‘94 WINTER OLYMPICS / LILLEHAMMER : A Great One for Canadians : Hockey: Emotional team defeats Finland, 5-3, and sets up gold-medal duel against Sweden.

Defenseman Brad Werenka, the last addition to the Canadian Olympic team, arrived too late on Feb. 12 to attend the opening ceremony. But on Friday, he made sure he will be in the event that closes the competition--the gold-medal hockey game.

Werenka’s wrist shot, set up on a perfectly timed pass from the right-wing corner by Greg Johnson, broke a 2-2 tie and propelled Canada to a 5-3 semifinal victory over Finland and its second consecutive try at Olympic gold.

Cutting diagonally toward the net from the right point, Werenka took the puck from Johnson and flicked it over the shoulder of Finnish goaltender Jukka Tammi at 4 minutes 27 seconds of the third period, giving Canada (5-1-1) its first lead of the game and dealing Finland (6-1) an emotional blow it couldn’t absorb.

“If I hadn’t scored, I would have been in big trouble,” said Werenka, who was so deep in the offensive zone that he would have been trapped if Canada had lost the puck. “But that’s the nature of the game. You’ve got to put your neck on the line sometimes. No guts, no glory.”

No problem for Canada, which pulled out to a 5-2 lead before 5,237 at the Gjovik Cavern Hall before Finland stirred again.

“After the third goal we scored, there was only one team playing on the ice,” Canadian center Petr Nedved said.

So now Canada will play Sweden for the gold Sunday. The Swedes fended off a late Russian rally in the other semifinal game, at Lillehammer, for a 4-3 victory.

Sergei Berezine scored with 1:11 to play and Ravil Gusmanov scored with 1:01 to go, but Sweden (5-1-1) avenged its loss to Russia in last year’s World Championships and advanced to the final.

Sweden has never won an Olympic gold medal. Canada last won the gold in 1952 at Oslo. Canada lost the 1992 Olympic final to the Unified Team, successor to the Soviet Union’s powerhouse teams.

“To be in this position is just incredible,” said Johnson, who is on leave from the Detroit Red Wings and is forfeiting about $40,000 of his salary to play here. “We’re just a bunch of 20-year-old kids having fun. We’re not (Wayne) Gretzkys or (Mario) Lemieuxes. We’re a bunch of no-names, proud to be Canadians and playing hockey with a lot of emotion and desire to win.”

That emotion enabled them to beat a Finnish team that probably has more skill and certainly has more speed.

The Finns, who had not trailed in their previous six games--and had not given up more than two goals in any game--appeared ready for another rout when they scored two quick goals early in the second period.

Sako Koivu scored first, when his slap shot bounced off the skate of Canadian defenseman Brad Schlegel and past goalie Corey Hirsch at 2:08, during a power play. Esa Keskinen extended the lead to 2-0 on a hard shot through Hirsch’s pads at 3:48.

But instead of building on that lead, the Finns sat back.

“We got those two goals and we started to play an easy game, take the easy way out,” wing Mikko Makela said.

Said Nedved: “We knew it was going to be a tough game, but we didn’t quit. They had always gotten the early lead and after the first period in their other games, the game was over for them.”

Not this time. Canada broke through at 15:59 of the second period, when Todd Hlushko sliced a backhander past Tammi for a goal. The Finns complained about offside on the play, although no infraction was obvious.

Then Nedved tied the score with 36 seconds left in the period on a play set up when 5-foot-11, 165-pound Paul Kariya shook off two defenders and floated a pass to Chris Kontos in the slot. Kontos’ shot bounced off Raimo Helminen’s foot and over to Nedved, who whipped it past a helpless Tammi.

“Ultimately we felt we were in a position to win when it was 2-2,” Canadian Coach Tom Renney said. “We felt we had to be close to Finland, and if we’d go into the third even or down a goal, we had a chance.”

They made the most of it when Werenka, who had been playing only sparingly this season for the Edmonton Oilers, lifted his 30-foot shot over Tammi. Kariya initiated that play, too, looking over his shoulder in the left-wing corner, finding Johnson and sliding a pass behind the net.

“I saw two guys coming to me, so I knew Greg would be open,” Kariya said. “Greg made a great play to Werenka . . . . This was probably the best passing game I’ve played. I was really seeing the ice well. It’s funny, because today it was just situations where I had to pass because I didn’t have a good shot.”

And because of that goal, and Jean Yves Roy’s power-play slap shot at 7:30 and Greg Parks’ shot5 that beat Tammi on the glove side, Canada has a shot at the gold.

“All the people had expected that Team Finland should win this game,” said Curt Lindstrom, Finland’s coach. “We came to the tournament and were not favorites, but after we won in the quarterfinals (a 6-1 victory over the United States), everybody talked too much about Finland being the favorite team. It was very even and the two teams played very good defense.

“I’m not sure it was the nerves today (that hurt the Finns). It was the tactics from Team Canada. The result is fair. It was Canada’s day today.”

It will bring about the day Werenka has long dreamed of.

“The U.S. winning the gold medal in 1980 had the biggest impact an Olympic moment has had on me,” Werenka said. “That’s really been an inspiration to me.”

Said Kariya: “I’ve been dreaming of this for ages. Facing Sweden is what I’ve been thinking about for some reason. I always imagined myself playing in the (final of) the Olympic Games against Sweden. This is just unbelievable for me.”