We have finally made it to the last day of the S78 IIHF Tournament!

Bronze Medal Game France  v Sweden  

Sweden scored early to put pressure on the French. France kept their ennui (I just watched Inside Out 2) as they scored to tie the game a few minutes later. Penalties started to fly as both teams received minors. France was able to capitalize on a  4-on-4 situation to take a 2-1 lead but Sweden wasn’t going to let that keep them down as they answered back to make it a 2-2 game going into the intermission. What a thriller we have had so far!

The back and forth continued without any goals for much of the second until Sweden cracked it open with back to back short-handed goals scored 45 seconds apart to make it 4-2. The same powerplay saw France score to make it 4-3. What started out as a goalless period had an unbelievable 2 minutes to make this game as exciting as ever heading into the third.


The third was looking similar to the second with a back and forth tempo before Sweden added a reassurance goal in the 8th minute to put themselves up two. Adding another goal a minute or so later made it a 6-3 lead. One that was likely to be enough to seal the game. Despite a valiant effort the lead was insurmountable as the Swede’s took home the bronze.


Gold medal game Canada v Finland  


Finland’s game plan was likely to keep this game as close as possible to ensure they had a shot to win it near the end. Their plan was foiled in the 14th minute as Canada opened the scoring shorthanded. It took Finland just over 2 minutes to keep themselves in the game, tying it 1-1. 


Again, it took Canada quite a while in the second to find their scoring touch. The game remained 1-1 until Canada scored after some beautiful passing to make it 2-1 with 8.5 minutes remaining in the second. It appeared the flood gates opened after this and Finland  could no longer keep up as Canada scored two more goals before the end of the second to extend their lead to 4-1.


The bleeding didn’t stop there as the Canadians kept the pressure up in the third, adding one more goal to make it 5-1. That was enough for everyone as Canada  was able to sail their way to victory. 


Congratulations to CANADA for winning gold in the S78 IIHF Tournament! 

Gold:  
Silver:  
Bronze:  

Congratulations to Finland and Sweden for winning Silver and Bronze, respectively.


Canada’s dominance this tournament should not go unannounced. Going 12-1-1-1 with a goal differential of +42, no one was a match for the Canadians. Losing two games throughout the tournament is extremely impressive, especially when you consider those two games were to the two bottom teams in their pool. 


You will hear from me in a few days when the tournament awards are announced