Finnish men’s national ice hockey team captain Mikael Granlund will not play in Thursday’s quarter-final against Sweden. The International Ice Hockey Federation IIHF banned the Finnish forward for one match.
Captain of the Lions Mikael Granlund has been banned for one match for his stunt on Tuesday. Granlund was sent off in the closing moments of the Switzerland match when he hit with a cross stick Andrea Glauser to the head area.
Moments earlier, Glauser had brought down Granlund in the middle zone.
Sports expert Ismo Lehkonen according to Granlund’s intention was to take revenge on Glauser.
– An unruly trick. He didn’t know how to control his emotions and was boiling over in the dome for no reason. In retrospect, it can be said that avenging insults will be more expensive than tolerating them. These have rarely happened to Mike, but now he got into a situation as bad as it could be. However, he is the team’s captain and number one center, commented Lehkonen.
Also the head coach of Finland Jukka Jalonen was on the same lines.
– If you get hit, then it’s not a very smart trick, Jalonen commented.
Due to the absence, Granlund will not be seen in Thursday’s quarter-final against Sweden. Granlund’s absence is a big setback for Finland, as the attacking chain led by the captain was the only one that succeeded in creating scoring opportunities against Switzerland.
Finland eventually lost the match 1–3 and finished fourth in its initial group. Finland secured a place in the semifinals even before the final match of the first group, when Great Britain defeated Austria with 4–2 goals.
Finland beat Great Britain, Norway and Denmark in the first group, but lost to Austria, Canada, Switzerland and, after the shootout, to the Czech Republic. After 2022, Leijonat has not been able to beat any top country in the World Cup.
Finland will meet Sweden in the quarterfinals on Thursday in Ostrava at 21:20 Finnish time. Sweden, which is full of NHL stars, goes into the match as a giant favorite.
Canada–Slovakia (5:20 p.m.)
Switzerland–Germany (5:20 p.m.)
USA–Czech Republic (9:20 p.m.)
Finland–Sweden (at 21:20)