The Lions have followed almost the same path at the World Championships in Prague as in May 2014, writes Jussi Paasi.
Jussi Paasi sports reporter
20.5. 23:48•Updated 1:06
All Finnish hockey fans supported Switzerland. All.
The cuckoo country had to beat Latvia. Otherwise, Leijonat would not be able to advance from the preliminary series of the World Cup.
Erkka Westerlundin playing the team he led had been painful. First defeat to Latvia, then to Russia. The Lions of Germany and Belarus managed to win. And Switzerland, although only in the winning goal competition.
After that came a loss to the USA and finally a narrow, only one-goal victory over Kazakhstan. During the tournament, Finland’s performances were described as, among other things, catastrophically bad.
Does it sound familiar? Did you hear something similar in May this year?
Fortunately for Finland, Switzerland beat Latvia in the last match of the preliminary series ten years ago. And what happened to Finland, who reached the next round with the help of another team?
The Lions advanced to the finals of the 2014 World Cup tournament in Belarus.
However, there was no gold. The laundry after the final match is still being washed. The judges were considered to have harshly favored Russia. The then president of the International Ice Hockey Federation René Fasel fanned Russian goals together in the stands Vladimir Putin with.
Not as tight a place as 10 years ago
That tournament from ten years ago is worth remembering right now. But not this time because of the referee farce in the final or the close relationship between Fasel and Putin.
Right now, spring 2014 is worth looking at from the perspective of the Finnish national team’s dreams of success.
In these World Championships in Prague, the Lions have followed almost the same path as in Minsk. Loss to two big hockey countries (Czech Republic and Canada), victories over smaller ones (Norway and Great Britain), shock loss to Austria.
Against Denmark, the Lions were in amazing difficulties for two sets, but in the end managed to force a win.
Finland is now in a really tight spot. But not nearly as tight as ten years ago.
If – most likely when – Austria, which is fighting for the last place in the group with Finland, wins against Great Britain on Tuesday, the Lions must grab at least one point from Switzerland in the last match. That’s enough for the next place.
The headlines have been screaming about the Lions’ horror scenario for several days now. The grounds for the criticism received by the team are clear. Finland’s game has never secured the tournament.
Despite the difficulties, it is still worth remembering what happened in Minsk.
Everything is still in your own hands
The Lions have never been out of the quarterfinals in the World Cup in a playoff format. So far, the biggest thanks for that goes to the Switzerland 2014 team. If Finland remains in the first group in this tournament, it will naturally be a huge disappointment.
Switzerland has a really tough team at these games. But a win for the Lions, let alone a one-point grab, would be nothing short of a miracle.
Finland flashed its best against one of the championship favourites, Canada. Leijonat is at best capable of a game that will give Switzerland at least the necessary surface. Of course, even that one point is behind a lot of work and pain.
However, the most important thing is that now Leijon still has all the keys in his own hands. That was not the case in May 2014. Then the Lions and Härmä, who follow all of hockey, had to watch the game of other teams, where Finland’s place in the next round was decided.
There are two players in this season’s Lions team who know that the situation is much more pleasant now. Iiro Pakarinen and Pekka Jormakka were part of the Minsk silver team. I’m sure they’d rather decide the playoff spot in the rink itself than tense knuckles in whites in the stands.
And it’s really tingly now, that in the first block of the spring puddles, the tension remains until the very end. It’s not exactly a treat every year.
follows the World Hockey Championships moment by moment in this story.