "These were truly magnificent games. We say a heartfelt thank you to Italy, Piedmont and Turin."
Turin bid arrivederci in a signature ceremony filled with a Federico Fellini-style circus of clowns and acrobats.
The athletes were given clown noses to wear, while spectators wore masks. The ceremony featured a cast of more than 2,300 -- Andrea Bocelli and Ricky Martin among them -- and doubled as Carnevale, the annual festival celebrated across Italy.
In an earlier news conference, Rogge said the IOC was happy with the games.
"Security worked extremely well, the athletes are happy," Rogge said. ``They were definitely games that pleased the athletes. The competitions were at a very high level.''
Germany won no gold Sunday but topped the medal standings with a haul of 29, including 11 golds.
The US was second with 25, nine of which were gold -- the best ever American performance on foreign soil, despite high-profile athletes like Alpine skier Bode Miller and Chad Hedrick falling short of pre-games expectations.
Canada -- which hosts the 2010 Games -- had its best ever Winter Olympics with 24 medals, including seven golds, and boasted the most prolific medalist in Turin, speedskater Cindy Klassen, who won a gold, two silvers and two bronze.
Sweden capped its most successful Winter Games by beating neighboring Finland 3-2 in the men's ice hockey final, giving the country its seventh gold and 14th medal overall in Turin.
Austria, China and South Korea also had their best ever performances in Winter Olympics.
Despite Di Centa's gold Sunday, host Italy won only 11 medals, well down on its record 20 at the Lillehammer Games in 1994.
Di Centa finished in 2 hours, 6 minutes, 11.8 seconds, only eight-tenths of a second ahead of Eugeni Dementiev of Russia.
"I usually finish second in World Cup races but today I performed really well and I achieved a fantastic victory, especially because we are Italy," said Di Centa. "I had been thinking and planning the race for a long time."
Mikhail Botwinov of Austria took the bronze, a positive ending for the embattled Austrian cross-country skiers and biathletes after they were subjects of a doping investigation by the Italian authorities and the IOC. The Botwinov was coached by Walter Mayer four years ago at the Salt Lake City Olympics, where Botwinov won silver in the 30km race.
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