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In the first quarterfinal played in the Ralph Engelstad Arena on January 1, the Czech Republic beat Finland 3-0 in a game where no significant emotion was shown.

After an exceptional performance of goaltender Vladislav Koutsky against the Americans, the Czech coach came back with Marek Schwarz for this quarterfinal. On the other side, Tuuka Rask replaced Joonas Hallikainen who had started against Canada.

The Czechs dominate

The first period didn’t offer great hockey to the fans. The Finns played a defensive game. While killing a penalty, Rostislav Olesz blocked a shot and then missed a couple of shifts.

Both teams played a positional game. This period ended with a 14-6 shots lead for Czech Republic. Petr Vrana and Olesz were the best for the Czechs. Rask was the only one who deserved a mention on his side in the first.

The second period was not much different. The Finns were not really trying to push the offensive.

At 16:57, the only New Jersey prospect at the World Junior Championships Petr Vrana scored on a power play, on a shot that Rask didn’t see. Ladislav Smid assisted on the play.

When the second period was over, the Czechs had 30 shots on goal compared to a mere 7 for the Finns -- only one shot during that period versus 16 for the Czechs.

Rask continued his very good play and both 2006 NHL eligible Michael Frolik and Jesse Joenssu were not very visible so far.

A shorthanded goal for Olesz

Olesz scored an unassisted shorthanded goal on a wrist shot at 3:35 of the second period. Rask, who had kept his team in the game so far, was weak on the play.

This goal awakened the Finns and they began to work harder. With more than 14 minutes played in the third, the Czech had only one shot on Rask, the goal of Olesz, while the Finns had eight.

The best moment for the Finns so far was when Arsi Piispanen was left alone with Schwarz, but his efforts to put the puck behind the goalie were unsuccessful.

In the 17^th minute of the third, both teams were a man down. Down by two, the Finn coach didn’t pull his goalie for an extra forward.

At 17:58, while the teams were still playing four-on-four, Roman Cervenka closed the game, scoring on a slap shot from a wide angle. This was only the third shot on goal for the Czechs in this final period. Rask could have stopped that shot. Milan Hluchy assisted.

Rostislav Smid and Tuukka Rask were named the players of the game.

Postgame comments

Rask recognized that he could have stopped the two shots that turned out to be goals. "The shot for the second Czech goal hit my shoulder and the third went through me. These things do happen," he said.

"Next year, we will be back. There are ten guys on this team who will be there and many 1987s are very good. We have a good future ahead," added Rask.

Joesse Joenssu said that it was not a good game for the Finns. "The first period was good, the second awful and the third was okay," he shrugged.

"I don’t know why we were so flat, we felt that we have to protect our own net and play safely," added the 17-year-old Finn.

The author of the first Czech goal and team captain Vrana was proud of the team’s effort. "It was a good game for us," he commented.

Vrana said that after the loss against Russia, it was good for the Czechs to beat the U.S., especially because the latter were playing at home. "It helped us to build our confidence," stated Vrana.

He also commented the next match against Canada, "We are going to play as hard as we can tomorrow, we can beat every team in this tournament."

On the game, Schwarz said that it was a crazy one for him. "After two periods, I had just received seven shots, it was hard for me because I can lose my concentration in those moments. I don’t like this kind of situation," he observed.

"It was a kind of struggle to see who was to get the first goal," explained Olesz.

Simon Richard is the author of La Serie du siecle, Septembre 1972, a book about the Summit Series published in 2002.
Copyright 2004 Hockey’s Future. Do not duplicate without permission of the editorial staff.