Naisleijon has an intriguing top defender – Sanni Rantala, 20, is one of Finland’s key players at the World Cup

Finland is playing in the B group of the World Cup, which it got into after the huge disappointment of the last games. Sanni Rantala, 20, goes to the Games with a medal in mind and sees good things in the starting situation.

Young Sanni Rantala, 20, has risen like a thief to a big role in the Finnish women’s national ice hockey team. This can be written so that the young defender does not make himself a bigger number.

He is quiet and calm. It can also be seen in the solutions on the field.

– He doesn’t make himself a number outside the field. He doesn’t do it consciously on the field either, but on the other hand he does it because he does very good things, the head coach of the Women’s Lions Juuso Toivola praises.

According to Toivola, Rantala sees the court particularly well and is also able to get out of tight spots with his skating. A defender who distributes good passes that promote the game is a really important player for his team.

– I think I’m a good puck player and good at lifting the puck. My solutions are perhaps unreadable, says Rantala.

Last fall, Rantala was the second most effective defender of the Women’s Lions with four assists. He clocked the fourth most playing time among defenders.

The tournament was a huge disappointment for the team, as Finland was left out of the World Cup semi-finals for the first time and, on top of that, was relegated to Group B. According to Rantala, surely every player wants to show that Naisleijonat is a better team than the last games.

– The previous games were so disappointing that I didn’t even bother to think about them. Right after that, the eyes were on these next games. Let’s try to get a medal, says Rantala.

Rantala has generally not wanted to give any thoughts to the recent commotions of the Women’s Lions. There has been a storm around the female lions when the former head coach Pasi Mustonen and the former number one guard Noora Rädyn sometimes it has bubbled up.

Currently, the Finnish Ice Hockey Association’s disciplinary body is dealing with the investigation report of the Finnish Center for Sports Ethics, or Suek, about possible inappropriate behavior in the national ice hockey team.

– I really don’t like to think about such things. I focus more on playing. I just leave those other things outside the game out of my mind, says Rantala.

“I play as a profession”

Rantalal’s club season, which ended with bronze at the WC, was excellent. In KalPa, he scored 7+32=39 in 30 regular season matches and 2+8=10 in 8 playoff matches.

You would think that there would be takers for the second place in the defenders’ points market also from abroad, for example from Sweden. Rantala has not ruled out moving abroad, but at least now it doesn’t seem timely.

– At the moment, life revolves more in Finland. I have a few years of school left. For sure, at least that’s when I’ll be here.

Rantala doesn’t want to think about his life further anyway, but prefers to live in the moment. However, he aims for the next Olympics.

Rantala’s life currently revolves around hockey and school. There is less time for friends, for example.

– The investment is certainly close to the international level. You can say that I play as a profession. Even if I don’t get money, the bet is close to what, say, men do.

If there is free time, Rantala prefers to see his friends.

– If there is ever any, it goes to friends. I like to keep loved ones close and do all kinds of activities. For example, playing padel or badminton and skiing in the winter.

Rantala, who gets a lot of responsibility again, doesn’t think it’s a bad thing that the Women’s Lions start their WC tournament in Canada from a weaker group. He considers the starting points to be good in the sense that Finland has won all 12 EHT matches of the season.

– The team has changed somewhat and we have fresh faces. I think that’s a good thing too. Starting from a bad block is not necessarily a bad thing, because we get easier games at the beginning and we get to play with the puck. We gain confidence for the next games, says Rantala.

The Ice Hockey World Cup will be played in Brampton, Canada, from April 5 to 17, 2023.