Young Lions’ captain Jere Lassila has played an important role when the team’s course has turned in the World Cup tournament. Now he took Finland to the semifinals with his individual performance, writes Urheilu’s Simo Arkko.
Simo Arkkourheilhu journalist
GOTHENBURG. Shock treatment in many ways.
Young Lions had to experience hard setbacks in the quarter-final against Slovakia.
First, Slovakia hit the puck unexpectedly at the end of the opening period, when there was 1.7 seconds left on the clock when starting the last kickoff.
Based on the replay, it seemed that more than two seconds passed in the situation after the last start. According to Discovery’s commentary, the judges had a better watch than in the TV pictures.
You can see the paint in the embed below or About Discovery+’s X update, which you can find at this link.
Another hard setback was seen at the end of the final set, when Slovakia tied the game 3–3 just 40 seconds after Finland’s lead goal.
This is the captain though Jere Lassilan team. He hit Finland in the medal games in overtime with a handsome individual performance.
You can watch Lassila’s incredible goal in the embed below or About Discovery+’s X update, which you can find at this link.
Lassila has led Nuori Leijon throughout the tournament.
The tournament started badly for Finland. The team lost to Canada and Germany with anemic performances. Then Lassila emerged.
Against Latvia, the captain looked forward and scored 1+3. Against Sweden, he threw himself into the path of the puck in his own area and blocked the home team’s decisive shot. That’s when Finland rose to the levels and won.
Even though Lassila lost against Slovakia at the important moment of the start with 100-0, the fighting look continued until the end.
A successful team needs a captain like this
Finland has had excellent captains in successful teams. The 2011 WC men’s team was Mikko Koivun team.
The 2019 team will be remembered Marko from Anttila.
This is Jere Lassila’s team. And he shows by example that he is worthy of trust.
Finland recovered from Slovakia’s shock goal in a wonderful way and organized a shock solution to the match itself.
It is admirable how Finland handled the situation during the break. It hit hard in the second set and equalized Tommi Männistön on the finish line.
The signs for a more difficult drill were possible, because Finland started the match so strongly. It got to the area by dribbling, controlled the puck and created long spins. Slovakia succumbed to long pucks.
Slovakia was, however, a tough opponent as expected and stretched the game all the way to overtime. However, Finland played maturely and intact.
It defended closely, blocked shots, and did not leave bad situations for the goalkeeper Niklas Koko.
Finland currently has two things required for success. The game is at a sufficient level, but it also has a captain.
A winning captain.
Urheilu closely follows the under-20 hockey world championships in the application and on its website. Moods are also conveyed on Urheilurutu and Urheiluradio. The match program can be found here.
Story edited 2.1. at 16:04: Corrected that Slovakia’s 3-3 equalizer came 40 seconds after Finland’s lead goal, and not 50 seconds, as initially claimed in the story.