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Selanne on loss to Canada: ‘We realized we can beat these guys’

Ice Hockey - Winter Olympics Day 7 - Norway v Finland

during the Men’s Ice Hockey Preliminary Round Group B game on day seven of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at Shayba Arena on February 14, 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

Martin Rose

It may not have been a thrilling game to watch, but Canada’s 2-1 overtime win against Finland proved something to the Finns:

They can hang with the best in the world.

Finland captain Teemu Selanne told Olympic News Service that while a loss stinks, he knows they’ve got what it takes to win.

“We realized we can beat these guys,” said Selanne. “Obviously it’s a bad break at the end, but that’s hockey.”

The Finnish roster is a young one, but Selanne understands that hard-fought games like that teach a lesson that can carry them deeper in the tournament.

“When my teammates realized we can compete against these guys, it was a totally different game,” said Selanne. “That was a good confidence boost for us, and we can beat anybody when we play our best. Even with all the injuries that we have. That’s what happens in hockey. Just believe and do your best.”

Finland is without Mikko Koivu, Valtteri Filppula, and now Aleksander Barkov but that hasn’t slowed them down winning two out of three games in round-robin play and earning a bye into the quarterfinals. They’ll face the winner of Russia vs. Norway in that round.

Follow @JoeYerdonPHT