On top of Finnish hockey legend Teemu Selanne criticizing a high-sticking penalty on Niko Mikkola, and former Canadian Olympian Chris Pronger replying to him, two Finnish players in the semifinal loss were also blunt after the game.
After blowing a 2-0 lead to Canada, Team Finland lost 3-2 in the Olympic men's hockey semifinal and will play for bronze on Saturday.
However, Hockey Hall of Famer Teemu Selanne, who won an Olympic silver medal and three bronze medals with Finland from 1998 to 2014, wasn't pleased with Finland being penalized late in the third period. That power play led to Nathan MacKinnon scoring the game-winning goal.
"Beating greatest hockey country in the world and Canadian referees same night is impossible I guess," Selanne wrote on X. "Absolutely embarrassing penalty 90 seconds to go in Olympic semifinal.. what a joke."
'The Finnish Flash' is referring to Finnish defenseman Niko Mikkola taking a high-sticking penalty on MacKinnon with 2:35 remaining in the third period, with the score 2-2.
A former teammate of Selanne's with the Anaheim Ducks, Chris Pronger, replied to Selanne's rant by referring to Finland trying to withstand a relentless Canadian offense, which outshot the Finns 39-17.
"I hear ya Teemu but you know as well as I do you cannot sit back for 30-plus mins in this type of tournament and not expect bad things to happen," the two-time Olympic gold medallist with Team Canada said on X.
Talking to reporters in Finnish post-game, coach Antti Pennanen did not want to get into the penalty on Mikkola, said it is what it is regarding both referees being Canadian and that Canada deserved their win.
Finland coach Anti Pennanen said Canada deserved their win. (David W Cerny/Reuters via Imagn Images)The controversy of this game didn't end there in this semifinal matchup. On Canada's equalizer by defenseman Shea Theodore, Brad Marchand collided with goaltender Juuse Saros, but Finland decided not to challenge the goal. It appeared Erik Haula moved Marchand into Saros.
"(At) 5-on-5, they got one goal. That was goalie interference," Finland right winger Joel Armia told reporters after the game.
Pennanen said it was a good goal, but he thinks Nathan MacKinnon's goal that put Canada up 3-2 was offside, which was why they challenged it. After a lengthy review, the officials did not overturn the goal and penalized Finland for a failed coach's challenge.
Saros also had something to say about Canada's Sam Bennett hitting Florida Panthers teammate Mikkola into him in the first period of the game, earning Bennett a goalie interference penalty.
"I mean, he does that all the time. So, it's part of his game," Saros said.
The Nashville Predators' netminder was asked if he thought Bennett did it on purpose.
"You guys have seen him multiple times, so I think you know."
The 2022 gold medallists aren't pleased with the way this contest panned out. Nonetheless, they will play for bronze on Saturday at 2:40 p.m. ET againt the loser of the other semifinal between the United States and Slovakia.
Canada, meanwhile, move on to face the winner for the gold medal on Sunday at 8:10 a.m. ET.
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