updated 11:21 a.m. ET Feb. 26, 2006

TURIN, Italy - They are playing as a team, not as selfish stars. No grumbling about hotels or playing time. No roster filled with big-name talent struggling to mesh.

The Finns put on yet another dynamic display of team play Friday in dismantling a talented Russian team in the Olympic hockey semifinals, winning 4-0 to set up an all-Nordic title game with neighboring Sweden. The Swedes eliminated the world champion Czech Republic 7-3 in the other semifinal.

“Obviously, if you were born in Finland, you want to play Sweden. That’s the ultimate,” Ville Nieminen of Finland said. “The situation can’t get any better, can’t get any more exciting.”

How good is this for the two Scandinavian countries, where the long winters naturally lead many of their best athletes to the ice?

The combined population of Sweden (9 million) and Finland (5 million) is less than metropolitan New York City, yet they will play for the gold while the big boys — Canada, the United States, Russia and the Czechs — all sit out. Finland has beaten all of those teams in the tournament.

And they’re doing it by following the most basic of concepts in team play: Togetherness can win out over superior talent.

While U.S. star Mike Modano was complaining about playing time, and Canada coach Pat Quinn said his roster-full of big stars never meshed, the Finns have played like they have been together for 10 years, not 10 days.

“I’ve never been on a team that’s so tight and together,” Kimmo Timonen said. “Everybody’s doing their job and working very hard and now this is a big thing we’ve done as a group for our country.”

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The day before the semifinals, Czech star Jaromir Jagr said the Russians were the best team remaining — but only if they played as a team, a common problem for them in recent years. They didn’t on Friday, and are now back in the bronze medal game for a second consecutive Olympics.

“We got what we deserved,” goalie Evgeni Nabokov said. “I think the score pretty much sums it up. We did not play well and we did not deserve to win. They were hungrier than we were and I don’t know why.”

Maybe it’s because Finland has played that way from the start, winning all seven games in Turin. Five of their seven victories have been shutouts.

Finland seized the momentum early in the game with Ville Peltonen’s goal at 6:13 of the first and never let go. With a trapping-style defense, they didn’t allow Russia’s fleet forwards to create the numerous odd-man rushes they enjoyed in beating Canada 2-0 in the quarterfinals.

The Finns visibly frustrated Russia’s top playmakers — Alexander Ovechkin and Ilya Kovalchuk — with their defensive persistence, always seeming to have a defender within a stick’s length of them no matter where they were on the ice.

“We couldn’t break their defense,” coach Vladimir Krikunov said.

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