TAMPERE. In the new arena in Tampere, the atmosphere was only heightened since Friday, when the NHL event on Saturday was packaged. Colorado won on Friday (6–3) and again on Saturday (5–1), so the mouths were naturally on the soft brass in the team’s locker room – including the Finns.
Mikko Rantanen hit a hat trick on Friday and also got his name in the goal statistics on Saturday Artturi Lehkonen.
The duo wrapped up the weekend after the match behind the interview table in the press room.
– It’s always nice to score a goal, but the most important thing was to win. I guess this trip can be considered a kind of success, since we got four points from two games, Lehkonen stated.
After a while, the media remembered Friday, when the Tampere audience sang Mikko Rantanen’s name.
– I was part of that chant, Lehkonen blurted out.
Colorado was so much better than its opponent – even as expected – that the Finnish duo was offered the idea of Columbus as the weakest team they have played against. Rantanen shot the idea down immediately.
– Definitely not the worst team. All teams will have bad nights and maybe their confidence is not high right now, but they have a good team.
Columbus’ players met the media, unlike Colorado’s Finns, in front of their own locker room. The Finnish goalkeeper, who returned to action after a long recovery period, was the first to arrive Joonas Korpisalo. Korpisalo said he enjoyed playing, but after five hits the mood was dark.
– A lot of shit, Korpisalo said.
– But it was really nice to play for a long time and I could really enjoy it. Still, after five conceded goals and a clear defeat, you can’t start to smile here.
In the name of honesty, Korpisalo had to be a substitute behind a weakly playing team. With only five against five, Colorado took the dangerous goal posts to their name 18–5, and there has not yet been any talk of a continuous flow of superior attacks towards the goal guarded by Korpisalo.
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The Helsinki keeper did everything he could, but couldn’t do anything about the end result, because Columbus’ game lacks structure. Korpisalo could not or did not want to give an answer as to what kind of game-related problems or why they exist in the team’s game.
– The guys from the studio who understand the game can tell you about them. I’m just a goalkeeper, Korpisalo threw.
A wave in deep water
After Korpisalo, he appeared Patrick Laine, which was first covered by the North American media. Laine actually announced in English at the very beginning that the trip to Finland could have been skipped altogether. After moving in front of Suomi-media, Laine was the first to answer the question about the flaws in the game’s structure.
– Now we don’t start blaming anyone, but the superior attacks on our own are equally the responsibility of defenders and attackers. Packs can’t counter if the forwards aren’t coming, and we didn’t have the forwards coming. It was a bit like a broken phone on both sides, Laine opened.
In the next breath, Laine defended Korpisalo, which was still serving the media next to her. For example, Laine’s own chain, the team’s so-called top chain, watched three of Colorado’s hits from close range on Saturday.
– “Korppia” is a pity. It’s great to see how, through hard work, a man has fought his way back to NHL hockey, and then we don’t get any jeez.
In the end, the wave sank into rather dark waters for the entire Tampere event.
– We came here for work and couldn’t get it done, so it doesn’t matter if we came here at all. It doesn’t make much sense if we did nice things outside the ice. There is nothing left of this now, Laine would say.
Finally, Laine joked about the week-long media mangle in Finland. Being in a constant media frenzy has certainly eaten up the resources of the Finns in particular, and Laine did not go around the truth about that after two defeats.
– It’s good to be able to hide in the Yankee home for a while. I can’t take it all the time, Laine already carved a small smile on the corner of her mouth.
– Well, no, it’s been really nice. However, we have responsibilities here that need to be taken care of because the group is interested. After a game like this, I wouldn’t have been terribly interested in coming here, but that’s part of this story, the striker from Tampere continued.
The Colorado brothers also joked about going home
– (Andrew) Cogliano It’s already been a week that we’re going home, Rantanen laughed.
– Yes, “Ars” (Lehkonen) and I would stay here for the whole season. Well, yeah, seriously, it’s nice to get home and catch up on everyday life. We have been on this journey for quite a long time.
At the end of it all, probably the earliest question in Finnish NHL history related to the World Cup was heard. This was addressed to Lainee.
– Yes, they are interesting, but we have played eleven games here so…, Laine threw.
If Columbus’s course doesn’t turn around soon, the only point of tension for the Blue Jackets at the end of the season might really be whether Laine will come to the WC in Tampere.
Below are the goal summaries of both Friday’s and Saturday’s matches, as well as the statistics of the latter match on Saturday.