Men's World

MINSK, Belarus -- One of the welcome and challenging aspects for players at the world championship is clashing with fellow NHL teammates while representing their countries.

If the U.S. is to succeed against Finland, top scorers Craig Smith and Seth Jones will likely have to lead the way against their Nashville Predator teammate and goalie Pekka Rinne.

“He’s a great competitor, he’s an honest player and he works hard, so I’m excited to work against him this time, said Smith, who has been a teammate of Rinne for the past three seasons in Nashville. “It will be a good challenge and I know every time I get a chance to shoot, I will let it rip.”

Jones, who played nearly 30 minutes in Team USA’s 4-3 overtime win versus Kazakhstan on Friday, leads all defensemen in scoring at the tournament with seven points (2-5).

“It should be fun – Pekka is a great goalie and Finland has a good team. He’s big in net so we have to put a lot of traffic in front of him,” said Jones about his Nashville teammate. “He’s so athletic and even when you think you’re going to score, he makes saves.”

The 31-year-old Finnish goaltender has played eight seasons in Nashville. He was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy award in both 2010-11 and 2011-12. Renne has played in four of Finland’s five games, having denied 84 of 89 shots for a GAA of 1.23.

Ties with Renne also extend to the U.S. coaching staff. Head Coach Peter Laviolette recently accepted head coaching duties in Nashville. Meanwhile, Assistant Coach Phil Housley is also an assistant for the Predators and Video Coach Lawrence Feloney has had the same role in Music City since 2010-11.

Jones and Smith will need to take on enhanced responsibility versus Finland, as Team USA will be without team captain Justin Abdelkader and defenseman Jacob Trouba. Abdelkader is serving a one-game suspension imposed by the IIHF for a hit against Kazakhstan on Friday and Trouba has returned to North America for precautionary reasons.

The United States and Finland have played some classics in recent years at the world championship. The U.S. claimed bronze in 2013 beating the Finns in a dramatic overtime shootout when Alex Galchenyuk scored on back-to-back attempts and in 2012 the Americans squandered a late lead and eventually lost in OT, bowing out to Finland in the quarterfinals.

“We kind of play similar styles, they’re straight up-and-down skating playing a North American style,” said Smith, who is playing on his fourth consecutive U.S. National Team and has seen the rivalry grow. “We have to be our toes, limit turnovers and get shots through on net against this team.”

“They play a North American kind of a grind style and we expect a tough game,” said U.S. Assistant Coach Joe Sacco, who led Team USA to a bronze medal at last year’s world championship. “We had good matches with them last year, but it’s two different teams and both are much younger.”

Finland is on a roll in Minsk having won its last three games, while Team USA is looking to gain momentum from its hard-fought 4-3 overtime win over Kazakhstan.

“They’re competitive and every game they play is physical,” Jones said. “They’re going to put the body on you and really make you earn your goals. We definitely have a big challenge ahead of us.”

The burgeoning rivalry continues on Sunday afternoon at Minsk Arena, in what is a crucial game for the U.S. as it is tied with Finland for fourth place in the Group B standings. Both teams are 2-1-0-2 with eight points and only one game remains in the preliminary round after tonight. 

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