Finland Wins the Final Gold Medal in Beijing for The First-Ever Men’s Ice Hockey

Finland captured the closing award of Beijing 2022, taking gold in Olympic Winter ice hockey for the country’s first-ever Winter Games gold. The Finns won a third World Cup in 2019 but had never previously won Olympic gold, twice finishing the deciding game in 1988 and 2006 but failing to win. However, a strong side took advantage of the absences of NHL players to dominate the final, with Hannes Bjorninen redeeming for a costly early penalty in the box with the winner coming 30 seconds into the last period. In this encounter, the Finns were too organized and controlled, with Ivan Fedotov struggling to stop numerous attempts throughout the game. The foremost goal of the match was scored just two minutes into action when Bjorninen was sent off for a high stick on an attacking play. ROC was able to capitalize in the powerplay period, efficiently moving the puck around the Finnish defenders and manipulating an angle for Mikhail Grigorenko to rifle home from inside the right penalty circle. The Finns equalized after the restart. The Finnish side looked about for a chance, and Ville Pokka fired one from a distance that Mika Noronen deflected. It scurried between two tangled legs with an unseen Fedotov beaten between his pads betwixt two pairs of entangled legs it scuttled, with an unseen Fedotov beaten below his pads. The second period was characterized by bright bursts from the Finns, with lovely passes but ultimately failing to overcome Fedotov again. Frustrations were on the threshold of boiling over at the second intermission, but the referees quickly cleared the players off the ice and sent them out with one goal each for Fedotov. On the other hand, the ROC goalies did not have it as simple. But it only took 31 seconds for them to be beaten by the ROC goalkeeper. The puck skirted around the back of the goal and returned to the blue line, where Bjorninen flicked it into the net against Fedotov’s dive. With eight minutes to go, Finland began to pull the game down. Sergei Andronov ensured that the game was stopped after being sent to the penalty box for tripping. Fedotov was brought back to have five possible scorers on the ice as a desperate last-ditch gamble in the final minutes. Still, Finland stole the ball in the final seconds to erupt into wild jubilation, goaltender Harri Sateri being mobbed by his teammates after winning gold that will mean so much to one of hockey’s “Big Six,” and particularly to experienced coach Jukka Jalonen. Slovakia clinched a third-place finish in men’s ice hockey with a 4-2 victory over Sweden on Saturday. Finland’s success concludes the competitive action in China, with Norway taking first place on the medal table with 16 golds, followed by Germany and China. The Russian ice hockey team’s failure to defend their title places them ninth. They finished one position lower than Austria and Switzerland, who won silver medals.