Finland Favored to Win IIHF World Juniors After Defeating Canada
- Finland now favored to win the IIHF World Junior Championship
- Finland beat host Canada 2-1 in overtime in Wednesday’s quarterfinals
- The Finns have never won the World Junior title on North American soil
Finland had never beaten Canada in Canada in the IIHF World Junior Championship.
The Finns have never won the world junior gold medal when the tournament has been held in North America. But they say there’s a first time for everything and as far as Finland is concerned, it’s one down, one to go.
When Toni Utunen scored 5:17 into overtime to give Finland a 2-1 victory over Canada in Wednesday’s quarterfinal, it was a history-making moment for the Finns.
Canada is out at the World Junior championship. Canada Missed penalty shot in overtime and then Finland scores the winner. pic.twitter.com/fMZr4mkc5E
— Bucci Mane (@Buccigross) January 3, 2019
They’d been 0-11 versus Canada on Canadian ice in World Junior competition prior to this game.
But now that the Finns have scaled that mountain, the Finns are now favored to win the World Junior title.
Odds to Win IIHF U20 World Junior Championship
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Finland | +175 |
| USA | +185 |
| Russia | +240 |
| Switzerland | +1200 |
*Odds taken Jan 3
A Test Of Their Medals
Entering Wednesday’s game, Canada was 10-1 in its last 11 quarterfinal matches at the World Juniors, outscoring opponents 65-23 in those games.
But that one loss came in 2016, a 6-5 loss to Finland. And the Finns went on to win the gold medal in that tournament.
But that was held on home ice in Finland, and every one of Finland’s four World Junior titles have been garnered in Europe – 2016 and 1998 at home, 2014 in Sweden, and 1987 in Czechoslovakia.
Of the 13 medals earned by the Finns in world junior history, 10 – three silver and three bronze to go with the four gold – were won on European ice.
The Finns have captured a trio of World Junior bronze medals during tournaments held in North America, including 2006, the previous time the tournament was held in Vancouver.
Should You Wager A Fin (Or More) On The Finns?
History says no and at the beginning of the tournament, so did the sportsbooks.
Finland was just the fourth betting choice to win it all at +400. The Finns were 46 seconds away from being eliminated, but on paper, now that they’ve put Canada out, you’d think their semifinal against the Swiss would be a foregone conclusion.
But unbeaten Sweden no doubt felt the same way before they played the Swiss, and how did that work out for them?
In one of the biggest World Junior upsets in the past decade, Switzerland has eliminated Sweden with a 2-0 shutout victory. #WJC2019
RECAP: https://t.co/X2kJM4BJV2 pic.twitter.com/JB0TdX42Wa
— Steven Ellis (@StevenEllisNHL) January 2, 2019
Regardless, we think the champion is coming out of the other semifinal and history agrees. The seven world juniors held in Canada that the Canadians didn’t win saw these champions – Russia (1978, 1986, 1999, 2003), the USA (2010, 2017) and Sweden (2012).
The only blemish on the USA’s record is a 5-4 overtime loss to the Swedes. It’s time to accept two realities – Canada’s team wasn’t that great, and the real power of this tournament was in the other pool.
We liked Team USA to win it all from the start, and we’re staying with them.
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
