Any list of international rivalries must have Sweden - Finland on it, even if it might lack the sizzle (at least in North America) of squabbles between Russia, Canada and the United States. They’ll play another big Olympic game on Friday, as the two square off in the day’s first semifinal game at 7 a.m. ET:
Men’s hockey semifinals, Sweden-Finland, 7 a.m. ET — CLICK HERE TO WATCH EVENT LIVE
The 2006 gold-medal game will be fresh on many minds, as Sweden topped Finland to take it all 3-2 in that tournament. Henrik Lundqvist was a huge part of that Swedish team and remains that way today.
Tuukka Rask doesn’t have that same extensive resume, but he was stellar against Russia in the quarterfinals and has had plenty of success at the NHL level. (Unfortunately, Rask couldn’t go, so Kari Lehtonen received a surprise start.)
The Swedes are going for their third fairly recent gold medal (at this point, people might not be commemorating such wins with stamps) while Finland is shooting for its first.
