Finland Winning Gold is One of the Greatest Underdog Stories in IIHF World Championship History

Are we prisoners of the moment? Absolutely, but it's tough to think of a bigger underdog story than this Finland national team winning Worlds' despite an utter lack of current NHL talent.

Led by future top-2 pick Kaapo Kakko, Finland handled Canada--a nation which prides hockey as their game--in the Gold Medal game to win the 2019 Worlds. The game itself was a battle, but the Finnish side used an admirable defensive effort late to seal their fate.

Sure, Slovakia winning in 2002 despite having only been promoted to the first division six years prior is one hell of a story, but Finland has them beat based on one statistic alone.

Two Finnish players participated in NHL games in 2019, and combined they scored zero goals. That's just a few short of Canada's entire roster, which combined for 357 goals this past season.

Now, Finland is set up to for international success in the near future. Dominance at that level, at least, seems inevitable considering the young talent on the roster. However, we didn't expect this level of success this quickly.

While several of Finland's players do have experience playing overseas, the NHL is still (arguably) the premiere hockey league in the world, with the KHL a close second.

To have a team of that little experience overcome the greatest of odds is unprecedented.