Helsinki painted red, white and blue

It truly was Slavic power in Helsinki on Sunday, as Russia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic locked out the medal positions. The Russians overpowered the spirited Slovaks in the final by a score of 6:2, whilst the Czech Republic battled to hold on to their bronze medal thanks to a 3:2 victory over the hosts, Finland.

Thousands lined Bratislava's streets on Monday
Photo: Ziakoo.sk

Fans from all across Slovakia packed into town squares in almost every town in the country, but their heroes couldn't find a way to shut out the incredibly talented Russians. Whilst the tournament's leading scorer, Yevgeni Malkin, was kept off the scoresheet in the third period, visibly getting frustrated by his lack of opportunities, it was Russia's second line of Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Syomin and Pavel Datsyuk that did the damage. Syomin scored twice for Russia and was voted their man of the match for the final. Slovakia took the lead in the second minute of the game to the delight of the numerous travelling support, as skipper Zdeno Chára opened his account for the tournament with a ripper from the blueline, flying high into Semyon Varlamov's top corner. Russia started to rally back soon after, and a defensive mix-up allowed Alexander Ovechkin to burst into the Slovaks zone, and send a pass across the face of goal to his Washington Capitals team-mate, Alexander Syomin, who netted past the tournament's top netminder, Ján Laco.

The second period was where Russia really took the game away from the Slovaks, and sealed their goal medal.  The Russians scored three unanswered goals to give them one hand on the trophy after forty minutes. Goals from Alexander Perezhogin, Alexei Tereshchenko and Alexander Syomin gave the Russians a 4:1 lead at the second intermission, which despite their great comeback against Canada in the quarterfinals, looked a bridge too far for the hurting Slovaks. Pavel Datsyuk scored four minutes into the third period to take the game to 5:1, which saw head coach Vladimir Vujtek take the decision to pull Ján Laco, through no fault of the new Donbass Donetsk netminder at all. Peter Hamerlík took his place, and made eight saves. The Slovaks got a powerplay in the middle of the period, their first for two games, and they would find the net again, as Zdeno Chára crashed the net and managed to put the puck home after a good pass by Tomáš Surový. However, the Russians were not to be denied, and Slovakia could not muster enough offence to get back into the game. With two minutes left on the clock, Malkin put the cherry on top of what had been a perfect tournament for the Pittsburgh Penguins forward, as well as the Russian team. Malkin scored to take the score to 6:2, and meant that the Russians would go undefeated through the tournament, not even dropping a single point. Ilya Nikulin raised the IIHF trophy aloft, giving the Russians their first tournament victory since 2009.

Tomáš Kopecký points to the sky for Pal'o
Photo: Hokejportal.sk

Following the game, the Slovaks sportsmanship and spirit has been commended by all corners. The faces of youngsters Libor Hudáček and Tomáš Tatar were ones of sadness and disappointment, but for the veterans, who may not get many more chances to win medals, the overall emotion was pride. Pride that a small country from central Europe, who have been kept away for so long from tasting success, managed to pick up a silver medal which an unfancied team, and more pressure on securing their Olympic qualification. Zdeno Chára and Tomáš Kopecký swapped their jersies following the game for Pavol Demitra ones, once again showing how much of a galvanising force the memory of the late former captain has been to this team. Monday afternoon saw the team welcomed back to a heroes welcome in Bratislava, with fans lining the street to catch a glimpse of their team, with silver medals glistening in the May sun around their necks. Whilst questions will still be raised about the talent coming up through the ranks, these questions can take a back seat for the moment, whilst the current team enjoys their success in Helsinki.

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The Czechs wanted more than bronze going into this tournament, but it wasn't to be for the Czechs. Following their semi final loss to Slovakia, they managed to retain enough spirit and desire in order to take the bronze medal away from the hosts, and bring back a piece of glory from a so-so tournament, although the place in the limelight appears to be for their eastern neighbours.

The Czechs celebrate their bronze
Photo: IIHF.com

The first period of their game saw the Czechs play probably their best hockey of the tournament, as they put the Finns to the sword, scoring three times in the opening frame. Both teams traded chances in the early going, with the game taking on a fast and furious pace, but the Czechs would open the scoring through Petr Průcha. The SKA St. Petersburg forward managed to get a piece of a Lukáš Krajíček point shot on the powerplay which deflected it away from Petri Vehanen and into the goal. However, despite their poor play, the Finns managed to equalise in the seventeenth minute, as Miko Pyorala scored a beautiful goal, beating Krajíček all ends up before firing the shot past Jakub Štěpánek. It only took 29 seconds for the Czechs to re-gain the lead though, as Jiří Novotny's willingness to get the puck on net saw it squeak between Vehanen's pad and the post. Just under two minutes later the score went to 3:1, this time the goal coming from Boston Bruins forward David Krejčí. The goal resulted as a result of some beautiful one touch passing between Krejčí and Aleš Hemský, luring Vehanen out of position before the Bruins forward tapped the puck into the empty goal.

Petr Nedvěd holds the bronze aloft
Photo: IIHF.com

There was little of note in the second period, as the game lulled following the frantic first period, but the third period saw the Czechs almost throw the bronze medal through their ill-discipline. With Jakub Nakladal in the box in the 49th minute, the Finns pulled a goal back through Jussi Jokinen, who split the defence with his blistering speed, before firing high into the top corner. The Czechs only mustered one shot on goal in the third period, compared to Finland's thirteen, but Štěpánek stood tall, and despite Finland's best attempts, the Czechs held on to grab their second bronze medal in succession, to the delight of tournament debutants Petr Nedvěd and Petr Fránek, separated by almost twenty years in age.

It remains to be seen whether or not Alois Hadamczik is the man to lead the Czechs back to the promised land after their 2010 gold medal, but there are plenty of positives that the Czechs can take from this tournament. With Lev Praha now officially in the KHL, prepare to see many of this Czech team lacing up for the new KHL side over the coming years.

Shootout loss for Slovakia in Yaroslavl

After a series of disappointing results against Denmark last week, the Slovakia national team put in a much better performance in Yaroslavl on Friday evening, despite going down 2:1 in a shootout. Head Coach Vladimir Vůjtek was right in saying that "Compared to our performances against Denmark, we did a lot better tonight. In the end I think we were the better team. The Russians had pressure in the opening six or seven minutes, but then the game settled, and as the game went on we got the upper hand. Our netminder [Jan Laco] played well." The HC Lev netminder did indeed play well, only conceding one goal in open play, and providing a strong backbone which the team lacked in their games against Denmark. With a performance like this, Laco has only furthered his claim to the starter's spot when the tournament begins on the 4th May.

They may have lost, but it was a good performance
by a Slovakia side still awaiting reinforcements
Photo: Hokejportal.sk

The Russians began the game much the better side, as Slovakia appeared to still be in the dressing room. Russia's early pressure was finally rewarded 14 minutes into the game, as Spartak Moscow forward Roman Lyuduchin beat Vladimir Mihalik for pace along the right wing, and Lyuduchin took the puck behind the goal and expertly found Alexander Svitov unmarked on the doorstep, and Svitov obliged by tapping the puck into the net to the delight of the 9,040 in attendance in Yaroslavl.

The second period began with Russia once again being the team creating the most chances, and Laco was called into action more than once, making a great save to deny Evgeni Ketov, before making a fantastic stop to deny Lyuduchin. This seemed to be the catalyst that Slovakia needed, and off a faceoff, a Kristian Kudroč point shot was saved by Mikhail Biryukov in the Russia net, but Biryukov couldn't control the rebound, and once again Juraj Mikuš was the first to react, firing into the empty net to tie the game in the 35th minute.

A minutes silence was held before the game in Yaroslavl
Photo: Hokejportal.sk

Instead of Russia being the ones to start the period well, it was Slovakia who took the game to Russia in the opening minutes of the third period, but their attempts were thwarted by Biryukov, who did well to stop chances by Rastislav Špirko and Marcel Hossa. Both teams wanted to be the ones that won the game, but they also did not want to be the team that made the mistake that lost the game, so although the puck kept on going back and forth, the two teams put all their focus on being the team that wouldn't concede the deciding goal. As a result, the third period was goalless, as was the overtime period, which sent the game to a shootout.

The shootout was a delight to watch, as the players really turned on the style. Denis Abdullin scored a lovely one handed goal to open the shootout, but his efforts were matched by the next shooter Jan Sykora, who put his stick between his legs and fired the puck over the shoulder of Biryukov. Pestushko scored on an effort that Laco would like back to make the score 2:1 Russia, which remained the score after Slovakia's second effort, as Biryukov made a fantastic sprawling save to deny Milan Bartovič. Lyuduchin was denied by both posts on a gorgeous spin move on Russia's third shot, and Marcel Hossa scored on Slovakia's third effort to tie the shootout at 2:2 after three shooters. Abdullin scored the next effort, whilst Biryukov saved Sykora's and Juraj Mikuš' efforts, which gave Maxim Pestushko a chance to win the game. The Neftekhimik forward did so with a brilliant move, faking the shot before quickly moving backhand-forehand to beat Laco, sealing the victory for Russia.

Juraj Mikuš, Slovakia's solitary goal scorer, did not seem too disheartened following the loss. "It was a balanced match. Russians have a young team, whilst we have a bit more experience. They played at home and they had to create more chances. We can take a lot of positives from our performance, which we will have to repeat in our next match. Hopefully tomorrow we'll score more goals and we will once again play well in defence."