Coach explained: “A little embarrassing.”
Heading towards the tenth straight loss.
Kiruna’s AIF coach Johanni Matikainen then decided to change the goalkeeper after every goal delivered against Petio.
“I do whatever it takes to get our players to interact,” he says.
2-6 at home against Piteå HC means that Kiruna AIF He’s still at zero points after ten rounds in this year’s hockey season.
The cool thing about this particular loss?
Goalkeeper Hugo Ingsund, 21, was replaced just over three minutes after conceding the first goal of the match.
Substitute Aleksanteri Heskanen, 24, was replaced in turn after Petio’s second goal. The same pattern was repeated until Ludwig Warg of the away team scored 5-1.
– It was pretty much decided then. Heskanen said he won’t stand in goal again and I respect that, as AFC coach Johani Matikinen made clear.
“I was really shocked”
The 32-year-old Finn did not warn his cage guards about the strange move.
– I wanted to show that there are consequences if we don’t check again and don’t block shots. That’s why I did it yesterday.
What did the goalkeepers say about it? It’s not their fault, is it?
Hugo, who started the match, was really shocked. Wonder what’s going on and why you replaced it. I quickly explained to him on the bench that he could stand up again if we conceded another goal. But today I spoke to the goalkeepers in more detail and explained why I did it. It was a difficult situation that I had never done before.
continue:
I do whatever it takes to get our players to interact. Maybe it makes them feel bad about the way he treats the goalkeepers, it’s a bit embarrassing for them, so I wanted to convince the players to do more. To prevent shots and be stronger defensively. This was my only goal for the changes.
Two of the goals came late in numerical superiority, much to the chagrin of Matikinen, who still believes the team’s performance was a step forward. He points out that the goalkeeper’s changes have nothing to do with their efforts on the ice.
– It does not necessarily mean replacing anything. Everything I do is for the good of the team.
“Don’t be afraid to try different things”
This isn’t the first time Matikinen has used outlandish tactics in his coaching role.
– I’m not afraid to try different things. Last week we had pre-match training against Kiruna IF where we went out on the ice with only skates. The situation is as it is. We cannot go on the same path every day. We have to come up with something so we can go out and play casually.
Then, after a break of about two weeks, the coordinator of Hudiksvall is waiting for second place in the table.
Will you change the goalkeeper after conceding a goal again?
Well, of course Heiskanen has played most games since he came here… but we haven’t talked about that yet. we will see. Now we have a week off before we start thinking about it.