The U20 Men’s Ice Hockey World Championship will be held in Ottawa, Canada from December 26, 2024 to January 5, 2025.
Finland beat Sweden in the semi-final in overtime 4–3 and advanced to the final.
The last time Finland played in the final of the Junior World Championships was in 2022. At that time, Canada was better. Now in the gold match either the United States or the Czech Republic will face each other.
Sports expert Top Nättinen go through the most important points of the Swedish semi-final and catch up on the upcoming World Cup final.
“The team received an award for perseverance”
– Playing for World Championship gold is an incredibly hard feat. These are really tough competitions. Very small things often matter. It’s great that the team got an award for their tenacity, Nättinen begins.
The first two rounds of the World Cup semi-final against Sweden progressed evenly. Goals were scored one after another.
In the third set, however, Finland was completely the opponent. The shots of the set, which went to Sweden 20-3, tell about it.
– Finland became passive in an extreme way. Of course, Sweden also put the gas down when it had to. The third set was quite a survival, says Nättinen.
Finland won the goalkeeping game once again
In overtime, Sweden continued to rush towards the Finnish goal, but especially the TPS defender Mitja Jokinen showed what self-sacrifice is.
On the finish line Petteri Rimpinen practically saved Finland from getting into the bronze medal match.
– Rimpinen was once again “that” player. 19 saves in the third period and six saves in overtime. That’s a pretty heavy number of booths in that kind of firefight against that amount of skill.
In the semifinals, Finland faced the hottest names of the Games: The most effective defender of the Games Axel Sandin-Pellikka (4+5=9) and seven points have already hit the man Otto Stenberg, Felix Unger Sorum and Anton Wahlberg. Of these, Stenberg scored two goals against Finland.
“Hat to hat performance”
As a point of comparison with Ruosi’s best, you can say that Finland’s best scorer is at the moment Konsta Helenius (0+7). Helenius assisted all of Finland’s goals in the semi-final.
– In the games, Helenius has even been scolded a little. He has been swimming under the surface a little bit, wondering when that thing will start working, but that 0+4 powers in the semi-final! From the first center, it is a “hats off” performance at this point.
Nättinen has a clear vision of what brought Finland victory.
– Classic sports points. Finland beat the fight, won the special situation play, you clearly won the goalkeeper game, that’s what it was built on, Nättinen states.
Swedish goalkeeper Melker Thelin saved well in the semi-final, but especially Benjamin Rautiainen the overtime goal may haunt the Swedish keeper’s mind for a long time.
Thelin blocked 31/35 shots against Finland, with a save percentage of 88.57.
The journey to the final has not been easy
The Finnish tournament has by no means been easy. However, after the Canada and Germany games in the opening series, the team has become aware of its development targets.
– After the first two games, the team’s game became more free vertically. It wasn’t like that, maybe two-phase or rhythmic playing feels like it suits the players better.
– Self-confidence began to accumulate on top of self-confidence, successes were accumulated on top of successes. That’s what gets the feeling going. Alivoima has also worked hard with the coaching and the players to get in shape. They have also known all along that the goal is the best goalkeeper of the Games, says Nättinen.
Finland conceded one goal in the match with understrength. The team’s underpowered game is still the second best in the tournament. 21 understrength and two conceded goals. Germany is at the top of the table, but has played one match less.
No passivation in the final
The final match of the Young Lions will be determined the night before Sunday, Finnish time. The match will be either the United States or the Czech Republic.
– Finland became passive in the lead against Sweden. Passivity must be avoided in the final. Although the stakes are so high, I believe that if the game remains even, Finland will maintain its patience, Nättinen knows.
The expert is heartened by the fact that the Finnish national team was once again able to stretch when it was needed.
– In the Finnish ball-playing culture, there is easy whining and complaining: Sweden this, Sweden that. But yes, in the last 10–15 years, we have seen such performances from the Finnish national hockey teams that we should believe in our own things, our own values and be proud.
Urheilu closely follows the under-20 hockey world championships in the application and on its website. The atmosphere is also broadcast on Urheilurutu and Urheiluradio.