Revenge of the Finns: Finland Hands USA Their First World Juniors Loss In 2 Tournaments
Well ain't that a bitch.
That seems to always be the way it works. A great chance on one end of the ice and out of nowhere, the ice completely tilts the other way and ends up in the back of your own net. On one end of the ice, you have Petteri Rimpinen making yet another preposterous save to go along with the litany of ridiculous saves he made all day for Finland. It sure would be neat if goalies stopped playing the game of their lives against USA in this tournament, but Rimpinen decided to keep the trend going by making it damn near impossible for USA to get anything past him today.
Then on the other end of the ice...I mean I don't know what you want me to say. Trey Augustine is awesome. He'll most likely become the most decorated goalie that USA has ever had at the World Juniors if he manages to win his 3rd straight medal this year. He was massive for USA winning gold in last year's tournament. He's going to be massive for them moving forward if they want to repeat as champs. But that's a shot that he probably wants back. You can't expect the kid to stop everything, but I'm sure even he would admit that one shouldn't have gotten by him. But that's just the way it goes sometimes.
And that's what Team USA needs to learn. To me, it just seems like USA is constantly trying to be a little too perfect out there. Trying a little too hard to make the best looking play instead of the right one. They don't really play meat and potatoes hockey.
Pucks on net, boys. Hockey is such a simple, simple game. You get pucks on net, you win the game. It doesn't always have to be a spinning feed from the half wall to the back door. It doesn't always have to be a drop pass in the slot. It doesn't always have to be a giant bowl of sauce. Just keep firing away and hope the goalie misses one that he should have had every once in a while.
Especially on Tuesday night against Canada. Group A is going to be complete mayhem at the top of the standings. USA now has 7 points with 2 wins and and overtime loss. Finland now has 5 points with 1 win, an overtime win, and 1 loss. Canada should likely have 7 points by the time they play USA on Tuesday with 2 wins and an overtime loss. So as of right now USA, Canada, and Finland could all finish with anywhere between 7-10 points. You're going to want that top spot coming out of Group A. So as much as it's not a must-win game for Team USA, it'll definitely be a can't lose.
P.S. -- Headline context was 1980 Olympic gold medal game. Sorry, I went up to Lake Placid over the last few days so I've been on a huge 1980 kick lately.