TAMMERFORS. A new victory.
A new statement of strength from Tre Kronor.
Even Finland in a crowded arena cannot stop Sweden’s victory.
It was three crowns Who went to victory in the last minutes during normal time with several good chances against Harry Satri.
Eric Gustafson hit the crossbar but it took a penalty to separate these two teams.
Emil Bimström was the only one to score and Magnus Heilberg closed all five penalties.
Talk about getting revenge on the stubborn Swedish goalkeeper, more on that later.
“Are you going home now?” , the Swedes instantly cheer in the arena before you get too old.
A great end to a long hot day.
Suddenly this was the early summer heat.
After an icy cold start to the tournament, a warm westerly wind suddenly swept across Tampere and the thermometer showed a wide margin of two digits plus degrees.
The heat couldn’t choose a better day to arrive because, by World Cup standards, it wouldn’t be much bigger than a meeting between Finland and Tri Kronor in Finland.
In squares, streets, outdoor cafés, and large-screen makeshift beer tents, tens of thousands of hockey fans gathered and recharged.
The Finnish and Swedish Lion’s Tre Kronor diton shirts were as far as can be seen.
With its small city center and huge Nokia Square only a five-minute walk away, it would also be a World Cup worthy of the name.
Never became a boiling pot
Once we started at the Nokia Arena, we had a heavyweight meeting that was a prolonged position war and a tactical chess match.
As it often appears nowadays, no matter what Finnish team meets under Jukka Jaalonen.
The interference game has fully shone with its absence.
The public had a hard time turning Nokia Arena into a boiling pot and a magical cauldron.
On the ice, just as at the Olympic meeting, both a crowbar and a hacksaw were needed to separate these two teams.
Then overtime, and now punishment.
Finland, as it is called, tasted its own medicine in the first period.
It’s been getting more and more since Jukka Jalonen board hockey has won gold in both the World Cup and the Olympics. More and more I choose to play, to discipline and to expect against Finland.
Biggest cheer when KORE was shown
Tre Kronor was no exception. They closed off the central area in a good way and also got some pucks behind the Finnish slopes.
The original nation had a hard time getting anywhere and stumbled several times in the supplement stage. In matches five against five, Tre Kronor had complete control.
However, two Swedish expulsions gave Finland two chances in their specialty, powerplay, without getting a payoff.
The biggest cheer in the first period instead came when former national team captain (for both countries) Kurt Lindstrom emerged on the jumbo throne.
The biggest Swedish cheer came when Adam Larsson (ever) swept his back post, received a handover from Jacob Peterson and sent the disc to the so-called Kitchen Road.
Now Tre Kronor hasn’t been able to play front for a very long time.
Rarely does she look particularly amazing when playing Finland and the stuff isn’t top star.
But if there’s one thing Lions under Jukka Yalonen are usually the best in the world, it’s finding ways to win matches.
And it’s very difficult to deal with when you get the lead.
So do not give anything to Finland. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened.
You have a team that can fight for medals
Oscar Lange had time to hit the crossbar early in the middle of the period before Magnus Helberg fumbled with Mikko Littonen’s autumn leaves.
Goal Helberg wants to come back 365 days a year, but he’s also avenged himself during the rest of the match and in the penalty shootout.
Instead of 2-0, it was 1-1 and things would get worse.
Two minutes later it narrowed again. After a technique where things went wrong from a Swedish point of view, Finland managed a 2-1 win.
Rasmus Asplund lost Sami Vatanen behind his back and suddenly became the leading Finn.
Just like that, and above all superfluous, I sat and thought.
But Trey Kronor is back. This team does not know how to give up.
And in the third inning, the equalizer came after Eric Gustafson hit an alert and referee Joel Kellman.
Four matches have been played and Tre Kronor has shown that they have a team that can compete for medals in this tournament. But the hardest part of the tournament remains and everyone starts from scratch.
But it is hard to get a better message of strength than the victory over Finland.
