From time to time, TheIHLC.com will feature detailed recaps and boxscores of some of the most legendary games in international hockey history, considered to be “IHLC Classics.” Today, in honour of Finnish Independence Day, we look back at the 1995 World Championships Gold Medal Game, the long overdue first title for the Leijonat, over their Swedish rivals on Swedish ice.

🇫🇮 Finland 4-1 Sweden 🇸🇪
World Championship Gold Medal Game
Stockholm Globe Arena, Stockholm 🇸🇪
Sunday, 07 May 1995

Finally, Finland wins the IIHF World Championship for the first time. And the victory couldn’t have been sweeter. They won the gold medal game against their fiercest rival Sweden, in Sweden and with a Swedish head coach. To really rub it in, the Finnish team celebrated the win in downtown Stockholm, this while also “stealing” the Swedish tune designated for a home-team victory.
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