Hockey The female lions collided in Luleå’s game – one of them arrived at the national team on foot in a package

Situation is surprising when the key players of the Finnish women’s hockey national team and Luleå are Petra Nieminen and Ronja Savolainen arriving in the interview area. Nieminen walks to the scene on his own, but Savolainen needs his elbows to help. His other leg is wrapped in a plastic support shoe that keeps the foot in the correct position.

The situation requires opening.

“Here is this foot in pretty mono. There was a small ‘accident’ in the club team’s game, ”Savolainen pointed out.

The “culprit” in the case stood next to the defender.

“There was a small collision with Petra. It’s been a couple of weeks now, ”Savolainen said.

Even before Tuesday’s practice, Nieminen was already able to laugh at the case, for which Savolainen did not roll the blame on the striker.

The national team for this week’s Canada match was released last Monday, but Savolainen didn’t have time to recover by the games. He just went to smell the national team mood.

“Yes, but I get good rehabilitation and rehabilitation instructions from physique. That’s why I came here, but it’s also nice to be with the national team, ”Savolainen emphasized.

Nieminen has better things to do.

“I’m in good shape and it’s nice to get to play on the national team.

Nieminen, 22, and Savolainen, 23, are still young, but they already have a lot of experience on the national team. They played for the Pyeongchang Olympic bronze team in 2018 and are multiple World Championship medalists. In 2019, they won silver at the World Championships in Espoo.

Earlier this season, the Lions took bronze in the World Championships in Canada, but the biggest goal of the season awaits at the Beijing Olympics in February. That is why Canada is visiting Helsinki and Turku this week. Finland is learning toughness against the reigning world champion, and Canada is getting good training resistance from Finland.

“Starting your own head is one of the things you need to develop. One should only dare to give the center small feeds and open. That way we get to build an offensive game. There were problems in the World Championships when we only tried to go overboard, ”Nieminen said.

Thursday Female lions play in the Helsinki Arena. Later in the evening, the men’s national team will start their EHT tournament there.

“It’s great that women get to play in these big halls for once. There are probably not as many spectators as we would like, but it is already important that we get to play the same event with the men, ”Nieminen said.

The men will continue the rest of the week in Helsinki, but the Female Lions will try to fill the Turku Hall on Saturday and Sunday.

“From the Hockey Association, this is a big investment, that our games are in big halls,” Nieminen and Savolainen praised.

Usually, women’s national matches have been played in small halls, but in occasional national matches and World Championships, the setting has been more generous. Nieminen and Savolainen were involved three years ago, when the Lions played in Hakametsä, Tampere, before the men’s EHT match. There were less than 2,500 spectators in the women’s match.

“It was great to play there and people found out that we play outside of the bars,” Nieminen said.