With the possible exception of 2004 (when the NHL was locked-out), this year's edition of the Karjala Turnaus arguably features the finest parade of players ever to be seen in this tournament. There is only 100 days (exactly) to go before the puck drops in the 2010 Olympics and thus no room for the coaches of the four European hockey powers to make their usual experiments of testing players who have never worn the national uniform. 

On the opening day, Finland shock-started with three unanswered goals, largely caused by Russian defense lapses, with the first eight minutes, but Russia managed to claw their way back into the game, very much thanks to Ak Bars' ZTM-line that has finally turned hot in the KHL recently. Aleksei Morozov tied the game with only one minute left of regular time, and he also scored the game-winning goal in the shootout.

In Jönköping, the Czech Republic started and finished best but weren't quite able to stage the same comeback as the Russians after Sweden went up 4-1 with three unanswered goals in the first 10 minutes of the second period. Peter Forsberg played his first game in the Swedish jersey after the 2006 Olympic final. Forsberg received around 15 min. on ice and played a decent game given that he has only played a handful of games in the past year.

Russia - Finland 4-3 SO (0-3, 1-0, 2-0, 0-0, 1-0)

5 Nov 2009, Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Att: 10,440

0-1 02:59 Marko Anttila (Komarov)

0-2 05:01 Jarkko Immonen(Anttila)

0-3 07:52 Jarkko Immonen (Seikola) PP1

1-3 26:26 Oleg Saprykin (Zinoviev, Atyushov) PP2

2-3 43:46 Danis Zaripov (Tereschenko, Atyushov) SH1

3-3 58:50 Aleksei Morozov (Zaripov, Tereschenko)

4-3 65:00 SO Aleksei Morozov

RUS 4x2, FIN 4x2, SOG 39:42 (11:13, 14:7, 9:15, 4:7, 1:0)
 

RUS: Vasily Koshechkin; Ilya Nikulin, Konstantin Korneev; Danis Zaripov - Aleksei Tereschenko - Aleksei Morozov; Oleg Tverdovsky, Vitaly Proshkin; Oleg Saprykin - Sergei Zinoviev - Aleksandr Radulov; Aleksandr Guskov,  Vitaly Vishnevsky (4); Sergei Mozyakin- Anton Kuryanov (2) - Maksim Sushinsky; Vitaly Atyushov, Dmitri Kalinin; Aleksandr Perezhogin (2) -  Petr Schastlivy - Viktor Kozlov.

FIN: Petri Vehanen; Pasi Puistola, Mikko Mäenpää; Ville Peltonen - Niko Kapanen, Jukka Voutilainen; Janne Niskala (4), Lasse Kukkonen, Janne Pesonen -  Jarkko Immonen - Tony Salmelainen; Ossi Väänänen (2), Markus Seikola (2); Antti Pihlström - Petri Kontiola - Kalle Kerman; Jan Latvala; Jani Tuppurainen; Leo Komarov - Tommi Santala - Marko Anttila.

Sweden - Czech Republic 4-3 (1-1, 3-0, 0-2)

5 November 2009, Kinnarps Arena, Jönköping, Att: 5,403

0-1 04:14 Jaroslav Bednar (Cervenka,Rolinek)

1-1 11:13 Niklas Nordgren (M. Nilson, Berglund)

2-1 25:35 Marcus Nilson (M.Johansson, Liv) PP1

3-1 28:06 Mattias Weinhandl (Davidsson)

4-1 28:59 Daniel Widing (Omark)

4-2 41:24 Jaroslav Bednar (Cervenka)

4-3 56:59 Marek Kvapil (Hubacek,Vasicek)

SWE 3x2, CZE 3x2, SOG 23:32 (9:8, 9:11, 5:13)

SWE: Stefan Liv; Marcus Ragnarsson (2), Johan Åkerman; Martin Thörnberg - Johan Davidson - Mattias Weinhandl (2); Oscar Hedman, Magnus Johansson; Peter Forsberg - Patrik Zackrisson - P. J. Axelsson; Christian Bäckman, Mattias Timander; Christian Berglund - Marcus Nilson - Niklas Nordgren; Niklas Persson, Jimmie Ölvestad; Linus Omark (2) - Johan Harju - Daniel Widing.

CZE: Lukas Mensator; Karel Rachunek, Josef Melichar (2); Petr Kumstat (2) - Jiri Hudler - Jan Bulis; Ondrej Nemec, Miroslav Blatak; Jaroslav Bednar - Roman Cervenka - Tomas Rolinek; Zdenek Kutlak (2),Tomas Mojzis; Pavel Brendl - Josef Vasicek - Petr Hubacek; Angel Krstev, Jakub Cutta; Tomas Kurka - Jiri Novotny - Marek Kvapil.