According to Urheilu’s expert Ismo Lehkonen, the opening of the Women’s Lions World Cup left room for improvement.
The Finnish women’s national ice hockey team opened the World Cup on Thursday with a 1–4 loss to Canada. The opposition was the worst possible, as Canada is the reigning world champion and Olympic champion. The previous meeting between the teams at the Olympics ended with Canada winning 11–1.
Sports expert Ismo Lehkonen according to Finland’s performances, the passion was shining, and the performance of the first part was quite good.
– Canada would have been easy to beat. In the second and third sets, the original sin showed up, that is, the skill of the sport declined. The quality of passes and takeovers, protecting the puck… I would have expected more from a more experienced group, Lehkonen saw.
– Michelle Karvinen, Susanna Tapani, Jenni Hiirikoski, Ronja Savolainen, without a doubt they should have stepped into the front row, so others would have been encouraged too. Now it became a timid splash. In the last two sets, we didn’t see many passing chains from Finland.
One of the most talked about situations of the match was the striker playing in Finland’s first team Petra Nieminen walkout in the opening set. Nieminen put pressure on the Canadian defense with superior strength, and the attacker was beaten by Kristin O’Neill towards the end edge. The two referees reviewed the situation on video, after which they sentenced Niemis for tackling from behind for 5+20 minutes.
Nieminen’s evening speech lasted less than five minutes.
– Petra went a bit rashly into the situation, of course she didn’t intend to hurt and finish the tackle, but more contact-seeking to take away a game tool, Lehkonen saw.
– I’ve often thought that this is a good way to get the other side into trouble, when it’s a bit off the edge and turns a bit sideways and then it goes a bit upside down. There is always a chance that the opponent will receive a small or even a big penalty, commented Lehkonen.
However, according to Lehkonen, driving out was a harsh judgment on the situation.
– In my opinion, the drive out was emergency protection. The judges decided to follow the rulebook, Petra gave it a chance.
Tackles in women’s ice hockey speak volumes
Petra Nieminen pucks in Swedish Luleå, which plays in the country’s main league SDHL. Tackles are allowed in Sweden’s top two women’s leagues in the starting season. It is a season-long experiment with the purpose of taking Swedish women’s hockey closer to the top of the world. Sweden got to the World Cup through the back door when Russia was banned from international hockey.
In the Swedish premier league, during the previous four years, more and more physical play has also been allowed.
According to Lehkonen, Tackles could be allowed more widely in women’s hockey.
– I would definitely take my contacts with me to women’s hockey. I don’t mean that open ice bombs should be completely driven, but that you should play clearly more physically and seek contact on the side.
According to Lehkonen, international hockey should now consider whether it would be possible to allow tackles under certain conditions.
Against USA on Saturday
Finland’s next match is on Saturday, when the USA skates against them at 16:00 Finnish time. The USA opened the World Cup tournament with a victory, crushing Japan 10-0.
According to Lehkonen, Finland has a lot to improve.
– Everyone must be able to skate for at least 60 minutes. There is room for improvement in opening play, it was not really seen at all through the middle lane. I would like to see clearly more input combinations, Lehkonen lists.
He expects improvement especially from number one center Susanna Tapani.
– For Susanna, the Canada game was over. He needs to come out more actively. The Yankees defend quite low, and if the Finnish Paks are on the line and the line is used, you should dare to shoot with the number one. If the takeover takes too long, it will produce nothing.
Finland will face the USA in the Women’s Ice Hockey World Championship in Herning, Denmark on Saturday 27 August. at 16:00 Finnish time.