Some tidbits from the 2008 IIHF World Championships

A lot has been made and written about the fight at the end of Sunday’s game between US forward David Backes and Finnish defenseman Anssi Salmela. Finland coach Doug Shedden, being brutally honest, had this to say about Salmela: “He needs a broken nose. He needs to get ugly. It is on the other side of his face.” You can see the Backes-Salmela fight by going to http://youtube.com/watch?v=zxvUEzz1R7U. As a result of the fight, both Backes and Salmela were automatically suspended one game each.
In addition, Salmela, who led SM-Liiga, Finland’s elite league, in goals this season with 16, scored one of the stranger goals you’ll ever see – http://youtube.com/watch?v=sz2QuKRFq-E. Salmela has logged nearly 15 minutes a game for Finland thus far in the World Championships, as part of the team’s second defense pairing.