Sweden is Finland's bullying big brother

From a CP article back in February when the Olympics were still in progress..

History favours Sweden, which has a 39-15-15 record against Finland in Olympic and IIHF world championship play.

But history is also what makes it somewhat of a grudge match. Several Finnish players described Sweden as being like a bit of a bullying big brother.

Centuries ago, Finland was part of a Swedish empire. And Finns learn Swedish in school, but Swedes don't bother to learn Finnish.

But if there is bitterness, if doesn't show on the surface. Selanne called it a "nice" rivalry.

"I think the culture, the history and the background make it special," he said. "They are like big brothers.

"They have always been a little better than us and that's why we want to beat them so badly. But what great guys they are. I have played with so many Swedes and I haven't met one bad guy yet. They're so nice and down-to-earth people."

The Finns won the 1995 world championship In Sweden. Sweden beat Finland in the 1998 world championship final. In the quarter-finals of the 2003 worlds in Helsinki, Finland led 5-1 before a packed arena only to see Forsberg, Mats Sundin and the Swedes roar back for a 6-5 victory.

One Finnish reporter called it his country's worst sports disaster ever.

"It was a long time ago and I think this team is way better than at that time," said Selanne. "I don't think anybody's thinking about that any more."