The lions must win the World Cup gold because the rival teams are incredibly bad

For Leijon, anything other than World Cup gold from the home games would be a failure, because the teams of the competing countries are really weak, writes journalist Vinski Virtanen.

The men’s World Cup competitions in ice hockey have become the Lions’ training ground. In the last and this decade, Finland has celebrated three World Cup golds, been in the finals six times and is now hosting the fourth home games in this period.

In Finland, we are happy that 105 regular season points Mikko Rantanen arrives to strengthen Leijon for the home games.

In the number one country of the IIHF ranking, there is once again a pointless discussion and arguing about who should fit in the competition team, who should be able to put on the Lion’s jersey at the end of a tough season and how we can manage on paper this time.

At the same time, unfortunately, other hard puck countries are not interested in the slightest.

The US team is a rare no-name even by its standards. A week before the games, a bunch has been scraped together, where there are NHL contract players, but of the actual “nerds” you can barely get two on the field.

Canada’s team is also exceptionally light compared to previous years, although no superstars have always been seen in the maple leaf jersey.

Read also: Is he the biggest star on Team Canada? See here the NHL players coming to the Ice Hockey World Cup

Again, it seems that after the games, we get to read interviews with American players about how they were surprised, how big a deal the tournament was for the Europeans.

Russia will not (for good reason) play in the entire Games, and because of the war, the Games will also be played in Finland and Latvia. A star player in Sweden by Elias Pettersson participation was caught up in insurance premiums, and there have been many refusals.

This is where the NHL shows its importance. The value of the World Cup is small in the eyes of the series. Players don’t want to risk their lucrative contracts either, which is understandable.

Last year, the Czech Republic received its first medal in a decade, although the country is generally considered one of the greats. The United States’ greatness is also apparent at the World Cup level, with the country not winning gold since 1960.

Switzerland has potential but has never won World Cup gold. For Slovakia and Germany, advancing from the quarter-finals would be a sensation.

For Finland, the World Cup is everything. In our country, puck discussion and criticism has been taken to the extreme and all solutions are questioned, expectations are massive, and pessimism takes over Finns’ homes when Hungary hangs two sets just a goal away.

Until Sakari Manninen makes the third set 1+4, when you can breathe a sigh of relief.

Which country can beat Finland this spring?

There was also no Olympic gold mentioned among the Lions’ recent achievements. After the historic Olympic victory, the former lion pilot Lauri Marjamäki said in an interview with Iltalehti that I don’t see any country being able to destabilize Finland at the home games.

This prediction came true, and this time the power relations do not seem to have changed from a year ago either. There are challengers, but Finland is the overwhelming number one favorite on its home ice. Especially with this effort, the national charm, the expectations, the preparation, the player material, the much talked about game style.

Supremacy has become boring, but that is not Finland’s fault. The reason is that the IIHF and the NHL cannot come to an agreement on organizing a tournament where the best would really play and which would really interest all participants. The Olympics have been missed because of money and corona.

The World Cup tournament is still the best that is available in national team games in the current situation, but the hockey people have to stop lying to themselves.