Lions’ head coach Jukka Jalonen said on Tuesday that the team’s role and pitches for Friday’s match against the United States have been decided. The head coach is happy about Mikko Rantanen’s participation.
Jukka Jalonen beamed the NHL star at the Lions’ media day on Tuesday Mikko from Ranta without reservation. The head coach was happy about the Nousia-born striker’s desire to represent Leijon in the home games, even though the NHL season ended in a big disappointment and the trophy cabinet already contains the Stanley Cup championship.
– In a similar situation, many other players would have flagged themselves in the pits. That’s what some did, even though they didn’t even make it to the playoffs. This shows that Mikko genuinely wants to win and represent Finland and Leijon, Jalonen told Urheilu.
The head coach considered the inclusion of the 26-year-old forward as a great thing. According to Jalonen, the desire to play says a lot about Rantase as an athlete. Rantanen himself said on Tuesday that he specifically wants to win at home games.
– Mikko is a great example of being interested in the job, even though he has already achieved a lot, Jalonen praised his star striker.
On Tuesday, it became clear that Jalonen will play Rantas as a right winger at least at the beginning of the tournament. There has been speculation about the versatile attacker’s place of play before the games.
– At the beginning, he plays where he has been at his best, i.e. on the right wing. Whatever can happen in the tournament, we will react according to the situation, Jalonen revealed.
The team knows the role
The champion coach said that in the opening meeting, the Lions reviewed the team’s values and the principles of playing. During the next few days, the plan is to get the things seen in the videos into the game.
– On Wednesday and Thursday, special situations will be fixed, and a suitably relaxed state of mind when we go to play, Jalonen listed the program for the rest of the week.
He revealed that the players have already been told the roles and pitches for the opening match. The team will practice on the field for the opening game on Wednesday.
– The role play is quite clear when starting the first game. After that it can change, let’s see how things start to roll, Jalonen said.
There has been speculation in the media about possible additional NHL reinforcements, when teams with Finnish players are in danger of falling out of the second round of the playoffs. The concentration of the experienced coach is on the assembled team, and not much on possible additional help.
– We’ll be following what’s happening in the NHL for a while. If something happens relatively quickly, we may ask to join, but we are ready to go to the games with this team, said Riihimäkeläinen.