Jukka Jalonen relies on players who have known and brought success to the Tampere World Championships at home. Although Finland will enter the tournament in a rare losing streak, the Lions will once again play for gold medals, writes Urheilun Henri Pitkänen.
Blue and white smoke rose from the chimney of the Lions Management Team’s cabinet late Sunday night as the team preparing for the Tampere World Championships was condensed.
As expected, the compaction did not offer any surprises. Three goalkeepers, eight defenders and 15 strikers were named at this point.
10 players took part in winning World Cup gold in Bratislava three years ago, and as many as 18 players are the head coach To Jukka Jalonen familiar from Beijing.
Finland can rely on its goalkeeper game 100%. Harri Säteri and Jussi Olkinuora give the team a chance to win every night, and Frans Tuohimaa complements the harmonious and benevolent trio familiar from Beijing as the third guard.
The shortest stick in defense was left to celebrate World Cup gold in Bratislava three years ago Oliwer Kaskelle, whose spring has been barren. The defender, who stacked 33 points on Omsk’s back lines, remained among the substitutes in Beijing and left Russia after the country attacked Ukraine.
After a long camping, the second fate of the KHL Defenders’ Stock Exchange was left out of the World Cup team, as the right-handers of the players playing down included the Beijing gold players. Ville Pokka, Sami Vatanen mixed Juuso Hietanen. World champion Henri Jokiharjun the arrival from Buffalo to join the group practically closed Kaske’s door, and the Champions League is unlikely to shine Even Vili Saarijärvenk at least not yet.
The most famous faller among the strikers was a striker who played one match in Beijing Niko Ojamäki, who, like Kaske, played a very effective KHL season, winning the entire series on the paint exchange with 29 hits in Vitjaz’s shirt. However, in the tough competition, the spring screenings were not enough for the world champion and Olympic winner to have a race ticket, as the top players in the Finnish Champions League, among others, passed from the back left. Petrus Palmu and Markus Nurmi.
Time will tell if Palmun, 24, will eventually be stamped in the race pass, but even reaching this stage is a tough accomplishment that few would have believed. The little giant from Joensuu, who scored 22 points in the German DEL League last season, is playing his life with great self-confidence.
The fall of 26-year-old Kaski and Ojamäki from Pori reflects the situation of the Lions. Few countries would be able to afford to exclude power players with merit in KHL, but there are really a lot of quality players.
Jalonen Leijon is all about role-playing and the ability to play a balanced and reliable pitch in two directions. Although Kaske and Ojamäki also have successful experiences in recent years in Jalonen’s groups, the place did not come off when a suitable role could not be found.
The management team said they were still watching the Swedish finals and the NHL playoffs, and stamps would not be minted until Thursday. Luleå has the opportunity to secure tonight’s SHL championship in Karlstad as a guest of Färjestad, and of the team’s five Finnish players, especially the Bratislava world champion Juhani Tyrväinen getting into the Lions is likely to be of particular interest to coaching.
On the NHL side, Nashville’s season may end early on Tuesday morning Finnish time, and a man familiar to Jalonen Mikael Granlund would naturally be a top confirmation for Finland. The power chain of lions Harri Pesonen – Sakari Manninen – Teemu Hartikainen will certainly strike a result at the World Cup as well, but the team also needs another clear result unit. Granlund would be able to pull it.
In the wildest fantasies, the middle band of the Lions could be strengthened as well Alexander Barkovilla or Sebastian Ahollaif Florida or Carolina pop out in the opening round. Both have a trip of two losses for the summer holiday, but the trip to Tampere for the race tray is even more.
The World Cup in Tampere and Helsinki is undoubtedly tougher than the Beijing Olympics, as many countries have wholesale NHL players. Even if the Lions don’t get any more NHL reinforcements, the team that has already won a lot together will still play for the championship again. Jalonen does not have to look beyond his borders any more, he already got its memory in the golden spring of 2019 in Bratislava.
Of course, the last preparatory matches left something to be considered, as Finland will rarely attack Norway in a bowl on Friday with four consecutive losses on its neck.
Long camping, hard training and a frequent pace of play seemed to have anesthetized the sharpest grip of the Finns in last week’s matches, and there was an exceptional amount of carelessness in the puck game. With the line-ups still living briskly from week to week and match to match, the slightly fragmented interplay and lame special situation gameplay can be considered a complete surprise.
Although the results were poor, the overall look of the team was very calm and confident throughout the weekend.
When Finland last set out to play the home group preliminaries in the spring of 2013, there was the Czech EHT tournament, where Finland also lost all the matches. That’s when Jalonen’s Lions managed to line up and win six of their seven matches. The gold yacht only crashed in the semi-finals played on the Swedish side, and Finland was fourth.
As long as the congestion caused by the camping eases, the line-ups stabilize, and the top five have shared experiences during the first block, a similar full turn would not be surprising this time around, even with the intoxicating home crowd. With their tremendous results in recent years, the Lions have played themselves into a position where they are expected to make gold in every tournament.
Less is not enough for a thirsty nation this time again. Although Finland has never played in the finals at home, this time it would be especially disappointing to be out of the final climax.
The team of lions, which will meet in Tampere on Tuesday:
29 Säteri Harri (was in Beijing)
35 Tuohimaa Frans (was in Beijing)
45 Olkinuora Jussi (was in Bratislava + Beijing)
2 Pokka Ville (Beijing)
3 Friman Niklas (Beijing)
4 Lehtonen Mikko (Bratislava + Beijing)
28 Jokiharju Henri (Bratislava)
38 Hietanen Juuso (Beijing)
42 Vatanen Sami (Beijing)
50 Seppälä Mikael
55 Ohtamaa Atte (Bratislava + Beijing)
10 Army Joel
12 Anttila Marko (Bratislava + Beijing)
15 Aaltonen Miro (Beijing)
21 Innala Jere
24 Björninen Hannes (Beijing)
25 Rajala Toni (Bratislava + Beijing)
51 Filppula Valtteri (Beijing)
52 Palmu Petrus
61 Markus Nurmi
65 Manninen Sakari (Bratislava + Beijing)
70 Hartikainen Teemu (Beijing)
76 Sallinen Jere (Bratislava)
80 Mäenalanen Saku (Beijing)
82 Pesonen Harri (Bratislava + Beijing)
91 Pond Juho (Bratislava)