Björninen would like a visor, but the face shouldn’t take any more hits.
Hannes Björninen has been playing through the grid for the time being. Jussi Saarinen
Central striker of the Lions Quadruple Chain Hannes Björninen was accustomed to being strong in the opening game of the World Cup against Norway.
Björninen, who scored the winning goal for the Beijing Olympic final, won 11 of the 15 starts and was able to score a 3–0 goal for Finland in the second set.
Björninen plays a lattice, or so-called cage, in his helmet. The attacker cannot use the visor like other players so that an already shattered face does not take another hit.
Björninen got the puck in his face in a practice match played on April 21st. The toy came “hard” so hard that there were still marks on the man’s cheek and eye.
– That’s why I’m in the cage for now. The puck came to that right cheek. I improved it one week and was out of the Czech EHT tournament, but now I’m fully involved again, Björninen said.
Björninen is used to the lattice, but would like it out.
– It’s not good, but now it’s all right.
Björninen considered the opening match to be “a pretty strong start”. Norway had a place in the opening round, but in the end the Lions went their way.
– We knew this wasn’t going to be easy to leave. We realized it and got the game off better and better. We got the paints we needed. Great defense game – zero on your own. Jussi (Olkinuora) played great on goal.
The song Maamme before and after the match got Björninen’s emotional state high.
– Awesome feeling when the people sang along. In such a situation there will be cold shivers.