Lucy, Tarzan funny, Jane funny or no, know Tarzan not, Jane answer Tarzan question, funny, not funny, answer you give should have, warning plus or warning minus for Tarzan?

ok, so how does finland get to be the lions?

what i'm getting at is that lions are clearly not native to scandinavia...

...in canada we have some national animals like the beaver, caribou, bears, that kind of thing.

where does the lion come from?

Nas krasny... LOL

Well, you're absolutely right, our national animal is the swan, definitely not a lion!

The lion as a the Finnish coat of arms dates back to the 16th century (I don't think anyone knows where exactly it came from, probably from Sweden actually!), and has been a part of our heraldry ever since. It is a mythological creature, symbolizing courage and victory in war. It is to be noted that the lion is holding a straight sword in its hand while stepping on a bent one - this is seen to represent victory over Eastern kingdoms.

Actually quite a few Western European countries feature lions in their coat of arms, so it's nothing unique, but for us Finns it represents the will to fight, the persistence and the cunning we were famous for in the last wars. And it's what we associate with our dear Leijonat on the ice as well .

The Russian team is called Ледовая Дружина (Ledovaya Druzhina) sometimes also, on the TV especially. That means "The Ice Squad"

But most of the time the Russian team is called "Sbornaya" (also spelled: Sbornaja) which means just that -- "national team".

Oh, I love the way Russian looks!!

Our team can of course be called Suomen maajoukkue as well, which means Finland's national team.

In Germany, the Russian team is often called "Sputniks". That means: something the USA are envious of.

German national teams, in all team sports, are generally called " the eagle carriers".

You're right! To speak the truth the "Sbornaya" and "Ledovaya Druzhina" nicknames can be related to any team: Finland, Czech Republic, Canada etc. But while our team (RUS) is playing it has in mind for Team Russia.

Also, there are many nicknames of other countries in Russian, but these names are not so decorous as it used to be. They are not insults at all, no! But, these names just reflects each nation's feature. For example, the Swiss Team's called "Сыры" ("Syry" - "Cheese", Swiss' cheese is well known in Russia).
Team Latvia is called "Лабусы" ("Labusy", I'm not sure, but I suppose the "Labas Denas" means "Good Afternoon" in Latvian - comrades from Latvia will correct me if I was wrong)
Team Italy is called "Макароны" ("Makarony" - "Macaroni"). Eah! They like that! ))
Team Belarus is called "Бульбаши" ("Bulbashy" - "Potatoes"). These guys like it very much.
Team Denmark is called "Гамлеты" ("Hamlets") - no comment
I'd prefer not to write the nickname of team USA, because it may be insulting, IMHO! But, I suppose also, You know it well already. Anyway, I didn't want to insult anyone.

What's your nickname for Canada?

In Finland ,we call Canadian player´s as "nikkari" .....i am not sure ,what it is in english corectly ,but i guess it is somthing like "craft"

Little known fact:

Team Canada is actually a native term, which means (loosely translated):

"Team chosen by great gods of sky and ice to break ancient curse and bring glory to home nation!"

I've never heard anyone call Canada "Nikkarit".

I don't understand all the Russians who can't learn the difference between Latvia and Lithuania Labas dienas is Lithuanian, Labdien is Latvian