Toronto, ON (Sportsbooks) - The Canadians try to take back what was once theirs tonight when they face Finland in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey final at Air Canada Centre.
When this tournament was held as the Canada Cup, from 1976-91, the Canadians won four of the five events, the last being in 1991. However, in the inaugural World Cup version in 1996, Canada fell victim to the United States in a three-game final series.
In this year's tourney, Canada went 3-0 in pool play, before knocking off Slovakia and the Czech Republic in quarterfinal and semifinal action. On Saturday, Vincent Lecavalier scored from a sharp angle on a second-chance opportunity 3:45 into overtime, lifting Canada to a 4-3 decision over the Czechs.
Roberto Luongo stepped in for an injured Martin Brodeur and made 37 saves for Canada. It was Luongo's first appearance of the tournament.
Mario Lemieux, Kris Draper and Eric Brewer also scored goals for Canada.
Brodeur's left wrist injury remains a concern heading into the WCH final, but he did practice on Monday and said he expects to dress this evening. Brodeur is 4-0 with a 0.75 goals-against average and .970 save percentage so far in the tournament.
If the two-time defending Vezina winner does play, he will oppose the red-hot Miikka Kiprusoff. The Calgary Flame is 4-0-1 with a 1.18 GAA and .948 SP, having played every minute of Finland's games.
The Finns went 2-0-1 in round robin play, before topping Germany and the U.S. by 2-1 scores in the quarters and semis. On Friday, Saku Koivu scored with 3:54 remaining in the third period, as Finland came from behind for the win against the defending-champion Americans.
Kiprusoff finished with 16 saves in the victory, and Olli Jokinen scored the other goal.
Canada will be the home team tonight, as it won a coin toss that took place Sunday afternoon.
Team Canada and Team Finland met once earlier this year in a major senior international competition -- a 5-4 overtime win for Canada in the quarterfinals of the 2004 World Championship last spring.
