PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Sweden lost the group final against the USA in extra time.
Afterwards there was great disappointment and criticism of the referees in the Swedish camp.
Union captain Sam Hallam now says what everyone is thinking about the referee’s move.
The group final between Sweden and the USA in the last group stage match was unexpectedly messy and strongly affected by many expulsions. Once hockey was played, the USA was the better team and managed to win 4-3 after extra time.
Swedish loss
Thus, the Americans finished first in the group and Tre Kronor second in the group before the WC finals. But after the match, there is a lot to be said about the referee’s decision when Sweden suffered its very first loss in this year’s Hockey World Cup.
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It got really annoying after just five minutes of play when the USA’s Michael Eyssimont handed out an ugly and unnecessary knee tackle on the Tre Kronor hill Rasmus Sandin, see the video below. The Swede had to leave the ice in great pain and the American had to leave the match with a match penalty.
– It’s ugly, it’s knee to knee and it hurts. Then what the intention is, I don’t know. It won’t be good in any case, says the union captain Sam Hallam to HockeySverige about the assault.
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Hallam’s criticism
The Swedish national team captain criticizes the refereeing team after the match and says what everyone thinks about the refereeing. Because he thinks there were far too many expulsions as it wasn’t a particularly ugly match.
– I didn’t think so. Sure, that tackle isn’t pretty but then it wasn’t particularly ugly except the referees thought it was ugly. There were a lot of sending offs in both directions in the first period there which I thought just tore it apart and put the players in a strange position where nobody really knew what was going on. Then it got better from the referees’ side and then we had to play hockey about it anyway, Hallam admits in the interview.
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It was also upset at the end of the match when Lucas Raymond got an opponent’s stick in the face and knocked out a tooth on the ice. First it was sent off, but it was then removed for extra time after video review.
– I have to be careful there. I think I have a grasp of the rules in the Swedish hockey league, but I don’t have full grasp of all the details in the international rule book. I know that at home in Sweden it is not a high club if it is a “follow through” on a goal shot and it is possible that the internationals have it all over the ice. I’m not an expert, there are probably many who know the rules better. That is what the assessment is, that it is a “follow through” on a pass or puck movement and then they choose to remove the expulsion because of that, Tre Kronor’s federation captain Sam Hallam explains to the hockey site.
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Latvia now awaits here next in the World Cup quarter-finals for the Swedish part. The hunt for a WC medal continues for Tre Kronor in this year’s hockey WC.
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