After the end of the NHL season, Mikko Rantanen and Kaapo Kakko quickly agreed to join the strength of the Lions World Cup team. Both in the games were motivated by winning home gold in front of the home crowd.
Mikko Rantanen and Kaapo Kako are Finland’s most famous NHL confirmations at the World Hockey Championships starting on Friday. The Turku attackers’ NHL seasons ended with losses in the opening rounds of the playoffs, but the duo quickly decided that the games must continue this spring.
– Mikko called right after the season, what am I going to do. Pretty quickly we thought that why not continue the games, Kakko tells about his decision to come to the home games.
Both played all 82 games in the NHL regular season, but both have plenty of power for the World Cup.
– We train hard in the summer so that we can play. There was enough energy and there were no injuries, so it was an easy choice to come and play, Rantanen says at the team’s media day to Urheilu.
The New York Rangers represented by Kako acquired big-name reinforcements at the NHL transfer deadline, when Stanley Cup winners, for example, arrived in the team Vladimir Tarasenko mixed Patrick Kane. As a result of the transfers, Kako’s playing time decreased, which increased the flow to the World Cup.
– The rest of the season was spent with little playing time, when the team was full of good guys. Everyone wants to play a lot. That was perhaps one of the reasons why I came to the World Championships, Kakko times his situation.
We want gold from the home games
In recent years, the Lions have done convincingly in value competitions. According to Rantanen, years of success create expectations of success for this year’s Games as well. The goal of both attackers in the games is to win.
– I came here just to win. I haven’t won in the men’s national team, and this is an opportunity for success, Rantanen says directly.
Kakko was in the men’s World Championships in 2019, winning the World Championship gold. As a debutant, the striker scored important goals in the first group and finally caught the power of 6+1=7 in the whole tournament. The experience from the World Championships raises Kako’s expectations for the home championships.
– There are big expectations, I hope it will be nice. The mood was pretty bad last time, and it wasn’t even in Finland then, Kakko said.
Turku roots and joint summer training unite the attacking duo. Kakko says that they spend a lot of time with Rantanen during the summer. The Rangers striker finds game-like similarities between the two.
– We are able to protect the puck and we have good players close to the goal, analyzed the winger.
He says that the home crowd and a short break from the national team games will bring additional energy to the World Cup competitions. Kakko, in addition to the World Championship gold for adults, has won the under-20 and under-18 world championships. The attacker hopes that the golden streak will continue in Tampere.
– All the competitions so far have gone well, I hope the same thing continues, Kakko mumbles.