The Lions’ World Cup ended with a quarter-final loss to Sweden. On Thursday, Finland lost to Sweden in overtime with 1-2 goals.
Finland’s ranking in the World Championships is eighth. It is the Lions’ worst result in the World Cup since 1955, when the Lions finished ninth. In between, Finland has placed seventh eight times, like last year in the home games.
Urheilu told the chairman of the Ice Hockey League Heikki Hietase about the statistical fact and asked what he says about the World Cup tournament this year.
– Yesterday was an absolutely wonderful fight. The team left everything on the field. They put the Swedish NHL team’s back against the wall. The match was great. The most important thing is to get to the eighth match. It is a “death game”. It can happen like this now, as it has happened twice, that we fall with a narrow loss, says Hietanen.
– Overall, it was a great performance from Leijon. They were a fighting team. They found the right fight level when it came to important games.
Finland played eight matches in the World Cup tournament, of which they won only three. These were the small countries of the sport, Britain, Norway and Denmark.
The current WC tournament format has been played since 2012. In previous tournaments, Leijonat has won at least five matches.
Now, for the second time in a row, Finland missed the quarter-finals of the World Championships. Even in 2022, Leijonat celebrated a golden spring with an Olympic victory and a world championship.
Lions GM Jere Lehtinen according to Finland played in the World Cup tournament in a very big way. Lehtinen emphasizes uniform and tight defensive play. According to GM, that should be done in the future.
Being in the quarterfinals for the second time is of course a big disappointment for the whole team.
– Everyone, the players, the coaching staff and the management team, put themselves into action during the camp and the World Cup. Let’s give it our all every day. The competition is fierce and it continues to intensify. New countries are coming all the time. Last year, Germany and Latvia won medals. It’s only positive for hockey, Lehtinen says about the World Cup result.
2. Weaker player material
The Lions’ player material for the World Cup was not the best possible. Finland lagged behind in the number of NHL players compared to other top countries. Finland had only four NHL players, compared to, for example, Sweden’s 18 NHL players.
A new phenomenon was that the Finnish main leagues did not include the entire sharpest point of the Swiss and Swedish leagues.
Is this something to worry about, Heikki Hietanen?
– We’ll see next year. Then there is a tournament of NHL players from four countries. It’s once again another level meter. We have such good NHL players now. 15–16 players were involved in the playoffs. Dozens are still playing. It’s also great and some kind of measure of the level of Finnish hockey, Hietanen answers.
Lehtinen reminds that there were no less than ten first-timers in this spring’s WC team. He hopes that the first-timers can be the top names of a successful team in the future.
– For these first-timers, the level rose in the World Championships exactly the same as they played throughout the season. That level up was great to see. A few of these will go to try for the NHL, and after these games a couple more, Lehtinen estimates.
3. Finland’s successful years behind us
In the two previous seasons, Finland has taken only one prestigious medal from the World Championships. It was the World Championship bronze for the Women’s Lions earlier this season. The hottest years of success for the lions and the young national teams are behind them. There are also other concerns, such as the low number of Finnish NHL top players in the last four years and the number of players smaller than in previous decades.
Should we be worried about the state of Finnish ice hockey?
Like Lehtinen, Hietanen responds by talking about fierce international competition, even though Russia, which is at war, has fallen out of the picture compared to Finland’s successful years.
– There are always worries in Finnish ice hockey. Even if gold medals are taken, someone is always worried. International competition is fierce. You have to be able to answer that. We are working on it. Those involved in national team activities know the international requirements. We are trying to answer that, Hietanen answers the question about concerns.
Hietanen brings up the head of coaching and elite sports who have been washed up in the Ice Hockey League as answers Olli Salon and changes to competition systems.
– We have noticed that there is too little competition in the series. That’s why the SM league has been opened. In the under-20 league, the competition was also increased when the teams were reduced. There will also be qualifiers. There are other measures. The new sports director has just started and many other smaller things have been done in order to be able to compete at the top of the world in the future, says Hietanen.
4. What is Jukka Jalonen’s legacy?
Jukka Jalonen is undoubtedly the most successful Finnish hockey coach of all time, but the last two World Cup tournaments ended in the quarterfinals.
GM Lehtinen, who has been Jalonen’s partner for a long time, sees the players’ commitment to national team activities as Jalonen’s legacy.
– The big picture is always to get players involved. They are able to commit to this. There is a good atmosphere and uniform things to do. That way it helps players in their careers, says Lehtinen.
When talking about success, Lehtinen states that under Jalonen, the Lions have reached the medal games of the World Championships more often than before.
The next step is to become the head coach of the Lions Antti Pennanen. He comes from an interesting situation, as the previous two seasons in the SM league in Ilves have ended in disappointment compared to expectations.
– If we are going to be successful, the biggest thing is how Finland has played together. I believe that the good mood will continue in Leijon. However, Antti was part of the World Championship gold team 2019. Of course, Antti brings his own stories. Inevitably, there will also be new alleys, Lehtinen thought about the future.
At 1:46 p.m. Corrected that this is the Lions’ weakest result in 70 years, not 80 years.