Comment The lions discouraged Russia and were finally ready to win gold – at the time of the Olympic victory, everything was familiar and completely exceptional at the same time

Beijing

Feeling strengthened at the same pace as the clock ran at the China National Indoor Sports Center. The Lions held the Hockey Olympics final from the start.

All of this was somehow so familiar and at the same time completely exceptional and historic.

This is how the Lions have played against Russia or the Russian Olympic Committee team before. Defending but still controlling.

Offensive, but not a drop under the guise of defense. Lions know how to play this game. Or especially Jukka Jalosen Lions.

The Russians went as helpless as they have ever been against Finland. Their losing streak in the big games is starting to be a national trauma.

In Sweden was saddened before the semifinals as to why Russia was coming up. That’s the hardest team for Tre Kronor. Tricky now and very tricky far into history.

At the same time, there was peace in the Lions’ locker room: whichever comes, both fit.

That’s where Russia came from – and that’s fine.

Finnish hockey earned Olympic gold. When you get close enough times, it feels like the probability of winning increases, even though there are different players and partly different teams in each tournament.

Yet traditions live on. At the Olympics, lions reached close to gold in the late 1990s, at the turn of the century, and once again. And now it also hit.

From Finland was spoken in puck circles as one of the big favorites when NHL players were leaving for Beijing. The best generation of Finnish discs ever plays in North America.

Star players, that is, real big stars of this kind, are enough for many clubs. Speeches about Lions ’favorite position among the best players took a comparison and even a critical look.

In truth, the opportunity for gold only increased when the NHL closed its doors and canceled its flight ticket.

Being a favorite with and without NHL players tells you about the level, skill, style of play, commitment and playing together in domestic hockey.

In the victory the Olympic gold may have something the same as the first World Championship in 1995. At that time, his puck and even a slightly wider audience longed for success and victories. No matter the recession in the country.

What was needed now was continuity, success over success, and the icing that came with it. Finnish hockey was ready to take on Olympic gold and endure the pressures to the end.

Here, too, you have to grow and learn to be a winner.

Russian the team had better KHL scores than the Lion. Other things turned to Finland.

There was a team luck with that Valtteri Filppula and defender Sami Vatanen returned from the NHL to the European side – and otherwise to the same club, Genéve-Servette, Switzerland.

They represented the much-needed NHL level without the current contract there.

Head coach Jukka Jalonen invited the duo to the Karelia tournament in November and was convinced. They are fine.

Lions the favorite position and gold opportunity became clear to Filppula and Vatanen as soon as they returned to the national team.

Filppula was hit by Captain C in his jersey and in style he wore it, but even more stylishly he expressed it after the match.

“Even the guys who didn’t have a letter on their shirt were leaders on this team.”

Much was crystallized in this preceding sentence as to why the next days of Olympic gold are celebrated in Finland.

Read all the Olympic stuff at hs.fi/olympics