Halifax. One of the worst power plays of the entire tournament.
It was also the fall of the junior title in the semi-finals against the Czech Republic.
– That’s right, our five-on-three situation was not sharp enough, says national team captain Magnus Havild.
After six games, Teegan Jr. has scored less than ten percent (9.52) on power play and has only managed two goals on 21 attempts.
Only Austria and Switzerland have worse numbers in the tournament.
Despite the poor stats, Sweden was only 38 seconds away from the final.
In the end, however, it was the Junior Crowns’ inability to score on the power play that brought the team down.
Against the Czech Republic, a 1-0 lead was put into play at the start of the second half: a five-for-three game at 1.55, with no hands.
– We need to score there, of course, but there and then it just wasn’t good enough, says Magnus Havild.
Should you pick other players?
– You always have the opportunity to do this, but somewhere you want to give a chance to those who have talked together and trained together.
Timed out under powerplay
Nothing to regret now?
– No, I can only wish we were sharper. Higher disk speed and more attacks.
Striker Fabian Liesel analyzed why it didn’t work out:
– They checked the version we were going to run, and they knew exactly what we were going to do. Then we didn’t have much to come up with. I tried some gear shifting but it just didn’t fit.
Magnus Hävelid also chose, somewhat surprisingly, to take a time-out in the middle of a five-on-three situation:
– Geryon (Dahlgren, assistant captain of the national team) and I talked together and felt we could turn around, turn around and give a little push, but the result wasn’t what we imagined.
Instead of holding Sweden 2-0, the Czech Republic managed to equalize in the last minute and then win the match.
Now waiting for the bronze match for the junior crowns:
– we frown for a few hours and then collect ourselves properly. Two teams are fighting for a bronze medal and they’d better leave here with a medal than with nothing at all, says Havild.
