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Troy Stecher earns silver as Canucks lose to Finns in World Championship |
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It's already after 3 a.m. here in Slovakia, but I'll be on the move over the next couple of days before I arrive back in Vancouver so I think it's best to check in now with a quick blog.
As I'm sure you already know, Canada came up just short at the World Championship, dropping another 3-1 decision to Finland in the gold-medal game, just as they did at the beginning of the tournament. Finland's the only team to have beaten Canada and they did it twice.
Shea Theodore told me that even though the score was the same in both games, the effort by the Canadian team was much better on Sunday.
Coach Alain Vigneault also praised his players for their effort and determination.
Considering this group was four-tenths of a second from getting bounced by Switzerland in the quarterfinal, I hope they'll eventually be happy with their silver medals when the dust settles. They may have been beaten by a bunch of Finnish guys that you've never heard of, but those same Finns also knocked off the superstar Russian team in the semifinal after disposing of the two-time defending champs from Sweden in the quarterfinal.
Twenty-four-year-old Finnish goaltender Kevin Lankinen, who was signed as a free agent by Chicago in 2018 and split his first North American season between the AHL and the ECHL last year, outduelled Henrik Lundqvist, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Matt Murray to win gold. And while teen sensation Kaapo Kakko slowed down as the tournament wore on, the kid now has gold from U18s, U20s and men's worlds in his trophy case - and he turned 18 less than three months ago.
Somewhat absurdly, Kakko is expected in Buffalo this Monday, to go through the NHL Scouting Combine. Jack Hughes is supposed to attend; his tournament ended Thursday after the U.S. lost to Russia.
In the Mixed Zone after the game, one of Kakko's teammates scoffed at the idea that their prized rookie wouldn't be going to Buffalo rather than heading back to Helsinki with the rest of the group to take part in the team's celebrations. "He's coming with us!"
Even though the Finns are winning a lot these days at all levels of hockey, they continue to exalt in every victory. The team win for a group with no real stars and only two part-time NHLers really fits the Finnish mindset, that the group can have greater success than the sum of its parts as long as everyone trusts each other and works together.
Good coaching doesn't hurt, either. Jukka Jalonen was running the bench the last time the Finns won gold in this tournament - in 2011, also here in Bratislava - and was also the architect behind the Finns' big 2016 World Juniors win on home soil, with the star-studded young lineup that included Patrik Laine, Sebastian Aho and our own Olli Juolevi.
Other than Kakko, this year's Finnish men's team boasted plenty of experience. The key scoring in the medal round was done by captain Marko Anttila - a beast of a man at 6'8" and 229 pounds who scored the tying goal against the Swedes, the only goal against the Russians, and the first two of the night against Canada on Sunday. All this from a ninth-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks from 2004, who has had seasons of 15 and 16 points in each of his last three years with Jokerit in the KHL and who turns 34 on Monday, May 27.
Yes, that makes him two months older than Loui Eriksson.
The World Championship is a pretty egalitarian place, where you never know who you might end up running into or chatting with. I ended up sitting next to an NHL scout in the media centre after the Finns' 1-0 semifinal win over Russia on Saturday. "Sign 'em all!" I offered helpfully. He didn't disagree.
Basketball superstar Kawhi Leonard may have kickstarted the Toronto Raptors' run to the NBA Finals, but this win by Finland is another chapter in the book of evidence that hockey is still more of a team game.
As for our boy, Troy Stecher, he may have had his crowning moment of the tournament when he set up Mark Stone with a tasty cross-ice pass to open the scoring against the Czech Republic in the semifinal game on Saturday.
Stecher also had a strong physical game. I was watching him battle along the boards with the much larger Radek Faksa just before Canada's third goal was scored.
"I don't really have a choice," he said after Saturday's game. "As a small guy, I think I have to kind of earn their respect when I play out there. It's something I try to incorporate into my game.
"I'm just kind of adapting to my surroundings and the situations I'm put in," he added, when asked about his role on the team. "I've kind of played all over our defensive corps. Just trying to embrace the opportunity and prove that I belong on this team."
The Finns were a force that simply wouldn't be denied this year. I hope Stecher eventually becomes proud of his silver medal.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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