“Other countries are looking to Finland for the next step”

The Finnish women’s national ice hockey team opens its World Cup tournament in Herning, Denmark on Thursday against Canada.

Naisleijonat enters a new era at the World Cup level, when the team skates on the ice for the first time in the Games Juuso Toivola as head coach.

Toivola took over Finland’s appeal in the spring and winter during the Beijing Olympics. Pasi Mustonen was supposed to step down from the team’s helm after the games as agreed, but he had to leave after the first match of the preliminary series in China due to family reasons.

Now Toivola gets to take the Women’s Lions to the tournament for the first time through longer preparation. The national team will face a tough test right at the beginning of the World Cup, as Finland will face Canada and the United States in their first two games.

Urheilu’s expert, who put his extensive national team career on hiatus in the summer Minnamari Tuominen sees that Finland’s only goal in the Games is a medal. Usually it has been bronze, the only exception is the World Cup silver from 2019.

– When you think about those home games, for example, the semi-final against Canada was a perfect performance in every aspect. It requires a perfect game from the team and the coaching, he describes.

– It would be disappointing for both the players and the management team to be out of the top three. Finland has been able to win medals consistently, so it is also expected.

In this story, Tuominen anticipates the starting points of the World Championships that are about to begin in Finland. What has changed since the beginning of Toivola’s actual reign?

Pasi Mustonen’s almost nine-year head coaching season brought Finland its first ever women’s WC finals place at the 2019 home games in Espoo. During Mustonen’s era, Finland also achieved three World Championship bronzes and two Olympic bronzes.

The last years of Mustonen, who worked passionately and outspokenly, were colored by media scandals. Conflict among the best goalkeepers in the world Noora Rädyn with became his last heated topic of discussion.

In these World Cups, the head coach’s statements from outside the rink are not the first topic of conversation.

– With Pas, we knew that anything could happen, Michelle Karvinen said earlier in an interview with Sporten.

– Now that Juuso speaks to the media, things come out a little more calmly. He must be one of the kindest people in the world. At the same time, I have incredible respect for him as a coach. He has been a part of us for a long time and is therefore a safe guy for us, Karvinen continued.

According to Minnamari Tuominen, Toivola and Mustosta share an equal passion for hockey, even though they are completely different personalities.

– I believe that now, after Juuso’s interviews, the players don’t have to think about whether something came out of his mouth that might not have been worth it. As such, now the players can focus only on playing themselves, he describes.

Game-wise, the World Cup saw a lot of the same Finland as in previous years. Toivola says he didn’t want to “blow up anything bigger” in the team’s way of playing or make radical changes. In playing, he emphasizes improving the unified rhythm of the five.

– We have wanted to concretize certain things. We have brought forward defense and exploitative play to the fore. We don’t want to fix what has worked. A few normal things in the game get a new perspective and small tweaks, Toivola describes.

Defending forward means putting pressure on the opponent and trying to steal the puck immediately after losing it.

– Compared to Beijing, we take advantage of the puck and move forward quickly by defending. We try to get game and with them make a game. The general public and we, the coaching staff, are also waiting for goals, he continues.

‘s expert Tuominen believes that it is possible that the more active pressurization demanded by Finnish coaching can also be seen on the rink. Tuominen points out that it is completely possible for the players.

– The final result remains to be seen. The players have the skills for it, because here things depend on skating power, number of games and timings. They also have to trust that movement themselves. Toivola and the rest of the coaching team will certainly encourage them to do so, he sums up.

– They must have learned a lot about this through the video examples. It’s the best possible way to show that, for example, “here you went under when you could have gone over”.

The last time the female lions managed to beat Canada or the United States was in 2019 at the World Championships in Espoo. Since then, the ride has been cold, when, for example, Canada defeated Finland in the Beijing Olympics with a historically ugly score of 11–1.

Although Finland opens its campaign against tough countries in the Games, its place in the playoff stage is already guaranteed due to the tournament system of the World Cup competitions. The five strongest countries from the previous games continue directly to the quarterfinals.

– I think that at the beginning of the tournament it would be important for Finland that the game is up-and-coming and develops from game to game. Another thing is that all players, regardless of their role, are able to strengthen their self-confidence and come fresh to that “death match”, the quarter-finals, Tuominen enthuses.

The female lions are used to their “eternal third” place in the prestigious competitions. Tuominen is even worried that Finland is focusing too much on staring at the taillights of the two toughest countries, when other countries are developing alongside and even past the Women’s Lions. An example of the development was already seen at the spring Olympics, when Switzerland beat Finland 3–2 in the first group.

– Finland has to look around a bit in this area. While we want to reach Canada and the United States, we must be aware that other countries in Europe are looking to reach Finland as their next step. You can’t worry about continuing the development, he says.