Ice hockey | The lions were beaten in Sweden – Jukka Jalonen now sends a word of warning to opponents who are bulging NHL stars

Prague

Finland will go to the World Ice Hockey Championships starting on Friday in the role of challenger. This time, the lions are not playing with stars.

The situation has also been noted in Sweden. Expressen estimates that Leijonat will be excluded from the medal games.

Among the players in Finland, the newspaper highlighted, among others, SHL hockey players Oliver Kasken, Rasmus Rissanen, Hannes Björninen and Jere Innalan.

“None of them would have been close to getting into Tre Kronor’s team in the Czech Republic, which says something about the differences between Sweden and Finland in terms of striking ability in these competitions,” Expressen said.

“There are many signs in the air that Finland’s most successful national team coach may leave the Czech Republic without a medal,” the assessment continued.

That most successful coach, Jukka Jalonensmiles when he hears about the Swedish reviews.

“They are always the opinions of a journalist. After all, in 2019, we probably had quite a few players who, according to the Swedes, would not have fit in their NHL team. And probably not in our opinion either, on an individual level,” says Jalonen.

“But we decided to be better as a team. Fortunately, however, this is still a team sport and not an individual sport,” the head coach of the Lions continues.

Will the blunt forecasts give Leijon more fuel?

“I don’t know if that is important in itself. It’s quite understandable that way, because there are a lot of teams here with quite a lot of NHL players. The fact is that the best players in the world play in the NHL. It’s not a coincidence that someone plays in the SHL and someone in the NHL.”

“But we have always compensated for some kind of difference on an individual level with good cooperation and play. The Finnish player is really committed to team play and his own role. And accepts it.”

Ostrava Sweden, which plays in Group B, has no less than 18 NHL players in this year’s tournament, three of which are goalkeepers.

The biggest stars of Tre Kronor’s fearsome crew are the defenders Victor Hedman, Erik Karlsson and Rasmus Dahlin.

Although NHL players are the best of players, they are not a guarantee of success in the World Cup.

“It could be that if there are twenty NHL players in the team, for example, someone who is used to playing overpower, won’t be able to play now. Or even sitting in the stands at a game. It might not be so nice after all. It can affect the atmosphere or whatever,” says Jalonen.

The Lion King sends a word of warning to the NHL’s all-star crews.

“Coaching such a team in the World Cup is not easy. I can say that. Yes, it makes the coaches work so that everyone has a smile on their face and the thing works.”

Finland will start the tournament on Friday night at 21:20 with a match against the host Czech Republic.