Well, my pre-tourney prediction was half-right: Sweden disappoints, but Slovakia will face Russia in IIHF World Championship Gold Medal Final in Stockholm Sunday afternoon; delayed telecast in U.S. at 9 pm Eastern on NBCCS, DirecTV Channel 603

Above, the Finnish first-class stamp that came out in March that features the official mascot of the Championship, HockeyBird. If you didn't already know, Angry Birds was created in Finland by Rovio Mobile.

Well, my pre-tourney prediction was half-right: Sweden disappoints, but Slovakia will face Russia in IIHF World Championship Gold Medal Final in Stockholm on Sunday; delayed telecast in U.S. at 9 p.m. Eastern on NBCCS, DirecTV Channel 603

Daily Recap 19th May  http://youtu.be/t2wQ_iyuX_0

Video of the goals in Slovakia's 3-1 second-semifinal game victory Saturday over the Czech Republic. 
http://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/sport/hockeyvm/article14850922.ab


Russia routed co-host Finland 6-2 in Helsinki in the first semifinal game. Finland defeated the USA in the Quarterfinals, while Slovakia defeated Canada in the Quarterfinals on Thursday.


Depending upon where you live around the world, you might be able to watch the Bronze Medal and Gold Medal matches today online at: http://www.youtube.com/icehockey


However, the U.S. is NOT one of those countries, as even the IIHF highlight videos on their YouTube Channel are off-limits if you live in the U.S., which is why I used the Aftonbladet video at the top.
That's real marketing genius at work!!!


TV4 Sweden's video includes highlights of Czech Republic's 4-3 victory over Tre Kronor in the Quarterfinals.
http://www.tv4play.se/sport/sporten?title=sporten_09_00&videoid=2193024&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=permalink&utm_campaign=tv4play.se


The IIHF tourney has been the source of lots of serious -and some would say unrelenting- media criticism in Sweden over the smaller-than-expected crowds that have shown up for some games in what is a world championship tourney, after all.
More fans actually attended some of the Elitserien games this year than attended the tourney.


But whether you think it's the length of the tourney, over two weeks, or the high ticket prices, or both, there seems to be a lot of positing of the old chicken and egg conundrum.


Photo gallery: 
http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/hockey/landslag/hockeyvm/wixtromlive/article14732912.ab


Is turnout low because the ticket prices are thought by many to be higher than they should be, leading to a situation where the visiting fans who are able to get away from home for the tourney in Finland and Sweden are being overly judicious in what games they go to besides their own country's, and thus, spending the money at bars, night clubs and restaurants instead?


Is the tourney getting smaller crowds because the Stanley Cup playoffs are still being played in North America and many of the best players of those teams would be playing in the tourney if the NHL had reconfigured the schedule, so why see less-than-the best?
Or, is it the tourney getting lower-than-expected crowds because Swedish and Finnish fans the organizers thought would be attending just aren't really too interested in going to games where neither team is playing -at those prices?


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My pre-tourney prediction of Sweden vs, Slovakia came in my April 26, 2012 post titled, Instant Classic video! Romania's National Ice Hockey Team manager lets loose after tough loss to Poland; IIHF World Championship 2012 Finland/Sweden starts next week, 
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/instant-classic-video-romanias-national.html
which featured this amazing video that everyone who sees it just loves because it's so honest!
Warning -lots of expletives are flying in this video!


Romania National Ice Hockey Team manager lets loose with tough love after tough loss to Poland; Tränarens utbrott efter storförlusten Polen - Rumänien. This was following a Group B qualifying game at Krynica, Poland. April 2012.
http://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/sport/ishockey/article14728686.ab 

Here's the English language version of the official information webpage, which also has one in Swedish and Finnish: IIHF World Championship 2012 Finland/Sweden

http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/championships/world-championships/finlandsweden-2012/english.html

Aftonbladet's awesome hockey page: http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/hockey/

Here's the official tourney merchandise page full of lots of intersting goodies: http://62.20.67.28/wm2012/Servlet

Here's the Swedish Facebook page that has lots of photos of the arena and the preparation:

http://www.facebook.com/iihfvm

Branislav Kysucký's You Tube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/8brano7
http://www.branno.tk/  

Instant Classic video! Romania's National Ice Hockey Team manager lets loose after tough loss to Poland; IIHF World Championship 2012 Finland/Sweden starts next week

Warning -lots of expletives are flying in this video!

But it is still destined to become a CLASSIC!

Romania National Ice Hockey Team manager lets loose with tough love after tough loss to Poland; Tränarens utbrott efter storförlusten Polen - Rumänien. This was following a Group B qualifying game at Krynica, Poland. April 2012.

http://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/sport/ishockey/article14728686.ab

I first saw this video on Wednesday on the video page of Aftonbladet, Sweden's most-read newspaper, and I played it five more times in quick succession... for obvious reasons.

The IIHF World Championship, a 16-team tourney, will be played in Stockholm and Helsinki starting next Thursday May the 4th thru the 20th, with the final in Stockholm at Ericsson Globe a.k.a. Globen.

With the Stanley Cup playoffs continuing and talented teams like the defending champion Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks being eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, some very talented foreign players, and Swedish players in particular, will now be available to play in the tourney from the very beginning.
For the Swedes on those teams, the prospect of returning to play for the Swedish National Team, Tre Kronor, and playing at home, and for for the title at home is very appealing.

Aftonbladet's sports columnist Mats Wennerholm wrote about the subject of these returning NHL stars Tuesday, terming it a "Dream Team": Drömläge, Tre Kronor: Sju NHL-spelare klara – och fler stjärnor på gång  http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/kronikorer/wennerholm/article14725006.ab

My early title game prediction is Sweden vs. Slovakia.
But so very much has changed in the past year for both of these elite teams, something they could have never imagined.

8brano7 video: IIHF World Championship 2012 Finland/Sweden. February 14, 2012. 

Here's the very well-produced unofficial Slovakian video about the Ice hockey Championship, though obviously it helps if you know who the players are, and some of the dazzling plays are beyond description. It also includes a very touching tribute to former Slovak captain Pavol Demitra, who perished in the September 7th Russian airline crash into the Volga River that claimed the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslav KHL team, including Tre Kronor star goalie Stefan Liv. http://youtu.be/lSsY2P5tFZI

SVT video: Minnesstund för Liv i Jönköping.

Thousands flock to Jönköping to say their final farewell to their friend, teammate, neighbor, favorite son and hero, Stefan Liv.

Publicerad 10 september 2011 - 14:00; Uppdaterad 11 september 2011 - 10:08

http://svt.se/2.19691/1.2530099/tusentals_tog_farval_av_stefan_liv

* 2013 Update: This news video, which was VERY, VERY  SAD, has been removed from SVT's website and is no longer available.

My September 7, 2011 blog post on that tragic crash, with videos, was titled,
Swedish National Team goalie Stefan Liv among 43 dead in plane crash into Volga River, obliterating KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl as new season starts
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/swedish-national-team-goalie-stefan-liv.html

Above, the Finnish first-class stamp that came out last month that features the official mascot of the Championship, HockeyBird. If you didn't already know, Angry Birds was created in Finland by Rovio Mobile.

Here's the English language version of the official information webpage, which also has one in Swedish and Finnish: IIHF World Championship 2012 Finland/Sweden

http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/championships/world-championships/finlandsweden-2012/english.html

Aftonbladet's awesome hockey page: http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/hockey/

Here's the official tourney merchandise page full of lots of intersting goodies: http://62.20.67.28/wm2012/Servlet

Here's the Swedish Facebook page that has lots of photos of the arena and the preparation:

http://www.facebook.com/iihfvm

Branislav Kysucký's You Tube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/8brano7
http://www.branno.tk/