Sweden eye historic gold

Swedish head coach, Bengt-Ake Gustafsson has taken his team a long way since they lost to Russia in the bronze medal game of last years world championships. While the Swedish newspaper Aftonblade has declared Gustafsson "Super Brain," the Swedish success has not been rocket science. Tre Kronor have excelled in 2006 thanks to solid play in the neutral zone and steady goaltending.

Gustafsson will be missing Mika Hannula after the HV71 forward was pegged with a well deserved game misconduct when he cross-checked Canadian Sidney Crosby in the face on Saturday.

Niklas Kronwall and Kenny Jonsson will again anchor the strong Swedish power play that has yielded 14 goals in the competition.

The Czechs will keep their eye on Michael Nylander who leads the Swedes with six assists.

Gustafsson's counter part, Alois Hadamczik, has employed a similar ethos of hard work and collective play. In the absence of a superstar leader the defending champions have relied on rock-hard performances from world championship debutants Tomas Plekane, Martin Erat, Jaroslav Balastik, and Petr Tenkrat.

Starting goalie Milan Hnilicka has declared himself fit after suffering an injury scare in the Czech's win over the United States. The Czech based player finished the game delicately after falling awkwardly. The 32-year-old toughed out the quarter-final win against Russia with some residual pain and was pain free in Saturday's win against Finland.

"I felt great today," he told reporters after Saturday's game. "I did a lot of work with a chiropractor the last couple of days and I'm feeling much better. I'm just glad we have a chance to win the gold medal, and I'll be ready."

After a slow start the Czechs found their stride when they downed Canada 6-4 in the Qualifying Round. Captain David Vyborny has stepped up for his team scoring 10 points so far in the tournament. Martin Erat of the Nashville Predators has not failed to impress as he is the second leading scorer on the team and a constant offensive threat. Veteran blue-liner Tomas Kaberle will be a mainstay for Hadamczik's defence.