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.
"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.
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."
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