The Young Lions will play against Canada in the final match on Sunday. Goalkeeper Juha Jatkola became Finland’s hero.
Finland’s under-20 national ice hockey team advanced to the final match of the World Cup against Canada in Edmonton. Finland defeated Sweden in the semi-final with their best game of the tournament 1–0.
The hero of Finland was the substitute who scored Juha Jatkola, who had saved only one match earlier in the tournament. Jatkola knocked down a total of 23 pucks in the match.
– The place where that zero game had to come was surely this. Hats off to the players. Today I got quite a lot of help from them. They blocked a lot of shots and more than in previous games, Jatkola praised.
Jatkola found out yesterday that he will replace the one who previously made a save as the number one goalkeeper Leevi Meriläinen in the semi-final. The goalkeeper coach told about it Juha Lehtola.
– I did ask Lehtola twice, what is that? But yes, the thoughts about it became clear.
Jatkola had saved only against Slovakia earlier in the tournament.
– I prepared normally, I didn’t try anything extra. Good mental preparation and I was physically ready. I went to enjoy. These may not come many times in life.
The final will be played on Sunday morning at three o’clock Finnish time. Finland will seek revenge against Canada in the match, as the meeting in the first group went to the maple leaf shirts 6–3.
An entertaining start
Finland, which was in trouble earlier in the tournament, made a complete turnaround in the semifinal match. Finland played its best game of the tournament, especially at the five-man level, and didn’t give Sweden any chances, especially in the second set, on an even playing field.
The fight started entertainingly. Sweden maintained a fast tempo, which also brought out Finland’s skating and wrestling power. Finland’s play on the puck was a little lacking, as Sweden hit hard with their pressure in every part of the field.
– This was our best game so far. We didn’t change anything tactically. We refined how we defend direct attacks and of course we made changes to the lineup, head coach Antti Pennanen tightly.
The Swedish striker was goofing off
At the beginning of the second period, Sweden did not attack as greedily. Finland got a better grip on their puck game and put Sweden in a really tight spot.
Already at the beginning of the set, Sweden was underpowered by a Swedish striker for the third time in the match by Albert Sjöberg because of laziness. Sjöberg returned to the substitution fence very slowly, which is why Sweden was sentenced to suspension of six field players.
Finland used its superiority effectively with a direct attack. Finishing was successful Kasper Puutiowho skated through and floated the puck brilliantly by Jesper Wallstedt from between the legs to the net.
Puutio’s performance was skillful in many ways. He took it Aatu Rädyn quickly took control of the high knuckle pass with his hand and ran away from the Swedish defense.
At the end of the set, Finland collapsed into two ices and Sweden was able to play for more than a minute and a half with a two-man advantage. However, Finland fixed its understrength as well, as it had previously been the weakest in the tournament.
Last game together
Several places were offered to Finland in the final round. Juuso Mäenpää licked the top bar, Eetu Liukas poles and Aatu Räty got through. However, the Young Lions could not get their lead to grow.
– Probably the biggest thing was that we didn’t give the opponent a lot of scoring chances. That was the most important thing. In the third period, we had great chances to score a second or third goal, but we didn’t score. Tomorrow is a new challenge, Pennanen commented.
The team’s shared experiences bring additional energy to Finland. The under-18 competitions were canceled for the 2002 age group, and the U20 competitions were also suspended in December.
– It has also been emphasized that many times it has been left unfinished and now there is really one chance to fulfill that dream. We intend to hold on to it tooth and nail, says Jatkola.
– Now we get to culminate our career in the junior national team. I can’t wait at all, but at the same time it’s a wistful feeling that it’s the last game together. We’re not going to enjoy ourselves, defender Topi Niemelä in turn says.