photo: Micheline Veluvolu/IIHF
Sweden skated to a confident 7-2 win over Finland this afternoon in Frisco to qualify for the U18 semi-finals for the ninth year in a row. They have won medals in the previous six editions of the tournament and will be looking to make it seven starting with Friday’s semi-finals. Finland, meanwhile, has made it to the semis only once in the last six years now.
The final four will be re-seeded later tonight, so right now the Swedes don’t know who they’ll be playing, but if the two North American teams win their games later today, we could see a repeat of last year’s medal games—Canada and United States for gold, and Sweden-Slovakia for bronze.
"We want to play them," said goalie Love Harenstam of the United States, the team that beat Sweden, 6-3, in the preliminay round and who they will most likely face on Friday. "We're not going to lose to them twice. We're going to win, and we will have good focus no matter who we play. Last time, they played well off our mistakes. When we lose the puck at their blue line, they are dangerous on the counter attack, so we have to be more aware of that."
Although the score looked one-sided, Harenstam was sensational late in the first period and throughout the second when the score was close. Ivan Stenberg led the offence with two goals and two assists, while Filip Ekberg had two and one.
The top three scorers in the tournament are all Swedes. Ekberg leads in goals (9) and points (16). Second is defender Sascha Boumedienne, who has 14 points and leads all skaters with 13 assists. Third is Stenberg, with 12 points.
"It was a close game from the beginning, and you try to stay humble when you score two quick ones like that," Harenstam said of the team's fast start. "It's easy for me to play well when everyone is playing well defensively. We have to continue to play like this the next game, and hopefully we'll win that one, too."
"I think we were the better team in the second period, but we left the puck in the middle of our zone too often," said Matias Vanhanen, who got Finland's first goal. "Overall, we played well defensively this tournament, just not today. We needed to score more."
The Swedes wasted no time in asserting themselves in the game. Soon after the opening faceoff Stenberg spotted Jakob Ihs Wozniak moving into the slot. Stenberg made the pass, and Ihs Wozniak snapped a shot under the glove of Patrik Kerkola after just 26 seconds.
Four minutes later, the Swedes struck again. This time Viggo Bjorck cut hard on goal around Julius Saari and beat Kerkola with a shot at 4:31, giving the sense a blowout was in the making. But the Finns got one back off an error by Karl Annborn in front of his own goal. His weak pass was picked off by Vanhanen, and he beat Harenstam with a quick shot at 7:13 to cut the Swedish lead in half.
The Finns had a great chance late in the period to tie the game when Aapo Vanninen had a breakaway, but his weak shot was easily stopped by Harenstam.
The Finns deserved better in the second. They had the majority of the scoring chances but couldn’t beat Harenstam, who was sensational. Not so much at the other end. Filip Ekberg scored his tournament-leading 8th goal at 4:51 when his bad-angle shot eluded Kerkola. Coach Mikael Kotkaniemi decided to make the change at this point, pulling Kerkola in favour of Jooa Sammalniemi.
The balance of the period was perfect Swedish-style hockey. Play went up and down, without much happening, and the Swedes protected their lead without playing much in their end. But the Finns punctured play periodically with great chances, only to be foiled each time by Harenstam. And then the Swedes upped their lead to 4-1 late in the period off a terrible giveaway by Juho Piiparinen. His blind pass was picked off by Stenberg in the slot, and his shot went off the glove of Sammalniemi and in at 15:44 to make it 4-1.
The Swedes added to their lead early in the third when Axel Brongel Larsson's point shot went all the way, beating Sammalniemi over the shoulder at 3:00.
Midway through the period, Ekberg was at it again. He made a sensational outside-in move on Lasse Boelius and ripped a shot over Sammalniemi's glove to make it 6-1. The Finns got one back on a power play, and Kotkaniemi pulled Sammalniemi as well to create a 6-on-4. Vanninen converted, firing a loose puck into the open side at 14:12.
Sammalniemi continued to sit on the bench, but the Finns couldn't draw any closer. Stenberg wafted the puck into the empty cage at 18:24 to close out the scoring with his second of the night.
The final four will be re-seeded later tonight, so right now the Swedes don’t know who they’ll be playing, but if the two North American teams win their games later today, we could see a repeat of last year’s medal games—Canada and United States for gold, and Sweden-Slovakia for bronze.
"We want to play them," said goalie Love Harenstam of the United States, the team that beat Sweden, 6-3, in the preliminay round and who they will most likely face on Friday. "We're not going to lose to them twice. We're going to win, and we will have good focus no matter who we play. Last time, they played well off our mistakes. When we lose the puck at their blue line, they are dangerous on the counter attack, so we have to be more aware of that."
Although the score looked one-sided, Harenstam was sensational late in the first period and throughout the second when the score was close. Ivan Stenberg led the offence with two goals and two assists, while Filip Ekberg had two and one.
The top three scorers in the tournament are all Swedes. Ekberg leads in goals (9) and points (16). Second is defender Sascha Boumedienne, who has 14 points and leads all skaters with 13 assists. Third is Stenberg, with 12 points.
"It was a close game from the beginning, and you try to stay humble when you score two quick ones like that," Harenstam said of the team's fast start. "It's easy for me to play well when everyone is playing well defensively. We have to continue to play like this the next game, and hopefully we'll win that one, too."
"I think we were the better team in the second period, but we left the puck in the middle of our zone too often," said Matias Vanhanen, who got Finland's first goal. "Overall, we played well defensively this tournament, just not today. We needed to score more."
The Swedes wasted no time in asserting themselves in the game. Soon after the opening faceoff Stenberg spotted Jakob Ihs Wozniak moving into the slot. Stenberg made the pass, and Ihs Wozniak snapped a shot under the glove of Patrik Kerkola after just 26 seconds.
Four minutes later, the Swedes struck again. This time Viggo Bjorck cut hard on goal around Julius Saari and beat Kerkola with a shot at 4:31, giving the sense a blowout was in the making. But the Finns got one back off an error by Karl Annborn in front of his own goal. His weak pass was picked off by Vanhanen, and he beat Harenstam with a quick shot at 7:13 to cut the Swedish lead in half.
The Finns had a great chance late in the period to tie the game when Aapo Vanninen had a breakaway, but his weak shot was easily stopped by Harenstam.
The Finns deserved better in the second. They had the majority of the scoring chances but couldn’t beat Harenstam, who was sensational. Not so much at the other end. Filip Ekberg scored his tournament-leading 8th goal at 4:51 when his bad-angle shot eluded Kerkola. Coach Mikael Kotkaniemi decided to make the change at this point, pulling Kerkola in favour of Jooa Sammalniemi.
The balance of the period was perfect Swedish-style hockey. Play went up and down, without much happening, and the Swedes protected their lead without playing much in their end. But the Finns punctured play periodically with great chances, only to be foiled each time by Harenstam. And then the Swedes upped their lead to 4-1 late in the period off a terrible giveaway by Juho Piiparinen. His blind pass was picked off by Stenberg in the slot, and his shot went off the glove of Sammalniemi and in at 15:44 to make it 4-1.
The Swedes added to their lead early in the third when Axel Brongel Larsson's point shot went all the way, beating Sammalniemi over the shoulder at 3:00.
Midway through the period, Ekberg was at it again. He made a sensational outside-in move on Lasse Boelius and ripped a shot over Sammalniemi's glove to make it 6-1. The Finns got one back on a power play, and Kotkaniemi pulled Sammalniemi as well to create a 6-on-4. Vanninen converted, firing a loose puck into the open side at 14:12.
Sammalniemi continued to sit on the bench, but the Finns couldn't draw any closer. Stenberg wafted the puck into the empty cage at 18:24 to close out the scoring with his second of the night.
Sweden v. Finland - QF#2 - 2025 IIHF U18 Men's World Championship
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