Sivu 52 |
Hockey brings out the craziness in Finns. E ENG 52 BLUE WINGS very spring something slightly co-host is arch-rival Sweden, defeated in 2011 by scary happens in Finland. Finland in a final of mythological status (at least on Women normally scornful of the eastern side of the Baltic), adds a piquancy to the anything vaguely sporty transproceedings. The 6-1 score line, crowned by one of form into demented enthusiasts. the most precocious goals ever scored in a tournaThe bars are packed with screamment the legendary "air hook" by the then 19-yearing girls and rapt male faces. old Mikael Granlund sent the nation into mass There's a lot of noise. Suddenly delirium, with tens of thousands flocking to Helsinki's the entire nation is a collective Market Square to greet the returning heroes. and tactical expert on bodyHome supporters will be optimistic of an unprecchecks, hooking and cross-checking. It's ice hockey edented second consecutive World Championship for world championships time again. Finland, although several competing countries would To a fan of football, where the biggest prize, the argue with that. After all, Finland's last triumph was as World Cup, is contested once every far back as 1995. Chief among the four years, the idea of an annual likely candidates are Canada and world championship might seem the USA, both in Finland's starting A FINNISH WIN excessive, but not to the hockeygroup, as well as co-hosts Sweden, WOULD LEAD TO loving Finn. The IIHF World ChamRussia and Czech Republic. pionships in Ice Hockey are like a Games are distributed between NATIONAL DELIRIUM. spring catharsis, a shared national the two capitals, Helsinki and experience as regular as the melting Stockholm, with the semi-finals snow, the First of May and the and finals in Helsinki. In 2013 the anemones in the forest. That a number of the world's same two cities will share the tournament, with Stockbest players may still be engaged in the later stages of holm hosting the later stages. the National Hockey League's season in North AmerAmerican novelist and sports writer Paul Gallico ica is neither here nor there. famously described ice hockey as "a fast body-contact The backdrop to this year's championships is game played by men with clubs in their hands and exquisite, since Finland enters the tournament as both knives laced to their feet." The clubs or hockey sticks World Champion and co-host. The fact that the other and knives or skates are two items of a necesAPRIL 2012
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Page 17
Page 18
Page 19
Page 20
Page 21
Page 22
Page 23
Page 24
Page 25
Page 26
Page 27
Page 28
Page 29
Page 30
Page 31
Page 32
Page 33
Page 34
Page 35
Page 36
Page 37
Page 38
Page 39
Page 40
Page 41
Page 42
Page 43
Page 44
Page 45
Page 46
Page 47
Page 48
Page 49
Page 50
Page 51
Page 52
Page 53
Page 54
Page 55
Page 56
Page 57
Page 58
Page 59
Page 60
Page 61
Page 62
Page 63
Page 64
Page 65
Page 66
Page 67
Page 68
Page 69
Page 70
Page 71
Page 72
Page 73
Page 74
Page 75
Page 76
Page 77
Page 78
Page 79
Page 80
|
|
|
Why do I see this page ?
Your Flash Player is older than version 7 or Javascript is not enabled. What you see is the raw text of the publication.
To read this Digipaper-publication install/update your Flash Player from this link or enable Javascript.
|
 |
For proper operation Digipaper-publication needs Flash Player version 7 or newer.
Install the latest version of Flash Player from this link. |
|