One thing was repeated for the Young Lions in the playoffs.
Gothenburg
Disbelief. Disappointment. Outright bullshit. And right next to it, huge joy. Fulfillment. Euphoria.
After the World Cup bronze game, which ended with an 8–5 victory for the Czech Republic, the corridors of the Scandinavium hall saw extremes of emotion side by side. In all its brutality.
On the other side of the interview area, the Finnish players shared comments with serious faces and downcast eyes. Behind Sermi, the Czech players made a lot of noise and shared comments with smiles on their ears and medals around their necks.
“Now I feel like I don't really know what happened. I haven't been involved in a game like this before,” chewed the star striker of the Young Lions Lenny Hämeenaho.
“This was the third game in a row for us when our lead didn't hold and something miraculous happened in the third period. Again, the result was what we didn't want. The victory slipped out of hand again,” Hämeenaho lamented.
In the semi-finals Finland led 2–0 at its best against the USA. In the third set, the teams started with a score of 2–2, but the USA won with a superior goal at the end of the final set.
Against Slovakia in the quarterfinals, Finland was close to victory at the end of regular time, but Slovakia equalized in 59:16. Eventually Jere Lassila led Finland to the semi-finals in the overtime.
Slipping in the finals was chronic for Finland in the playoff phase.
“We could have played more maturely in all those games in the lead, especially in the final moments. We wasted too much of our own game”, Hämeenaho sneered.
“Just like today. We knew that the Czech Republic is an emotional team. If they get into a tough mood, they're a really dangerous team. It should have been possible to eradicate that feeling better. Of course, nothing away from the Czech Republic either.”
Hämeenaho was one of Finland's absolute top players at the World Cup.
Aces' 19-year-old winger played on the side of the first chain in a big responsibility for results, but his performance waned for a long time.
The ace striker, known for his silky hands, was able to stand out even better as the tournament progressed. Hämeenaho scored two goals in the wild bronze game, one of which was a dazzling solo.
In the end, Hämeenaho was the second most powerful player in Finland with 4+2.
However, the top promise of the Aces did not give himself a clean slate from the tournament.
“At the beginning it was a bit stickier and there was no power, but it was still okay to play otherwise. It was a little more difficult with scoring, which made the initial tournament more difficult.”
“I think I was able to improve as the tournament progressed, but I should have squeezed more out of myself,” Hämeenaho said.
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