2004 Finland National Team Teemu Selanne Jersey

On this date in 2004, the World Cup of Hockey got underway with the opening game of the tournament featuring Finland hosting the Czech Republic in front of 11,407 in Hartwall Arena in Helsinki.

Tomas Vokoun got the start in goal for the Czechs, while the Finns countered with Miikka Kiprusoff.

Miikka Kiprusoff

The first period ended with Finland on top thanks to a goal at 6:33 by Jukka Hentunen from Niko Kapanen.

Jukka Hentunen opened the tournament scoring in the first period

The second period went by with no scoring despite a power play for the Czechs and three times on the man advantage for Finland.

The third period could not have begun any better for Finland, as Saku Koivu converted from Jere Lehtinen at the thirty second mark to double the Finnish lead to 2-0. With Martin Skoula off for holding at 4:09, Finland converted the power play opportunity when Kapanen scored at 4:56 from Sami Salo and Ville Peltonen to put the Finns up 3-0.

Niko Kapanen gave Finland a 3 goal lead

The final nail in the coffin arrived at 11:09 when Mikko Eloranta beat Vokoun for a 4 goal lead with assists from Kimmo Timonen and Mikko Koivu.

Mikko Eloranta scored the fourth Finnish goal

Kiprusoff would complete the all to easy shutout, as the Czechs only managed a mere 12 shots for the entire game, while Finland nearly tripled that with 34 against Vokoun. Finland's 13 first period shots were more than the Czechs manged for the entire game.

Kiprusoff finished off the shutout for Finland

Finland would go on to a 2-0-1 record for 5 points in the European Pool and would win the group over Sweden, who they tied at 4-4 on September 4th, thanks to a +7 goal differential versus Sweden's +4 thanks to their opening game 4 goal win over the Czechs, as Sweden would only edge the Czechs by one, 4-3, two days later. Both teams had defeated Germany by the same three goal margin.

All four teams from the European Pool would advance to the Quarterfinals. Finland again defeated Germany in Helsinki, but by a much closer 2-1 score. The Czechs rebounded with a rather surprising 6-1 thrashing of Sweden in a game held in Stockholm.

Finland then advanced to face the United States in St. Paul, Minnesota, where they advanced to the final after coming from behind 1-0 with 15 minutes left to play by scoring twice in the third period to win 2-1 in front of 18,064 disappointed American fans.

Kiprusoff outdueled American Robert Esche

to send Finland to the World Cup final

The Czechs had a tough task, as they were paired with Canada in Toronto, but acquitted themselves well, taking the Canadians to overtime before falling 4-3.

The Finns would finish as runners-up following a 3-2 loss in the final to the Canadians.

Today's featured jersey is a 2004 Finland National Team Teemu Selanne jersey. Finland first wore this style for the 1998 Oympics in Nagano, Japan with the crest reading "Suomi". For the 2002 Olympics, the crest was altered to read "Finland" with Suomi now printed boldly across the waist. This would be the final appearance for this jersey, as Nike would introduce a new style for the 2005 World Championships.

 

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 2004 Czech Repbulic National Team Jaromir Jagr jersey. This jersey features not only the 2004 World Cup of Hockey logo patch, but also the #21 memorial patch for Ivan Hlinka, one time head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins who was to have been the head coach for the Czechs at the 2004 World Cup, but he was killed in a car accident on August 16th, two weeks before the start of the tournament.

As a player, Hlinka was a three time World Champion who also won five silver and two bronze World Championship medals as well as silver and bronze Olympic hockey medals

In addition to wearing the #21 Hlinka memorial patch, Czech team captain Robert Reichel, who normally wore #21, changed to #22 for the tournament in Hlinka's honor.

This striking Czech jersey arrived in 2003 and was worn through the 2005 World Championships until being replaced for the 2006 Olympic games with the arrival of the new Nike Swift jerseys.

 

Today's video section is highlights of the opening game of the 2004 World Cup of Hockey between Finland and the Czech Republic on this date in 2004.

2004 Team Canada Mario Lemieux Jersey

The 2004 World Cup of Hockey continued on this date when Canada would took on the Czech Republic in a Semifinal matchup on September 11th, 2004 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada.

The Canadians had throttled Slovakia 5-0 to reach the Semi-Finals, while the Czech Republic dominated Sweden 6-1 in their Quarterfinal contest.

The first period of this thriller was a goaltending duel between Roberto Luongo, who made seven saves, and his Czech counterpart Tomas Vokoun, who stopped ten Canadian shots on goal.

Canadian goaltender Roberto Luongo

Defenseman Eric Brewer opened the scoring at 11:15 of the second with assists from Joe Thornton and Kris Draper, followed by Canadian captain Mario Lemieux increasing the lead for Canada on the power play at 14:25 from Brad Richards and Vincent Lecavalier.

Canadian captain Mario Lemieux

Petr Cajanek responded for the Czechs just 42 seconds later with assists from Milan Hejduk and Martin Rucinsky. The period would end with the score at 2-1 for Canada.

Peter Cajanek

Martin Havlat would tie the game at 7:21 of the third on the power play with the assists going to Tomas Kaberle and Hejduk. The Canadian fans would still be celebrating Draper's go-ahead goal, from Thornton, at 13:47 when Patrik Elias would tie the game once more with a goal a mere six seconds later from Havlat.

Elias celebrates his lighting fast Czech counterpunch goal

The remainder of the third period would be played scoreless, sending the game, and the opportunity to play in the final, into sudden death overtime.

The determined Czechs would create the first five shots on goal before Lecavalier would win the game on the first Canadian shot of the overtime from a nearly impossible angle at the 3:45 mark from Ryan Smyth to send the home fans into rapture as Canada secured their spot in the championship game, also to be played on home ice in Toronto.

Lecavalier wins the game for Canada from a sharp angle

Today's featured jersey is a 2004 Team Canada Mario Lemieux jersey as worn on September 11th, 2004. This style jersey first appeared at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City and was worn by Canada through an unparalleled period of success though the 2005 World Championships, as the Canadians won Olympic gold in 2002, the World Championships in 2003 and 2004, the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, the World Junior Championships in 2005, the World U18 World Championships in 2003, the Women's Olympic gold in 2002 and the Women's World Championships in 2004.

At one point, Canada were Men's and Women's Olympic champions, holders of the World Cup, Men's and Women's World Champions and U20 World Champions all at the same time, which prompted them to make a special edition of this jersey with gold trim around the Hockey Canada maple leaf crest.

The jersey features Lemieux's captain's "C", the 2004 World Cup of Hockey logo patch as well as a 9/11 memorial patch on the right chest, which was worn only by Canada and just for that game in recognition of the third anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York City in 2001.

Finally, this muti-patched jersey has the International Ice Hockey Federation patch on the back.

aa

Today's video section consists of the highlights of the thrilling 2004 World Cup Semifinal game between Canada and the Czech Republic on this date in 2004.

2004 Czech Republic Jaromir Jagr Jersey

The Czech Republic played five games in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, with their first three games taking place in the European Pool of the opening group stage of the tournament.

They opened with a 4-0 loss to Finland in Helsinki on August 30, 2004, followed by a narrow loss to Sweden 4-3 on September 1st in Stockholm, both times while wearing their white jerseys.

They returned home to Prague on this date in 2004 to face Germany and donned their red jerseys for the one and only time. Marek Zidlicky opened the scoring on the power play at 2:56 of the second period. Jiri Slegr scored a minute and a half later to increase the Czech lead to 2-0 at 4:27. Jaromir Jagr continued the scoring for the Czechs within another 90 seconds with a goal at 5:52.

Milan Hejduk added another power play goal five minutes later for a 4-0 lead to chase Germany goaltender Robert Muller from the net. Patrik Elias ended the second period barrage at 15:48 to put the game firmly in Czech control with their fifth goal of the period when he scored on relief goalie Oliver Jonas.

Tino Boos broke through for Germany at 3:55 of the third which was countered by Martin Havlat at 10:59.

Jochen Hecht scored a second goal for Germany at 17:19 and Vaclav Prospal made the final margin 7-2 with an assist from Jagr at the 18:36 mark. Tomas Vokoun got the win for the Czech Republic which allowed them to advance to the playoff round and a quarterfinal rematch with Sweden.

In a surprising turnaround, the Czechs blasted the Swedes 6-1 in Stockholm to reach the semifinals and a matchup with eventual champions Canada, who ended the Czech's tournament with a 4-3 win in overtime.

Havlat led the Czech Republic in scoring with 3 goals and 3 assists for 6 points in 5 games.

Today's featured jersey is a 2004 Czech Republic Jaromir Jagr jersey as worn on on this date in 2004 in the Czech Republic's 7-2 victory over Germany in Prague, the only time the Czechs would wear their red jerseys during the tournament.

Aside from the 2004 World Cup of Hockey logo patch worn on all players jerseys during the tournament, the Czech Republic's jerseys also had a #21 memorial patch for Ivan Hlinka, the Czech hockey legend who was to have been the Czech Republic's coach during the tournament. Hlinka, who had once coached the Pittsburgh Penguins, was killed in a car accident just two weeks prior to the tournament. Czech Republic captain Robert Reichel, who normally wore #21, changed to #22 for the tournament out of respect for Hlinka.

Our video section today are highlights of the Czech Republic's game versus Germany where today's featured jersey was worn for the only time in the tournament.

2004 Team Canada "Winnipeg Falcons" Mario Lemieux Jersey

Today's Curious, Weird and Ugly™ Collection moves outside of the NHL and into the international hockey realm.

In 1920, the Winnipeg Falcons won the the Allan Cup as the top senior amateur team in Canada and, as a result, were chosen to represent Canada at the inaugural Winter Olympics in Antwerp Belguim, where they became the first ever winners of the gold medal in ice hockey.

The Toronto Star reported on March 26, 1920;

"The team which represents Canada at the Olympic games in Belgium will wear jerseys instead of sweaters, as the weather will be too warm for the latter. The jerseys are now being manufactured. The colors will be old gold and black. Across the breast the name "Canada" will be woven and on the back there will be a large maple leaf."

Why old gold and black were chosen remains a mystery, since apparently the Falcons normally wore blue and green. When the 2004 World Cup of Hockey was planned, Hockey Canada chose to recreate the Winnipeg Falcons old gold jerseys for use in the tournament.

As the Nashville Predators have shown before, "mustard" is never a good color for a jersey you are attempting to market to the buying public, regardless of it's historical significance.

For the 2004 World Cup, the jerseys were "old gold" with a black stripes across the chest, waist and cuffs on the sleeves. In addition, one color numbers were used on the back and sleeves, while all jerseys had "CANADA" in place of individual player names on the back, perhaps as a sign of unity and a team first attitude as first seen on the 1972 Summit Series jerseys.

The jerseys were worn on August 31st, 2004 in a 2-1 win over the United States.

We classify this jersey as "Curious" in an effort to be nice. We can understand that Hockey Canada and Nike chose, in an effort to fill their coffers through sales of replicas to the hockey mad fanbase in The Great White North, to select a historically significant team to pay tribute to. The problem is that the jerseys they wore just happened to be a putrid color with a boring lettering choice that did not go over well with the current tastes of the fans in the early part of the 21st century.

While the red 1924-based jerseys worn in the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics were a treat to look at, Team Canada proceeded to lay an egg in their opening game vs. Sweden and the jerseys were immediately abandoned as "bad luck", never to be worn again, which was a real shame.

We are uncertain if the plan was for the 1920 Falcons jerseys to be worn just the one time, but they were never worn again by Team Canada in the World Cup or subsequent World Championships, despite their "lucky" 1-0 record. It's possible that they were only intended for use just once, or perhaps abandoned due to their being not very well received due to their unattractive looks despite their historical significance.

The only other appearance for the Winnipeg Falcons jerseys was in a exhibition game on December 20th, 2004 in Winnipeg as Team Canada's World Junior Team, which included Sidney Crosby, defeated Finland 6-0 in preparation for the 2005 World Junior Tournament.

Here is some footage of these jerseys in action.

2004 Team Canada Mario Lemieux Jersey

The 2004 World Cup of Hockey continued on this date when Canada would took on the Czech Republic in a Semifinal matchup on September 11th, 2004 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada.

The Canadians had throttled Slovakia 5-0 to reach the Semi-Finals, while the Czech Republic dominated Sweden 6-1 in their Quarterfinal contest.

The first period of this thriller was a goaltending duel between Roberto Luongo, who made seven saves, and his Czech counterpart Tomas Vokoun, who stopped ten Canadian shots on goal.

Canadian goaltender Roberto Luongo

Defenseman Eric Brewer opened the scoring at 11:15 of the second with assists from Joe Thornton and Kris Draper, followed by Canadian captain Mario Lemieux increasing the lead for Canada on the power play at 14:25 from Brad Richards and Vincent Lecavalier.

Canadian captain Mario Lemieux

Petr Cajanek responded for the Czechs just 42 seconds later with assists from Milan Hejduk and Martin Rucinsky. The period would end with the score at 2-1 for Canada.

Peter Cajanek

Martin Havlat would tie the game at 7:21 of the third on the power play with the assists going to Tomas Kaberle and Hejduk. The Canadian fans would still be celebrating Draper's go-ahead goal, from Thornton, at 13:47 when Patrik Elias would tie the game once more with a goal a mere six seconds later from Havlat.

Elias celebrates his lighting fast Czech counterpunch goal

The remainder of the third period would be played scoreless, sending the game, and the opportunity to play in the final, into sudden death overtime.

The determined Czechs would create the first five shots on goal before Lecavalier would win the game on the first Canadian shot of the overtime from a nearly impossible angle at the 3:45 mark from Ryan Smyth to send the home fans into rapture as Canada secured their spot in the championship game, also to be played on home ice in Toronto.

Lecavalier wins the game for Canada from a sharp angle

Today's featured jersey is a 2004 Team Canada Mario Lemieux jersey as worn on September 11th, 2004. This style jersey first appeared at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City and was worn by Canada through an unparalleled period of success though the 2005 World Championships, as the Canadians won Olympic gold in 2002, the World Championships in 2003 and 2004, the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, the World Junior Championships in 2005, the World U18 World Championships in 2003, the Women's Olympic gold in 2002 and the Women's World Championships in 2004.

At one point, Canada were Men's and Women's Olympic champions, holders of the World Cup, Men's and Women's World Champions and U20 World Champions all at the same time, which prompted them to make a special edition of this jersey with gold trim around the Hockey Canada maple leaf crest.

The jersey features Lemieux's captain's "C", the 2004 World Cup of Hockey logo patch as well as a 9/11 memorial patch on the right chest, which was worn only by Canada and just for that game in recognition of the third anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York City in 2001.

Finally, this muti-patched jersey has the International Ice Hockey Federation patch on the back.

aaa

Today's video section consists of the highlights of the thrilling 2004 World Cup Semifinal game between Canada and the Czech Republic on this date in 2004.

2004 Team USA Keith Tkachuk Jersey

On this date in 2004, the United States squared off against Russia in the Quarter Finals of the World Cup of Hockey in St. Paul, Minnesota. Russia had already beaten Team USA in North American Pool play only four days earlier by a score of 3-1. The United States brought a 1-2 record into the game and was a -1 in goals scored in tournament, so no one really expected what happened next during a game I was fortunate to be able to attend in person.

At 10:20 of the first period Mike Modano set up a goal by Keith Tkachuk to give the USA a 1-0 lead.

Tkachuk would score again at just 1:56 of the second period from Bill Guerin and Modano to extend the lead out to 2-0, but Dimtry Afanasenkov would pull one back for Russia at 7:14 from Artem Chubarov and Sergei Gonchar.

Danius Zubrus would stun the crowd of 17,218 with a tying goal at just 36 seconds of the third period from team captain Alexi Yashin and Darius Kasparitis, but the tide would turn back in favor of the Americans at 4:25 when Scott Gomez would put Team USA back in front with an assist from Tkachuk. While the crowd was still celebrating the Gomez goal, Tkachuk would complete the hat trick just 22 second later at 4:47 with the assists once again going to Guerin and Modano to put the USA up by two once more.

Tkachuk scores his third goal of the game against Ilya Bryzgalov of Russia.

The Russians were far from done however, as Ilya Kovalchuk would pull the Russians within 1 at 11:04 from Sergei Samsonov and Alexi Kovalev with plenty of time remaining.

Robert Esche held strong in the Team USA goal and Keith Tkachuk completed his magical night with his fourth goal into an empty net at 19:05 from Modano (who assisted on all four of Tkachuk's goals) and Brian Rafalski, to eliminate the Russians from the competition.

Guerin hands Tkachuk the puck after his fourth goal of the night.

Not surprisingly, the three stars of the game were Tkachuk (4 goals, 1 assist), Modano (4 assists) and Guerin (2 assists).

Today's featured jersey is a 2004 Team USA Keith Tkachuk jersey with the assistant captain's "A", 2004 World Cup of Hockey patch, plus the addition of the IIHF patch located on the back of the jersey at the bottom.

Here are the highlights of Tkachuk's four goal, five point night. Yes, that is a very young Alexander Ovechkin you may notice playing only his third game in North America prior to his NHL debut, which would have to wait until October of 2005 due to the lockout which would begin the day after the 2004 World Cup of Hockey concluded.

2004 Team USA Throwback Chris Chelios Jersey

On this date in 2004, the United States faced off against Russia in St. Paul, Minnesota as part of the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, with the US wearing throwback jerseys in honor of the silver medal winning 1932 United States Olympic Team.

The 1932 United States Olympic Team

The 1932 US Olympic Team would open the double-round robin tournament on February 4th, 1932 in Lake Placid, New York with a 2-1 overtime loss to Canada and then defeated Poland 4-1 the next day before going on a roll that would see them post consecutive shutouts against Germany (7-0) on the 7th, Poland (5-0) on the 8th and Germany again (8-0) on the 10th before skating to a tie with Canada 2-2 to close out the tournament on February 13th.

Here is a photo of an actual game worn United States sweater from the 1932 Olympics.

Russia would win the 2004 matchup against the United States by a 3-1 score on goals by Dainius Zubrus, Alexei Kovalev and Viktor Kozlov, while Keith Tkachuk would score the lone goal for the US.

This would be the one and only game that Team USA would wear the 1932 throwbacks, although the US World Junior team would also wear these throwback jerseys during the 2005 World Juniors three months later in Grand Forks, North Dakota, only this time with the individual player names on the back.

Today's featured jersey is a 2004 Team USA 1932 Throwback Chris Chelios jersey as worn during the 2004 World Cup of Hockey on September 2, 2004 in St. Paul, Minnesota versus Russia.

This jersey features the 2004 World Cup of Hockey patch on the upper left chest, along with Chelios' captain's "C". The jerseys were customized with a distinctive, oversized number font with a pronounced white outline and were worn without names on the back.

Also absent was the IIHF logo patch, normally worn on the back bottom right hem of all the jerseys during the 2004 World Cup, with the only other exception being the 1920 Winnipeg Falcons throwback jerseys worn by Team Canada during the tournament. 

Here is some video footage of the 1932 USA throwback jerseys in action during the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Don't miss one of the all time great goals by the sublime Alexei Kovalev.