Naisleijonat is going to the World Cup in a situation it has not been in before – good numbers for the team from Ismo Lehkone

The previous Women’s Ice Hockey World Cup was played just half a year ago in Denmark. Now we will return to the so-called normal when the games are played in the spring. The organizer is the city of Brampton in Ontario, Canada.

The 2021 World Championships were moved from spring to autumn due to the corona pandemic, and the venue changed from Halifax and Truro to Calgary.

Last year, it was played again in autumn, when the women’s World Cup was organized for the first time also in the Olympic year. The female lions were left out of the medal games for the first time in these World Championships played in Herning and Frederikshavn, Denmark.

Finland finished third in the A group in Herning, behind the USA and Canada. Finland beat Japan and Switzerland in the first group. In the semifinals, the Czech Republic beat Finland in overtime. In the match for fifth place, Japan beat Finland through the winning goal contest.

This is how Finland fell to the B-level group for the first time this year. The competition format has been in use since 2019.

Skating and scoring efficiency

– The situation is new, but positively interesting. This season’s EHT tournaments have gone really well in terms of games and results. We will definitely go as early favorites, but we will turn it to our advantage, comments the head coach Juuso Toivola start through the B starting block.

Toivola stated at the team announcement event that there are three goals for the World Cup. The first is to win Pool B, which would mean avoiding Canada and the USA in the quarterfinals if they are the top two in Pool A. The second goal is to continue the successful EHT tournaments and the third goal is to win the quarterfinals. That would mean a return to Group A for the next World Cup.

In the three EHT tournaments of the winter, Finland won all 12 of their matches. Among the countries in Group B of the World Cup, Finland defeated both Germany and Sweden three times with a combined goal difference of 25–4. Among the countries in Group A, Finland beat the Czech Republic and Switzerland three times with a goal difference of 23–7.

The Finnish team has nine players from the Swedish league, 11 from the domestic league and five from the US university league. According to Toivola, the focus has been on skating strength and game readiness in terms of standard game issues in assembling the World Cup team. In addition, Toivola outlined as one clear development goal “from goal positions to goal efficiency”.

Finland’s World Cup team has five first-timers: the goalkeepers Sanni Ahola and Emilia Kyrkko and attackers Anna-Kaisa Antti-Roiko, I’m Havana and Anni Montonen. Also a defender Siiri Yrjölän was supposed to make his World Cup debut, but due to illness he was replaced by an AIK defender Aino Karppinen.

There are also significant changes compared to last autumn, because the team is not focused on the ringette Susanna Tapania and not Michelle Karvis. Also, none of the six players are in the team, including the former head coach of the national team Pasi Mustonen made an investigation request to Suek, the Finnish sports ethics center, at the beginning of March.

Read more: The absence of the female lions’ star players from the World Cup is confusing – the head coach explains why Tapani and Karvinen are not included

Ismo Lehkonen expects game-like progress

Urheilu’s ice hockey expert Ismo Lehkonen knows that Naisleijon can only have one goal after the disastrous Games last fall.

– Now that Naisleijonat is in that lower group, there is no other option but to win it and move up.

After last fall’s bottom quotation, worked as an expert for Urheilu Minttu Tuominen said that the Czech Republic, which took its first World Cup medal, bronze, was more skilled with the puck than Finland. Tuominen saw that it was the Czech Republic that had caught the North Americans the most in terms of gameplay.

Lehkonen stated that the basic things of the Finnish players, such as skating power and, for example, taking control of the puck, have not been fixed to any extent.

– The operation of the ice level in terms of sports skills and team play must be in the center and in order. At the end of the day, test results and things outside the rink are secondary issues, Lehkonen said at the time.

Read more: For these reasons, the Women’s Lions World Cup tournament ended in a historic disaster – the expert suggests radical changes

Read more: The women’s lions’ bottom quotation brought new impetus to the conference table – President of the Ice Hockey Federation: “Now is the time for concrete plans”

Now Lehkonen says that he is most interested in Finland if steps forward have already been taken when it comes to skating, skill and playing courage.

– I hope that the association and especially the coaching group have been able to give the players tools so that they are better able to play at the international level. Everyone should watch at what level the Lionesses are able to play the ice-level game there. Mere enthusiasm and sportsmanship are not enough.

Young Finnish players who are at the beginning of their adult national team path should also be watched.

– From there, someone can really beat themselves up. In fact, in order to succeed, the Lionesses need the strong rise of that new, young generation.

He will continue as the captain of the Finnish team Jenni Hiirikoski, 36, for whom the World Cup is no less than the 15th. Hiirikoski was recently terribly injured in the Swedish SDHL finals when he got a cut on his neck from a skate.

Lehkonen trusts that the experienced defender has no fear from the situation, but that he will play strong games as the “leader” of the Finnish team.

Canada is a big favorite

Canada has won the previous two World Cup golds as well as the 2022 Olympic gold. Before that, the USA won five world championships in a row.

Lehkonen does not believe that there will be a challenger for these two this time as well. Canada is a clear early favorite against the United States as well.

– All signs point to Canada being too strong. They have a lot of young players with skating power, and their shooting strength is in a different class than the others. Besides that, there has been a uniform way of playing for a long time. The others are far from a contender.

Since the 2018–19 season, Canada and the USA have played in the Rivalry Series. This season the series was dramatic. USA won the first three games in November. After that, Canada won four matches in a row in December and February, winning the series 4–3.

Canada’s captain Marie-Philip Poulin, 32, crossed the 200-game power point mark in the USA games in February. Canadians had been able to do that before Hayley Wickenheiser, Jayna Hefford, Caroline Ouellette and Danielle Goyette.

Among the European challengers, Lehkonen follows the development of the Czech Republic in the World Cup with particular enthusiasm. Sweden is on the rise because the men’s major league clubs have also invested heavily in women’s hockey, but Lehkonen predicts that it will still take time for the western neighbor to ache for medal battles.

Finland played one training match before the World Cup, when it challenged Canada well, but lost 1–3 in the match played in Niagara Falls. They were responsible for Canada’s goals Brianna Jenner, Emily Clark and Marie-Philip Poulin. Emilia Vesa brought Finland to a 1–2 situation in a time of 51.41.