This is the text of the comment. Analysis and positions of the writer.
What happened to Finland in the water cycle this year?
Losses to the USA and Sweden, a narrow win over Germany, a complete loss to France, one good period against Hungary and now a new last-minute decision against Austria.
The most powerful cannons in the world were blown up.
Now it was nail-biting against Austria as well, as Ahti Oksanen made the decisive 3-1 with just 1.52 remaining in the game.
He does not want to pay off for the world champions who are now met with sporadic boos from the home crowd.
There are clear weaknesses in Finland compared to last year and especially last year.
The backs feel sturdy and luxurious under the sturdy Swedish backside.
Mikko Latonen almost always finds his way out of his own zone and creates constructive attacks.
It should be compared to last year, when Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell came home from Dallas and strengthened the team.
Two of the best defenders in the NHL, with Heiskanen being considered one of the best defenders of all time.
They left behind two large holes.
The second is goalkeeping.
Here, Finland has a big problem and no one has come to terms with it at the moment.
When they won World Cup gold in 2019, Olympic gold in 2022, and World Cup gold later that year, it was a clear goalkeeper group that got ahead early and played big.
This time neither Växjö’s Emil Larmey nor last year’s gold champion Jussi Olkinuora convinced.
Great deep dive
Olkinuora was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and last year’s Best Goalkeeper.
It popped up.
The big game resulted in an NHL contract with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings, but Finn had a miserable record on the Grand Rapids Griffins farm team and was not allowed to play a game in the NHL.
And when he came to Brynäs at the end of the season, he never became the living wall coach that Mikko Manner had hoped for, and the hosts play in Hockey Allsvenskan next season.
Emile Larme, the playoff champ of Vacchus, was also not impressed and looked a lot when he came to the small towns.
Last year, Finland conceded just five goals in total in the entire group stage and lost just one match.
And just like this year, it was Sweden who won the penalty shootout.
This time, Finland has conceded almost three times as many goals (14), and then they have one game left to play.
This is a great dive for a defense that is ranked among the best in the hockey world.
And if the defense or goalkeeping does not work out, Finland has big problems.
The worst possible starting position
I thought an opening 4-1 loss to the USA would be a useful wake-up call and get the Lions roaring.
But it continued to perform surprisingly poorly.
They had a slow time even against group berries.
The match against France was decided first by a puck in an empty box, making it 5-3 at the end of the match.
Against Hungary, Finland finished out in the final period, when it became 2-1 7-1 in the effective twenty minutes and it could have been more.
But this attack did not last against Austria.
It remains to be seen if Finland will find the golden form in the qualifiers.
There’s not much to say about the fact that at the moment, they’ve probably got third place in the group, the worst possible starting position.
I mostly watched the second game this afternoon and I’m glad I did.
The summit between Switzerland and Canada was the best match I’ve seen so far.
Switzerland won 3-2 and I didn’t even think it was a blow.
But their heavy build-up in the National Hockey League has made the Swiss gold favorites.
But I also saw the ugliest World Cup jump, when Canada and Detroit forward Joe Felino stampeded Swiss Nino Niedereiter with his skates in an edge duel.
There was no doubt that it was a deliberate stamping with a sharpened skate bar.
One of the ugliest things I’ve seen on ice and we were lucky enough to crash hit the shin guard.
And if the Canadian is not suspended after that, I lose faith in the hockey legal system.
