One game to go

Manitoba is really threatening to go all BPT-WBS last year and make it an all-road series. And of course the Moose hope that, if it does go seven that way, it stays to form and the home team wins Game 7. A couple of goals for Patrick O'Sullivan in a victory for Manchester, which takes a 3-2 edge into Monday's Game 6. Chicago finished off the Stars behind a coupla guys named Haydar and Krog.

Mikko Koivu scores in overtime to move the Finns past Russia (Sean Bergenheim gets a major and a game for kneeing Andrei Markov); then Canada roared out early and beat Sweden 4-1. These teams met for gold in 1994, the year before Finland won its only title.

It's Finland's seventh trip to the final since 1992; their only World Championship medal before that was thanks to their silver in the 1988 Olympics.

Weird Wired* Magazine has a piece about the guys who test baseballs for MLB and the stunningly loose specs under which they operate. (Hat tip: Phil Birnbaum at Sabermetric Research.) And series-leader Ray Emery, though not named, makes an appearance at the very bottom of the always-hilarious "Sic!" section of Michael Quinion's "World Wide Words" newsletter this week. (Subscribe, even if you do it just for the "Sic!" section. It's good stuff.)

*-"There's no magazine called 'Weird,' is there?" (AABF20)