The final of the World Hockey Championships became an incomprehensible drama that no one who was present will ever forget, writes Jussi Paasi.
29.5. 23:37 • Updated May 29. 23:39
A friend of mine who lived in Berlin told me a heartbreaking story a few years ago.
He had watched a Bundesliga match on television. So German football. I don’t remember who Bayern Munich played against, but it doesn’t matter, because the story is about Bayern.
The ball passed to almost every player on the team. At the end of a long and beautiful composition, the game equipment was found in the opponent’s goal. The low-key narrator of the television was silent for several seconds and then shouted:
– Yes. Bayern spielt Fußball.
Can it be expressed in German more now. Bayern played football. For the narrator, of course, meant that this is exactly what football must be like.
Why am I writing about Bayern even though the subject of the comment is the World Hockey Finals?
Because Canada played hockey for two sets.
Maple leaf shirts did everything right in the trough. They were aggressive, but the feeling didn’t spill over, as North American teams often get used to. Canada was puck-safe. The feeds snapped accurately into the teammates ’shoulders.
Canada put pressure on the Lions, blocked the construction of the attacks, or halted Finland’s attacks in the central region at the latest. With a few exceptions.
Risk free. Fiksua. Physical. Skillful. Effective. And from Finland’s point of view, it’s rude.
Canada played hockey.
The joys of the home crowd came from outside the trough for two batches. First Sanna Marin was picked up for the hall’s media cube. Marin sent a plane kiss. Maybe to the audience, maybe to the Lions, maybe to both. Myling was wild. A few minutes later, even harder decibels resulted Kimi Raikkonen. He did not send flight kisses.
Everyone is eye-catching. Table set for blue and white gold parties. After all, the Lions can’t lose this now.
At the ice level, however, there was no reason to think that the Lions would be able to celebrate the World Championships. Canada was so strong. The lead goal was more than deserved.
At the start of the third installment, Canada’s firm grip weakened for a moment. It took three careless cools before the batch had taken five minutes. Canada still figured out the first underpower, but with the superiority of the two men in the Lions, a familiar national hero emerged.
The shouts and applause received by Marin and Räikkönen were about a tenth of the vote Mikael Granlund caused.
Two superior paints. Both from the Granlund stage. The people had been sold.
After that, the Lions played hockey.
The power of the goal is a wonderful thing in hockey. The Finnish team was cautious and uncertain in the two rounds. The passes did not snap into the shoulders, the goal points were nervous, Canada repeatedly withdrew from the duel. The same continued at the beginning of the third installment.
But when Granlund hit the levels of the game, he sensed in the hall that great things are happening in Finnish now. That’s what happened.
When Joel Armia took Finland to the top two goals, the audience already seemed to be celebrating the world championships in the gallery.
Hockey is a wonderful game.
Canada came to the rescue. And then to force the levels. Now it was Finland’s turn to lose grip and grope.
The curse of the home races crept into the Tampere arena.
The judges, who put the whistles in their pockets in the middle of the third batch, gave their little spice to Canada.
There were no whistles on the ice. From nowhere. So not even when Miro Heiskanen got a spooky crossbar around his neck a couple of seconds before Canada hit his second goal. Jukka Jalonen challenged the situation, after which the confusion of the judges began.
First, the judge declared the goal abandoned. The home crowd went wild. The judge then quickly apologized for his mistake and said the situation would be checked on video. After the video review, the Canadian paint was approved.
The incredible hockey play would have been perfect if the sequel had been played against five to five. But no, for some strange reason, the International Hockey Federation has decided not to play hockey in the playoffs.
The drama arc was finally painted with a blue and white brush. He became a hero of overtime Sakari Manninenwho stylized the winning goal with superiority.
Despite a small distortion – that is, playing the sequel with three against three – Sunday’s hockey play was unreally beautiful. It was also seen by the public after the settlement. In the auditorium, vent guests were cried, shouted, laughed, embraced.
The lions broke the curse of the home races in a way that none of those present will ever forget.
Ice hockey was played in Tampere.