Pekka Virta breaks down the background of the Lions’ gold tournament.
– How they played in the Olympics with unity for the team and the coaching… That performance was more than a hundred interviews.
Thus Pekka VirtaIltalehti’s ice hockey expert, thinks back to a few months ago, in the middle of the gold rush, to the Olympic rinks.
Antti Pennanen was bubbling around. The previous spring’s 4 Nations Face-Off and the World Cup tournament had not gone well. To top it all off, the start of the Olympics was colorful Breaking news from Ilta-Sanomi players Paul Maurice – about feelings.
However, Karikko’s Olympic journey ended with a bronze medal and a plus mark.
– At the Olympics, the players’ response to the accusation that the coaching did not have their support was clearly visible, Virta times.
– There was a great success at that point, which also contributed a lot to this World Cup success. If you think about the beginning and time of Pennanen, it was a big turning point.
Like having lost the entire NHL season as the cherry on top of the spring cake Alexander Barkov announced that he will arrive at the World Cup tournament to lead the game but also to show the value of the national team and underline the players’ credit to Pennase.
– Labor peace was born.
“Great to see”
Aleksander Barkov would show what stardom means. Pasi Liesimaa
Virta estimates that Barkov’s influence is “much greater” than what can be seen on television.
– How does Barkov live in the games and how other players comment on his style and ways of going there to pound and take care of his body. They are irreplaceable and unforgettable things for young players, Virta thinks.
– Of course, as the leading player of this nation, he also shows what a star can be. Today’s star hockey players are, so to speak, good, polite people who respect everyone from the referees to the press.
Barkov showed in the WC arena, especially as the stakes increased, why he is one of the best of the moment. The versatility and overall brilliance of the game are at an exceptional level, even in the history of puck history.
– As an old sports follower, I can still marvel that there is only the absolute top left – and then there is still one who is visibly better than even the top level.
The current throws the disc from the outside into the controls Roger Federer’s, Leo Messi’s and Cristiano Ronaldo.
– In sports, it’s amazing to see that even the tops of the top still stand out, he says.
– It is inspiring for the audience and certainly also for those who got to live with Barkov during the camps and competition weeks. It is a memorable help and thereby also produces added value for Finnish ice hockey.
“The combo is good”
Waltteri Merelä is Nelonen’s credit lion, Konsta Helenius the young solver of number one. Pasi Liesimaa
Barkov’s side shone Konsta Heleniuswho hit in big matches and finally wrapped up the Euro hockey season with his overtime sum.
– We always have a safe, familiar and strong frame and credit horses Hannes from Björnisen to Mikael Granlundbut these young and open-minded future top players will free the team, Virta emphasizes.
– The combo is good.
Although Helenius is not a star at the NHL level, not even a regular lineup member, Pennanen dared to include him in the middle of the tour and put him in a leading role without hesitation.
– Helenius was given the opportunity right away, and he was not allowed to play in lower Kent.
Suomikieko’s strong tradition of long and thorough preparation for the World Cup has not disappeared or is about to disappear, but Pennanen dared to leave his cards to be played during the tournament period as well.
– In the end, Helenius’ story and Granlund’s arrival once again were quite big additions to an already good team.
The tournament format enables the development of the game and also the shaping of the team easily during the initial or warm-up series.
– The field ones were found. We had three offensive chains that were clearly capable of numbers, which is a bit exceptional even in these successful teams, Virta sees.
– The Finnish game was constantly developing towards the better, which is an essential thing in tournament hockey. Well, the overpowering game didn’t evolve, but the game evolved nonetheless.
Puck control
Pekka Virta is Iltalehti’s ice hockey expert. Timur Yilmaz
Virta already saw in the Olympics and above all in the World Cup tournament that Pennanen had returned the national team “strongly to the roots of Finnish hockey”.
– We saw a lot of pacing of the game. We saw how the forwards quickly came from the substitution in the lower season to their place of play, Virta mentions.
– The team attacked forward as five and got into the attack area with five players, which resulted in so-called natural pressure. Finland was also able to create quite a lot of counterattacks and direct attacks despite the rhythm of the game.
Virta emphasizes, once again, the importance of mastering the five-man game and the deepest essence of hockey as a cooperative team game.
– Finland grinded similar hockey from the first round of the tournament [finaalin] until the overtime.
Virta finds the Finnish puck discussion strange, where, according to him, the value of puck control is underestimated.
– I’ve heard that in the SM league you can no longer manage with puck control and that ice hockey has somehow progressed so much. To that I can say that it would be worthwhile to turn on the lights, he bangs.
– Finland won the world championship with puck control, as well as KalPa the Finnish championship in the previous season. In the NHL, the rhythm of the game increases in the eyes.
“Still the best”
The national team of Barkov and Pennanen returned Finland to the gold standard after three weak WC spring seasons that ended with a quarter-final elimination.
– Good goalkeeper play, good five-man play, dunks, late starts, long attacks and morally strong defenses, Virta enumerates.
– On top of that comes tournament life, which requires character. After all, Finland has been the best in the world for a long time and still is.
Virta also highlights big values such as respecting other people, playing in the common pot and accepting one’s own role.
– This is not only an A national team issue. This is the thing about Finnish ice hockey, that we grow good team players and good individuals who understand the game.
