The Finnish under-18 national hockey team’s tournament in Espoo ended with Sweden playing.
20:34•Updated 20:39
For the second year in a row, the World Championships of the Finnish under-18 national ice hockey team ended at the quarter-final stage. This time, the fact that Little Lions won’t be able to play medal games in front of their home crowd added to the disappointment.
In the match held in Espoo, Sweden was better with a score of 2–1. Finland’s only goal was scored by the scorer of the 1-1 equalizer Heikki Ruohonen.
It’s been two years since Finland’s previous age group medal and six years since the championship. After the match, it was difficult for Ruohonen to find things where Pikkuleijon clearly missed in the even match.
– Maybe we weren’t as ready as we had hoped. Small things got caught. The guys got one goal, but we couldn’t get in from the spots, Ruohonen commented.
Ruohonen saw that Little Lions tried their best.
– I’m really proud of the way each guy played. You can’t say that no one gave everything.
This year’s under-18 national team consisted of players born in 2006.
The age group had a three-year project for the home games. Despite the disappointment, Ruohonen was satisfied with the journey the group has made since the under-16 national team.
– Even though he was stuck in the barrel, every guy gave it his all, a disappointed Ruohonen said.
Chriso Vuojärvi interviewed