US, Canada, and Finland advance to Olympic hockey semifinals
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After a shocking opening loss, Finland's men's Olympic hockey team has shown incredible resilience and depth, making them strong contenders for a gold medal.
Canada faces off against Finland in the semifinals of the Olympics Friday. Puck drop from Milan, Italy, is set for 10:40 a.m. ET.
Rasmus Dahlin scored a power-play goal and Gustavsson made 20 saves for Sweden (1-0-1-0), which lost a preliminary round game involving NHL players for the first time in eight outings, dating to a 3-0 loss to Slovakia in Turin 20 years ago. Sweden defeated Finland in the gold-medal game a week later.
Reigning Olympic champions Finland made a remarkable comeback to beat Switzerland 3-2 in overtime and reach the men's ice hockey semi-finals at Milano Rho Arena on Wednesday, with Artturi Lehkonen netting the winner.
Miro Heiskanen tied it with 72 seconds left, Artturi Lehkonen scored in overtime and Finland escaped with a 3-2 victory. Heiskanen’s shot banked in off Switzerland defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler’s stick and past goaltender Leonardo Genoni.
When the dust had finally settled, Team Finland was an 11-0 winner against Team Italy, resulting in Team Slovakia winning the group and Team Sweden falling to at least seventh in the 12-team field for the single-elimination stage of the tournament. Confused? You’re not alone.
Finland earned a big win against Sweden on Friday. How does that impact the pressure both teams feel at this early stage of the tournament?
Other countries have similar systems. Switzerland uses income-based fines too and issued a huge one in 2010 after a Swedish driver hit 290 km/h. His fine reached roughly 1,080,000 Swiss francs. The UK updated its rules in 2017 so courts can base penalties on income, although a cap keeps totals much lower than Finland’s biggest cases.