Finland took a Tour de Sochi approach to open their Olympic men’s ice hockey campaign, riding bikes to the Boshoy Ice Dome yesterday before cruising to an 8-4 win over Austria.
Although it was just the first stage of the 12-day tournament, the Finns got off to a flying start with the help of two goals each from Mikael Granlund and Jarkko Immonen.
On a brilliant, sunny day at the Black Sea resort, the Finland players opted to make a leisurely 10-minute ride to the arena on blue bikes rather than take the bus.
Photo: EPA
“Everybody did, we all rode bikes from the village,” Finland netminder Tuukka Rask told reporters. “I ride bikes all the time, so no problem, I’m used to it. It was probably the fastest way to get here.”
Austria, back in the Olympic ice hockey competition for the first time since the 2002 Salt Lake Games, announced their return in stunning style with Michael Grabner scoring the first of his three goals just 36 seconds after the opening faceoff.
However, the Finns, who have reached the podium in four of the past five Games, were soon back in control with Olli Maatta and Immonen scoring eight seconds apart to put their team 4-2 ahead at the end of the opening period.
Photo: AFP
“Well, the start wasn’t good for us,” Rask said. “We weren’t ready to play and they came at us hard. The first goal, everybody got caught sleeping and then it’s in the back of the net, and we battled back. So it definitely looked like after that first goal we woke up and didn’t let that bother us. Kind of a disaster to [allow] those goals. We battled back right away, and got the lead, and kept it.”
Sami Lepisto, Jussi Jokinen and Petri Kontiola rounded out the Finland scoring.
Grabner added a pair of third-period tallies to complete a hat-trick for Austria and Thomas Hundertpfund got the other goal.
Photo: AFP
The win could prove a costly one for the Finns with captain Teemu Selanne leaving the game after the first period with what was described by coach Erkka Westerlund as a “small upper body injury.”
The 43-year-old Selanne, competing in this sixth Olympics, set up Finland’s first goal, but was later spotted on the bench getting treatment around his neck and shoulder area.
Westerlund said the injury did not appear serious and Selanne could be ready to return for Finland’s second preliminary round game on Friday against Norway.
“I don’t think it’s anything serious, probably just a precaution,” Rask said. “He’ll be back.”
In Wednesday night men’s ice hockey action, Sweden scored early and often. Switzerland waited until the last minute.
They are both off to solid starts.
Sweden’s Erik Karlsson scored two goals in the Swedes’ 4-2 victory over the Czech Republic on Wednesday night, and Simon Moser scored with 7.9 seconds left in Switzerland’s 1-0 victory over Latvia in the opening games of the Sochi tournament.
Karlsson and fellow young defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson made impressive Olympic debuts for Sweden, the gold medal winners in 2006. Although goalie Henrik Lundqvist is among several returning players from that championship team, young talent stepped up in what is likely the Swedes’ toughest game of the preliminary round.
Captain Henrik Zetterberg and Patrik Berglund also had goals, and Lundqvist made 27 saves. Sweden scored four times on its first 11 shots, chasing Czech goalie Jakub Kovar at the Bolshoy Ice Dome and taking a 4-0 lead early in the second period.
Jaromir Jagr scored a goal in his fifth Olympics for the Czechs, who could not overcome their shaky goaltending situation. Marek Zidlicky also scored, but the Czechs could not beat Lundqvist in a scoreless third period.
Moser got an unlikely game-winning goal after 59 scoreless minutes between favored Switzerland and Latvia, who have never made it past preliminary-round play. Moser made his NHL debut with the Nashville Predators earlier this month, joining Swiss teammate Roman Josi.
Moser’s goal secured a shutout for Anaheim Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller, who made 21 saves. He also delivered a hard-luck loss to Latvian goalie Edgars Masalskis, who made 38 saves.
In addition to Tina Maze of Slovenia and Dominique Gisin of Switzerland sharing gold in women’s downhill skiing, five other sports awarded gold medals on Wednesday: figure skating pairs, luge, Nordic combined, snowboarding and speedskating.
Among the other gold medalists were speedskater Stefan Groothuis, who added to the mighty haul of the Dutch at the oval; Eric Frenzel of Germany, who has been the steadiest in Nordic combined the past two years; and Kaitlyn Farrington of the US, who defeated defending champion Torah Bright in the women’s halfpipe.
FIGURE SKATING: Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov maintained Russia’s long tradition in pairs, winning gold in their home Olympics. Teammates Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov took silver. Russia or the Soviet Union had won gold in 12 straight Olympics in the event before the streak ended four years ago.
“I think tonight all of the country will celebrate this beautiful victory,” Trankov said.
SPEEDSKATING: The Dutch ruled at the oval again, with Groothuis taking the gold in the 1,000m and upsetting two-time Olympic champion Shani Davis of the US. Groothuis won in 1 minute, 8.39 seconds and was followed by Denny Morrison of Canada and 500 champion Michel Mulder of the Netherlands. The Dutch have won 10 of 15 medals through the first five events. Davis was eighth, denied in his bid to become the first man to win the same speedskating event at three straight Olympics.
Taiwan’s Sung Ching-yang came in last at 1 minute, 13.79 seconds.
SNOWBOARDING: Farrington posted a score of 91.75 during her second run, just good enough to beat Bright’s 91.50. 2002 Olympic champion Kelly Clark took bronze to give the US another medal.
WOMEN’S HOCKEY: Canada defeated the US in women’s hockey 3-2 in a preview of the expected gold medal match. Meghan Agosta scored twice for Canada and assisted on Hayley Wickenheiser’s goal. This was the fifth time these teams have met in the Olympics, but the first since women’s hockey was added to the Winter Games in 1998 that they have played in the preliminary round. In the day’s other game, Finland beat Switzerland 4-3.
NORDIC COMBINED: Frenzel, who served two years in the German army, won the individual normal hill. He led after ski jumping and powered home on the cross-country course.
“I can’t describe this feeling, it’s so perfect,” he said.
Frenzel, the runaway World Cup leader, was followed by Akito Watabe of Japan and Magnus Krog of Norway.
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