Czechs Fail to Show for World Cup Opener

Finland opened the 2004 World Cup of Hockey with speed, pinpoint passing and a convincing 4-0 win today. But a barely-there Czech Republic team did not provide much resistance. Miikka Kiprusoff had a relatively easy shutout, as the Finns outshot the disinterested Czechs 34-12. Niko Kapanen, Saku Koivu, Jukka Hentunen and Mikko Eloranta scored the goals.

The good news for the Czechs is that there is not much at stake in the early games. All eight World Cup teams will make the quarterfinals, with round-robin games used only to determine playoff seedings. The bad news is that the Czech players have to decide whether they are at all interested in this tournament.