The setup for Thursday’s quarterfinal match is clear to everyone. And therein lies the opportunity of the Lions, writes Jussi Paasi.
Jussi Paasi sports reporter
21.5. 23:43•Updated 0:30
I had a conversation with a Swedish colleague before the Finland-Switzerland match in the Prague Arena. Editor of Expressen Tomas Pettersson wanted to hear my views on the Lions’ performances in the World Cup. And, of course, the starting points for Thursday’s quarter-final match.
I told how Finland’s performances have been rather confused and fluctuating. At no point in the tournament has the game settled down properly. I also mentioned that we have seen a lot of such mistakes and surprising uncertainty from Leijon, what Jukka Jalonen is not used to see from a team led.
Compared to that, Finland played a decent, even good opening set against Switzerland on Tuesday. In the last game of the preliminary series, the Lions were neither nervous nor nervous. The second set was a bit weaker, but still the blue and white shirts managed to keep up with the underdogs.
As a whole, Finland’s performance was uniformly mechanical. And compared to the previous games of this tournament, despite the loss, it can even be considered a positive thing.
Jalose still has one massive concern: how to get the number one star Mikael Granlund to shine in a way that he is capable of. Still no suitable chain friends have been found.
Frustration shines through Granlund’s grips. A harsh example of that was seen in the final moments of the game. The Finn hit Switzerland with a cross stick Andrea Glauser neck and received a well-deserved shower command.
The act was so violent that there may be further consequences. If Granlund is on the sidelines for the Sweden match, it will be a hard blow for Leijon.
The lions’ straw basket can be found in the Swedish camp
On Thursday, the Lions will face the ever-so-beloved Sweden in the quarterfinals. The setup is almost the same as five years ago at the World Cup in Slovakia. Even then, Tre Kronor was full of tough NHL players. And Leijonat, on the other hand, was mainly composed of SM league players.
Leijonat goes to the match in Ostrava in a completely pressure-free state. The fluctuations of the opening series have not raised great expectations of success in Prague or in the home audience. Defeat would therefore not be a surprise to any kingdom.
The situation could not be more favorable for Finland. Almost no one believes in Finland’s possibilities. Sweden’s perfect performance is expected in the quarter-finals.
However, anything can happen in a hockey game. You can ask about it, for example, from the Austrian team, which, to everyone’s surprise, suffered a loss to Great Britain on Tuesday, which again, with its shock victory, played Finland to the next round.
What is also worth noting for Thursday’s match of fate is what a colleague from the western neighbor told me. According to Tomas Pettersson, Tre Kronor Erik Karlsson, Victor Hedman and many other NHL stars are focused on only one thing here: World Cup gold.
The blue and yellow have come to win. Finland is to be only a small morsel on that journey.
That’s completely understandable. Sweden has been one of the champion favorites of these games since the beginning. And it still is.
But Tre Kronor has stumbled many times against Finland in exactly that. That is, clearly to the position of a clear pre-favourite. That’s where the Lions’ straw lies.