The 2014 final Russia–Finland was the most scandalous match in the history of the World Ice Hockey Championship.
- Many felt that the judges made sure that Finland didn’t even have a chance to beat Russia.
- Ten years have passed since the Minsk farce last spring.
In honor of the turn of the year, Iltalehti publishes again the memorable sports stories of 2024. The story of the World Cup final, which caused a huge uproar, was published for the first time on May 17, 2024.
On Sunday evening, May 25, 2014, countless Finns were sure that the German-American chief justice duo Lars Brüggemann–Keith Kaval had been bribed or pressured to promote Russia’s victory.
Manipulation could not be proven, and even if it had been possible, Russia and Belarus would have denied everything.
– It was a clear bribe. Those judges had been bribed, Iltalehti’s sports reporter who was present at the Minsk Games, now retired Pekka Jalonen says.
– It was so outrageous that I have never seen anything like it, nor any such transparent action for the benefit of another team.
Worked as the head coach of the lions in the games Erkka Westerlund frames his words more carefully, but admits that his own concentration started to slip in the final because of the refereeing.
– I don’t usually remember old games, but I do remember that game well. Not really fair play been, says Westerlund.
He reminds us of the background of the events: just three months earlier, Finland had knocked out Russia in the quarterfinals of the Sochi Olympics.
– It was quite a big humiliation there, because the Olympic gold in ice hockey was supposed to be the biggest victory for Russia in those games. It was like this below before the Minsk tournament, and after looking at what René Faselin the relationship is with Russia, so the imagination starts to gallop.
The then president of the International Ice Hockey Federation, known for his connections with Russia, watched the final in the stands, the president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and the President of Russia Vladimir Putin with.
– Fasel fanned and necked with them when Russia scored goals, Jalonen remembers.
The jaw was broken
Erkka Westerlund was disappointed. Matti Raivio / AOP
Russia, which entered the games hosted by its vassal state Belarus as the pre-favorite, defeated Finland 5–2 in the final match.
The statistics alone do not say anything about the rough refereeing, as the two-minute cooldowns were divided “only” 6-9, Russia being the first to be mentioned. Penalty minutes were in the end Miikka Salomäki 12–28 by the end of the decade.
Behind the statistics remains the fact that even flagrant fouls by the Russians were not whistled, and the Finns even went to the session after being touched.
The line became clear right at the start of the game, when the Russian superstar Yevgeni Malkin took Erik Haulan against a tackle by brutally hitting a cross stick on his chin.
An ejection and suspension would have been the only correct sentence, but Finland did not get a five-minute or even two-minute advantage.
Haula lay on the ice for a long time holding her face, but still played to the end of the match. His jaw was later found to be broken.
Four national team goals
Finland led the final Iiro Pakarinen and Olli Palolan with goals 2–1 approaching the middle of the second period, until the second red star Alexander Ovechkin smoothed out.
It was Russia’s only goal created from level ground, it scored the other four goals with superiority.
The winning goal 3–2 came at the end of the second period when Russia played five against three. Jarkko Immonen and Petri Kontiolan the colds he got every minute or so were light as a feather, and Malkin vaccinated a second after Immonen’s runner-up had finished.
Kontiola should also have been able to get out of the ice box, but the clock was turned back two seconds and Finland had to continue just short.
– Now that you say it, I remember that, Westerlund says about the “homecoming” of some officials.
With the flamboyant dying swan film, Immonen got second place Denis Denisov avoided the ice himself after tackling Pekka Jormakka so violently that his game ended there.
– Russia engages in such kind of tackles that come from a bit of a dark corner, not hurting but damaging. Bad culture, the ex-head coach who commented on the final for MTV as an expert Hannu Aravirta said during the break.
Jormakka had already received a similar main goal in the opening match against Russia, back then From Vadim Shipachyov.
KHL invited
– I tried quite a lot to protest and wake up the judges, Westerlund says.
– They attracted the Russians as much as possible, Jalonen continues.
– There were so many cold winters in Finland that it doesn’t make any sense. By searching for them, they were searched.
Kaval was an AHL referee who received the KHL’s highest salary category referee badge as a reward. He became the KHL’s first North American head referee.
– He was only there for a few weeks and then left: that big mess was just a bribe for him. There was also a rumor that Brüggemann had received the car, but no evidence was found, says Jalonen.
Jalonen tried to reach Kavali for an interview after he had returned to the United States.
– The phone number was found, but he did not answer the call. I then sent an email and said I wanted to interview, but he never responded to that either.
Famous Finnish judge Jari Levonen defended the final judges Ilta-Sanom and said that he considered the idea of bribery impossible.
– Even good judges don’t always succeed, Levonen stated.
Znarok soloed
Oleg Znarok and Aleksandr Ovechkin celebrate the championship. PDO
The head coach of Russia also had scandals in the final Oleg Znarokin behavior that disregards the rules.
The Russian-born Latvian was suspended after making a rude throat-slit gesture to Sweden’s assistant coach in the semi-final To Rikard Grönborg.
Znarok cared little about the sanction. He gave instructions from the stands to the co-pilot, who acted as head coach, through a microphone Harijs for Vitolins.
– Kummola noticed it and exploded because Znarok should not have had anything to do with the Russian team, Jalonen remembers having served as vice president of the International Ice Hockey Federation Kalervo Kummola reaction.
– To top it all off, Znarok came to the golden chair on the ice after the game, even though he wasn’t allowed to participate in the party.
“A lesson for myself”
Westerlund, 67, coached the Lions to medals in five prestigious games, of which Minsk 2014 was the last.
– It’s sad that you had prepared well, and maybe after that… he leaves the sentence unfinished.
In the Finnish composition, there were a dozen first-timers of the prestigious championships. The silver medal was a super performance compared to prior expectations.
– We started as underdogs, but we knew that we would be able to beat Russia. In that way it was disappointing, but it didn’t take it any harder than it would otherwise.
Russia’s game of superiority was murderous, but the events aroused strong feelings of injustice in Finns.
– Yes, you noticed it in the team, Westerlund confirms.
– It was a lesson for me. When I later went to Russia to coach, I had to admit that there are some things you cannot influence.
Do you think it is possible that there was manipulation in the final, knowing in which city it was played and who was sitting in the stands?
– That was in mind at the time, but of course such things should not be brought up, Westerlund answers.
– But now in retrospect, when you have been following the way this world is going, you have often wondered what had happened behind the scenes.