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Olympics

LILLEHAMMER / ’94 WINTER OLYMPICS : Finns, Swedes Seek to Remedy Reputations

By HELENE ELLIOTT

LILLEHAMMER, Norway —  Canada and Russia have traditions to uphold, but Finland and Sweden have reputations they would like to shake today in the semifinals of the Olympic hockey tournament.

Canada (4-1-1) gave hockey to the world and has never given up its claim to supremacy. That claim will be tested by Finland, at 6-0 the tournament’s only unbeaten team but still considered a question mark because of its history of Olympic failures.

Russia, successor of the Soviet and Unified teams that won eight of 10 Olympic gold medals from 1956-92, had a mediocre start that included losses to Finland and Germany in the preliminary round. But when it mattered, Russia found a way to win. Alexander Vinogradov’s overtime goal against Slovakia propelled the Russians (4-2) into the semifinals.

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Tonight they play Sweden (4-1-1), three-time world champion, but never an Olympic gold medalist.

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Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.

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