The Czech Republic and Germany were supposed to meet on Thursday evening in Vierumäki, but the game was canceled due to a power outage. Finland will play in Vierumäki on Friday, but the electricity problems should be over.
The EHT women’s ice hockey tournament got a nasty twist on Thursday, when the match between the Czech Republic and Germany had to be cancelled. The teams were supposed to meet each other in Vierumäki on Thursday evening, but a power outage in Vierumäki prevented the match from being played.
GM of the Lionesses Tuula Puputti says that he was in Turku at the same time as the Finnish team, where the Lionesses faced Sweden on Thursday afternoon, when they received the information over the phone.
– We received a call that the lights in the hall are flickering, the matter is being investigated. According to the first estimate, the fault could be fixed by seven. We agreed that we would move the schedule, that we would aim to start at 19:30. Closer to 6 p.m., new information came that the electricity would have been restored at 11 p.m. We made a decision with the teams that we will not play the match.
Manager of the Czech women’s national team Tereza Sadilova lamented the situation on the website of the Czech Ice Hockey Federation. Sadilova described how the players had used the flashlight of their cell phones when they left the hall.
– The women were already in game mode. We could see right away that something was wrong because the electricity only came with the help of a backup generator. First they talked about two or three hours. The women were already in a certain state of mind, so we accepted a transfer of at most three hours. Of course, we are not satisfied with the situation, but there is nothing we can do about it, Sadilova acknowledged.
Striker Tereza Vanisova seemed disappointed with the situation. Like Germany, the team had four games in four days.
– We had prepared to play four games in four days. We warmed up, we had already put on the equipment and everything was as usual before the game. So we cannot talk about a day of rest. I would have preferred to play myself.
Naisleijonat plays today in Vierumäki
According to Puput, the teams took the situation well in the end.
– We had a good situation in a certain way, because we had talked with the teams that the tournament week is really tight. Of course they were upset, but we reached a solution in good spirits, says Puputti.
Naisleijonat will play on Friday in Vierumäki, where the team will meet Germany right from 16:00. The Czech Republic, on the other hand, will play against Switzerland also at Vierumäki, in another rink an hour later. According to Puput, the electricity was restored at nine o’clock on Thursday evening.
– I believe that we will be able to get through this game day as normal.
Two of Naisleijonat’s four matches will be played in Vierumäki: in addition to Friday’s Germany match, Naisleijonat met Switzerland in Vierumäki on Tuesday. At the same time, the men’s EHT tournament is being played in Finland, with all but one of the matches being played in Turku. The Czech Republic and Sweden met on Thursday in the Czech Republic.
The cancellation of Thursday’s match affects the standings of the tournament, as Germany and the Czech Republic now have a match played less.
– Regarding this tournament, we will not get the final score table. We had agreed with the five EHT countries that three similar tournaments will be played, where each team will have four matches. This will not affect the events of December or February, Puputti says.
Finland has played two matches in the tournament: on Tuesday it beat Switzerland 4–0 and on Thursday in Turku it beat Sweden 3–1. In the final game on Saturday, Finland will face the Czech Republic in Tikkurila.