The ice in the Tampere arena is hard, when matches are played up to three times a day, the weather is warm and there are a lot of people.
Mika Halonen,
Pekka Aalto
The Lions will face France in the first group match starting at 20:20 on Wednesday. Urheilu follows the games in this article.
One of the topics of discussion at the Men’s Ice Hockey World Championships in Tampere at the beginning of the Games has been the condition of the ice. For example, in the match between Finland and Sweden, the viewer’s attention was drawn to the fact that the puck bounced strangely over the player’s platform a surprising number of times.
When Sweden started the tournament with a 1–0 win over Germany, Tre Kronor’s head coach Sam Hallam criticized the ice in the Tampere arena after the match.
– The puck bounces and turns on its side. You have to adapt to that, Hallam said For Helsingin Sanomat (you will switch to another service).
Finnish players have also admitted in interviews that they paid attention to the issue.
– The ice has now been worse than ours (in Tappara) during the season. The ice is quite soft and turns to porridge quickly. The difference is clear to league hockey. My guess is that this is due to usage. The hall is now in use all day, said Yelle Tappara and the forward of the Leijonien MM team Walter Merelä.
– Something should be invented and won’t they, Merelä continued.
Both from Hallam, Merela and Finland’s number one star From Mikko Rantase found an understanding of the situation, because now three match days are planned in Nokian Areena. Hallam praised that the ice is great for morning practice.
– Here, the situation is quite different from normal. At best there are three games a day. When we get to the end of the second game, the ice starts to get a little slushy, but that’s not the ice makers’ fault, Rantanen reminded .
The media have tried to reach the arena master of the Tampere arena for an interview Eric Salmelaa. Today Helsingin Sanomat told (you switch to another service)that the International Ice Hockey Federation IIHF thinks Salmela is not the right person to answer the questions.
Helsingin Sanomat’s contact with Salmela had been followed up by the communications manager of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association Henna Malmbergin wish to submit questions to the IIHF by e-mail.
However, the IIHF told HS in its response that it has not prevented the arena champion from speaking to the media. The IIHF is said to be the better party to answer questions, as it is in contact with teams and situational experts.
According to the IIHF, the ice quality is better than last year’s World Cup. The union said it was monitoring the situation daily.
In addition, the IIHF told HS that the ice is saved on game days so that only the playing teams have their morning ice there. However, this is not true, because the Lions were allowed to practice on Tuesday in the arena, even though they had a day off.
General secretary of the World Cup competitions Heikki Hietanen gave STT similar comments to the IIHF today.
– Our view of the condition of the ice is that the ice is in good condition during training and games. The discussion has perhaps grown bigger than what is at issue here.
There is plenty of programs from morning to night, and there are more people in total than during the league season. The people in the arena heat up the air.
The combination will test the durability of the arena’s technology, but according to Hietanen, it has been prepared for, having learned from last spring’s World Cup competitions. Air conditioning and water treatment related to ice making have been improved.
– During the set, the ice is cleaned carefully three times. Compared to last year, we have more ice cleaners. I would say that the matter is quite well under control, Hietanen emphasized.
The Lions will face France in the first group match starting at 20:20 on Wednesday. Urheilu follows the games in this article.
Hockey experts Juha Juujärvi and Top Nättinen opened the deepest essence of the World Cup and the Lions’ recipe for success Jussi Paasin in the podcast hosted by Urheilu.