HALIFAX -- This is getting confusing.
They're shooting a movie down on the harbour and pretending Halifax is on the West Coast overlooking the Pacific.
And now Niklas Backstrom thinks he's playing in Hawaii.
But that was how a "pissed off" Finnish goaltender put it when he tried to explain the inexplicable - Canada's somewhat goofy and surprisingly easy 6-3 victory in the final game of the qualifying round of the world hockey tournament.
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Both Finland and Canada went into the game knowing a victory would guarantee first place and bring with it the gift of facing fourth-place Norway in the elimination round, which will begin tomorrow. The final seed in the Halifax side of this tournament, which is also under way in Quebec, was decided later last evening when Germany came from behind to defeat Latvia 5-3, thereby dashing Latvia's dreams of continuing on.
A loss, on the other hand, would have meant going up against the swift, young U.S. team, which go to a single goal behind both Canada and Finland in previous matches. The Americans were absolutely dominant here yesterday afternoon when they rolled over Norway 9-1. (Though the Norwegians did get to one goal behind Canada in an earlier game.)
If it is also possible to run into a cold goalie, it happened here last evening to Canada when Backstrom let in the first shot on net and might have had two others - but it would be silly to place all blame at his crease.
The Finns turned in a "shameful effort," he told Finnish reporters. They played as if they were on vacation.
"You don't come here," the angry goaltender said, "and play 'Hawaiian hockey.' "
Credit, however, must also go to the Canadians, who appear to be playing "Stanley Cup" hockey as the tournament enters sudden-death territory.
Their domination delighted the 9,178 in attendance, who finally seemed to wake up to a Canadian victory and make some noise.
"This is our playoffs," delighted Canadian head coach Ken Hitchcock said after his team's fourth successive win.
They played the Finns with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in attendance, and the Prime Minister was on his feet even before the first puck was in the net.
It wasn't a matter of political prescience, but of being late.
Thirty-three seconds into the game, Canada took the lead as the Finnish defence let big Ryan Getzlaf dance through as though he were running logs, easily forcing the puck past a falling Backstrom.
The Finns tied the game on a Canadian goaltending faux pas, a lost pass up ice by netminder Pascal Leclaire that ended up in his own net when forward Antti Pihlstrom jumped on it and beat Leclaire with a wrist shot.
It would be a night for the short-handed, as Canadian captain Shane Doan scored while Canada was killing a penalty and then Patrick Sharp scored during a Finnish power play when he stole the puck at the Canadian blueline, raced in and chipped a weak goal past Backstrom.
If it was a bad night for Backstrom, it was a terrible night for the Finnish defence - and a glorious night for Canadian penalty killers.
"Short-handed guys have done a great job for us all tournament," said Dany Heatley, who continued his hot scoring with a couple of goals. Doan also had a second goal, this one scored when his hard shot went in off the shoulder of surprised Finnish defenceman Sami Lepisto.
It was Canada's third goal, scored by Heatley halfway through the second period, that seemed to change the game hugely in Canada's favour. The Finns had been getting stronger when Heatley was allowed to step in uncontested by the confused Finnish defence and calmly lift a backhand shot behind Backstrom.
"Playing against Canada," Finnish forward Teemu Selanne said, "you can't do those things."
"You can't give Canada easy goals," said disappointed Finnish coach Doug Shedden, himself a Canadian.
"You can't give up six goals on 22 shots."
The Finns were playing on less than 24 hours of rest after a very hard come-from-behind victory over the United States. Team Canada, on the other hand, hadn't played since its effortless 10-1 blowout of Germany.
Backstrom shook his head when it was suggested the Finns might have been tired: "You don't want to hide behind that."
Certainly, the Americans were in the same boat, and they seemed overflowing with energy as they whipped the Norwegians 9-1 in the afternoon match.
"We got spanked," Norwegian captain Tommy Jakobsen said.
It seemed the Finns were on the verge of getting similar treatment from the Canadians until they came back slightly in the third period, matching Canada's output with goals by Pihlstrom again and, on a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play, Tuomo Ruutu in the dying seconds.
The Prime Minister was again on his feet - only this time leaving what had turned into a far less engaging game than had been anticipated by the usually tough Finns and the strong Canadians.
"Every day we get better," said Leclaire, who will defer to Cam Ward tomorrow for the game against Norway as Hitchcock sticks to his pattern of rotating the two goaltenders.
"There's a lot of confidence in the dressing room."
