The frame of the World Cup is made up of the Beijing gold team. The Lions will start the World Cup camp on April 10th. Several Finnish players on the race team have been out of play for a long time.
In Beijing, the Lions, who won the first gold medal in the history of team football in Finnish history, will go to the World Championships in the spring with the championship in mind. However, the preparation is seasoned by the fact that many potential World Cup players are without a club.
The World Hockey Men’s Home Championships will be played in Tampere and Helsinki on 13–19. May 2022. Some of the potential contestants have last played in January.
However, many KHL Finns have not played since mid-January. At that time, KHL’s Regular Series was on an Olympic break and was not extended, but the series went straight to the playoffs.
If the Jokers are not included, the Finns whose KHL clubs advanced to the playoffs are currently defending Oliwer Kaski, Jyrki Jokipakka and Ville Pokkaattackers Teemu Hartikainen, Sakari Manninen and Markus Granlund as well as goalkeepers Harri Säteri, Frans Tuohimaa, Juha Metsola and Jussi Olkinuora.
Olympic gold team strikers Niko Ojamäki and Miro Aaltonen the season ended in the regular season with the Vitjaz team, and since then they too have terminated their contract with the Russian club.
Jukka Jalonen is not worried about the physics of the players due to the break: “Then it won’t fit in the team”
The Lions held a media conference on Thursday attended by the head coach Jukka Jalonen participated remotely due to a positive corona test result. At the event, the Lions’ Sky was repeated for the Olympic success, and the focus was on the World Cup.
Jalonen said that the Olympic gold team from Europe is also a good body for the World Cup. Jalonen and GM Jere Lehtinen have been in touch with every player whose KHL season is over and the interest in home games is fierce.
Jalonen stated that each player who takes a break from the match has their own patterns on how to stay tuned until April 10th. That’s when the Lions World Cup camp begins.
– Some train with the league team, some go on their own ice. All players understand that when 10.4. let’s start, then there should be a stitch. This time after the KHL games is a maintenance period for them to keep their physics and skating in place. However, we have almost five weeks before the puck at the World Cup falls on the ice against Norway.
– I don’t see any problem here. Players today are so self-directed that everyone knows what top-level gaming requires. It would be pretty surprising if someone came to camp in poor oxygen. Then that would mean it might not fit on the team.
The Lions will travel to Denmark on April 10, where the team will play a couple of practice matches. On April 21 and 22, the Lions will meet in Joensuu and Kuopio, Norway. At the turn of April-May, the Czech EHT tournament will be played, followed immediately by the Swedish EHT tournament.
The Lions will be able to climb Tampere’s new hall, the World Cup arena, when the team plays their opening match in the Swedish EHT tournament there. The Swiss team has replaced Russia.
“KHL remains history for Finns”
At the media conference, Jalonen also commented that KHL has played a major role in the development of Finnish hockey. In the top series, many Finnish players have come a long way, which has benefited the national team as well.
– The world has changed and now KHL will probably go down in history for Finns, both players and coaches. That is realism. Players keep the funts where they play next. I think our top players will find good places in the tough series for next season.
GM Lehtinen said it is still open whether the Lions’ leadership will travel to North America to inspect NHL players for the World Cup.
Jalonen and Lehtinen met about 30 Finnish NHL players on their November trip. The NHL Regular Series will not end until April 29th.