Sweden stunned reigning world champion the Czech Republic 7-3 on Friday for a berth in the men's ice hockey final of the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics.

It will be the first Winter Olympic final for the Swedish men since 1994, when they notched their first Olympic gold medal in the sport.

"This is something we have dreamed about," said Nickias Lidstrom, who plays for the Detroit Red Wings at club level in the National Hockey League (NHL). "There are some of us here that were there in 1998 and 2002 when we had the devastating loss. You don't get these chances often."

Sweden, who finished fifth both times at the last two Winter Olympics, opened the scoring 34 seconds into the first semi-final match through Fredrik Modin. Filip Kuba leveled it at 1-1 for the Czech Republic at 3:11 before Johan Axelsson, assisted by Lidstrom, helped Sweden reclaim the lead at 13:37.

"It was a great beginning, a dream start for us," said the 31- year-old Modin. "But they scored immediately after and on their first shot too. After that we came out and played hard, winning the game."

Early in the second period, the Swedish men scored three unanswered goals in 6:38 for a commanding 5-1 lead at 27:54, prompting Czech head coach Alois Hadamczik to replace starting goalkeeper Milan Hnilicka, who was responsible for most of the conceded goals, with Tomas Vokoun.

The Czechs rallied after the substitution as Ales Hemsky and Vaclav found home in 30:40 and 31:25 respectively on power play opportunities to cut their deficit to 5-3. However, Daniel Alfredsson choked the Czech Republic's surge with a goal one minute from the end of the second period, which featured a total of six goals.

Czech forward Vaclav Prospal admitted it was a loss for his side to play without star goalie Dominik Hasek, who withdrew from the Turin Olympics with injury.

"Unfortunately Hasek was injured. There is nothing that can be done and we must play with who we have," said Prospal.

After the game resumed, the Czech Republic struggled to close the gap, only to see Tomas Holmstrom convert in 56:05 to seal the victory for Sweden.

Russia will clash with Finland in the other semi-final later on Friday.

Source: Xinhua