jeff@dciem.UUCP (Jeff Richardson) (09/12/84)
SWEDEN 4, CZECHOSLOVAKIA 2. I'm not sure of Sweden's score, but it doesn't
really matter. Sweden needed a win to have a chance at third place (which
means avoiding a sudden-death game against the USSR), and CSSR had already
been eliminated from the playoffs with their loss to Canada, but I figured
the disappointing CSSR team would be trying hard not to go home winless.
I thought I was right when they took a 2-0 lead in the first period, but
after that they just seemed to give up and the rest was all Sweden. I don't
think it was a very well played game.
USA 6, GERMANY 4. This was the least important of the three games. The U.S.
needed to win by 3 to clinch second place, but there's really no difference
between second and third as far as the playoffs go, and Germany was out of
the playoffs so the only thing they could do was finish ahead of CSSR with
a win or a tie. I didn't see the game but a friend saw it and he said it
was a good game. He said that the American team doesn't have too many big
stars but they work really hard, whereas the Canadian stars seem to be
letting up a bit because they don't want to get hurt, however....
USSR 6, CANADA 3. I don't think my friends assesment of the Canadian team
was quite right for this game, although I wouldn't argue with him about their
other games. Canada needed this game to avoid a sudden-death playoff game
with the Soviets, and they came out like they were shot out of a cannon.
They were hitting a lot, taking the puck away, and generally out-working
the Soviets, but the Soviets are experts at capitalising on mistakes, and
a few defensive lapses led to Soviet goals. Canada kept coming back and
the score was 2-2 after the first period, but I think they let up a bit in
the second period and early in the third, USSR took a 5-2 lead. Canada
started fighting back and they really pressed for the entire rest of the
third period, but the Soviets are an excellent defensive team and Canada
could only get one more goal before the USSR scored on an empty net in
the last minute. In order to beat the Soviets, Canada will need to press
and work hard for the entire game, avoid defensive lapses and most of all,
don't get behind. They've been getting better as the tournament goes on,
but they may not be in good enough shape to keep up that intensity for the
whole game.
This sets up the following pairings for the first round: USSR vs. Canada
and USA vs. Sweden. They'll play one game each, with the winners meeting
in a best of three final. Sweden's 7-2 loss to the U.S. in the round-robin
was their worst game of the tournament, but I don't think they've improved
enough to beat the USA, and I'll have to give the USSR the edge over Canada
based on what I've seen so far.
Czechoslovakia has to be the biggest disappointment of the tournament.
There was only one game in which they looked any good at all, the 3-0 loss
to the USSR. Canada is second in the disappointment category, though at
least they won two games convincingly, tied the excellent U.S. team, and
were close in their two losses. (The game against USSR was closer than
the score.) They also scored more goals than anyone else. I think Sweden
is the biggest surprise when it comes to good performances. Many people
were suprised by the US's strong showing but I wasn't. And I must admit
I didn't think the Soviets could go 5 & 0 without Tretiak, Fetisov and
Drozdetski.
--
Jeff Richardson, DCIEM, Toronto (416) 635-2073
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