Finland’s under-20 men’s national ice hockey team has been boosted inside and out during the youth World Cup. Before New Year’s Eve, Finland had not been able to get its game going and had performed in a very low mood.
On New Year’s Eve, the reaction to such a situation was the worst. In response, Sweden skated in front of their home crowd, undefeated and without conceding a goal.
But, what else. The internalized Nuoret Leijonat came to the rink as a completely different team than before. Finland, which defended and attacked in unison, caused Sweden to falter.
Even though the host assembled their line and took the second set, Finland rose to the level in the last moments in the third and won the match in a shootout.
Ujutti scored the winning goal 5–4 in the shootout Jani Nyman.
Urheilu’s ice hockey expert Top Nättinen shares his appreciation for the way Finland put together its game for the Sweden match.
– I really wouldn’t have believed this in advance. Pretty confusing hockey game. Finally, the kind of U20 game that has been expected for three games. It was cool to watch that, Nättinen feels.
In this article, expert Nättinen goes through the three most important points regarding the Sweden match and the sequel.
Management “with our game”
Nättinen describes that in the first period, Finland took away Sweden’s weapons with the beloved and disputed way of playing Finnish hockey, “Our game”.
– Finland now played with a tight five, controlled the game by holding the puck, pacing it and attacking sensibly. Through it all, it was perfect in that context. There were late starts, flops and, above all, a couple of goals were scored for a team that hadn’t conceded a single one before this, Nättinen sums up the opening set.
– It was an incredible batch. A completely different Finland.
It was especially noteworthy how Finland took space from Sweden in quarterbacking and was able to play excellent exploits. They guaranteed Finland the first two goals in the game.
In the second awakening, however, Sweden, which received shock treatment, woke up.
– It was pretty clear in the end. If they had watched the previous games and underestimated Finland, the alarm bells rang at the first break.
– They woke up and what has happened in the tournament before happened to Finland. The blue-whites’ tendon hasn’t lasted a whole game yet. A violent return to the surface of the earth in the second set.
However, Sweden was unable to settle the game when it had the seams. Finland crept back into the game, eventually equalized and took the win.
– In the end, this game really became two-phased, Nättinen describes.
The first guns and the captain’s warm-up moment
In addition to the collapse of the entire team, the long-awaited number one guns became the deciding factors for Finland. Lenny Hämeenaho and Jani Nyman scored their opening goals in the tournament in the game.
At the same time, Nyman’s first goal was the game-tying goal without a goalkeeper. Nättinen also shares praise for that Lauri Mikkolan for the coaching group. Noa Vali left the goal already a good two minutes before the end.
– It has been studied in the NHL that the earlier the goalkeeper is taken out, the more often goals are scored. A pretty logical sounding equation.
– I think that it was indeed the right solution. It created a direction for the game early enough. Amazing patience from Finland after that difficult second set.
Nättinen also liked Nättinen’s awakening. He emphasizes how these two individuals have been among those who have been expected the most in the team even before the Games. Now, in the most important place, they answered the call.
– Hämeenahosta, for example, saw in the Latvia game how palpable his frustration was. Now he and Nyman realized how big a game this was. In a game like that, the best players emerge when everything is at its hottest.
– With all of this, when Nyman went to the ruck, it was easy to believe that the puck would be found in the backpack.
A captain who has already collected praise before Jere Lassila was not effective in the match, but made two memorable plays. First, he heated up his colleague Sweden in the second set by Liam Öhgren on the ice shelf. In the third period, he blocked Sweden’s shot into an empty goal with his lunge, after which Finland punished.
– There is a lot of talk in the sports world about numbers and statistics, but those are the performances that all Finns should remember.
– First, timely provocation and then selling a suitable ice cream. Even in Finland, where filming is hated, in this case selling ice cream, you have to appreciate that. Finland was in full swing and that act brought superiority, with which the game was leveled. I can imagine how good he felt when Halttunen’s kuti hit the net, says Nättinen.
Screen for the media and the people
Nättinen wants to raise his hat to Finland’s mental state in the match. The Young Lions have been in a lot of trouble with their game performances both in the media and among the people.
– I want to share praise for that. That team has been tested really hard in every way. Faith has certainly been tested both by Mikkola’s coaching and by the players. Finland made Sweden uncertain, which was a really big achievement. Fortunately, they got an award for it.
This kind of performance will give Finland a lot of extra mental strength for the quarter-final stage. The Young Lions will face Slovakia on Tuesday at 1 p.m.
– Finland first saved itself from the brink of disaster and now rose to this situation. The Sweden match came at a perfect moment in the tournament. In the future, the team’s self-belief is a really big thing, because in the playoff stage we get to “every bounce counts” matches.
– They have now played against the entire Finnish media, fans and people. The team is almost guaranteed to be as welded together now as it can be after this. I can only imagine how they talk about it in the locker room that “no one believed in us”. It’s a really big asset, says Nättinen.
Urheilu closely follows the under-20 hockey world championships in the application and on its website. Moods are also conveyed on Urheilurutu and Urheiluradio. The match program can be found here.