The SC league players remained extras in the traditional Karelian tournament.
0+0, 0+0, 0+0, 0+0, 0+0, 0+1 and 1+0.
In the traditional Karelian tournament, the forwards of the Lions’ team included seven forwards from the domestic ice hockey SM league.
One of them, the top name in the Liiga goal exchange Leevi Tukainenscored a goal in the tournament. The second player to score had played in all three matches Eemil Erholtz.
The combined balance of the SM league strikers in the tournament was 16 games and the performances were 1+1.
Leijonat scored seven goals in the tournament.
Otto Kivenmäki made it to second place on Sunday. Pasi Liesimaa
“Pretty good”
Having scored a beautiful goal against the Czech Republic on Saturday, Tukiainen said that the jump from the League to the Euro tournament was “quite amazing”.
Tukiainen succeeded on Saturday in a series where salary raisers from the Swedish league played Jere Innala and Arttu Ruotsalainen.
On Sunday, Tukiainen’s place in the chain was taken by Lappeenranta’s SaiPan Otto Kivenmäkiwhich immediately succeeded better than on Saturday, when Kivenmäki played in an attack chain composed entirely of SM league players.
– Here, more is required in all areas than in the League, Kivenmäki said.
– The guys go harder and you have to be stronger in the fights. The passes are stronger and the game is tougher in every way. Yes, there was quite a lot here [eroa].
Jan-Mikael Järvinen, the number one center of Ässie, which leads the league, did not get power points in the Karelian tournament. Pasi Liesimaa
Strategy
It is easy to find more statistics from the Karjala tournament that are less flattering than the level of the SM league.
Sweden, which won the tournament and scored 15 goals, assembled its team entirely from Swedish and Swiss league players.
All the Lions players who scored more than one power point came from Sweden and Switzerland.
Lions head coach Antti Pennanen did not directly comment on the League’s ability to prepare players for EHT, but said that it is important for Leijon to also include young league players and older returnees who have perhaps come back to Finland from tougher leagues.
– It is important to get them into Leijon, because when we go to the spring, a very different team will play in the World Cup than, for example, in the Karelia tournament. There must be a game base and experiences of the players when choosing a World Cup team, Pennanen said.
Pennanen believes that the experiences in Leijon are valuable for the players who came from the SM league.
– It is important for their career to be able to play such hard games. It is part of our strategy that we have chosen.
Eemil Erholtz had one assist in three games. Pasi Liesimaa
Sweat will come
JYPin, which leads the point exchange for defenders in the SM league Sami Vatanen34, belongs to the group of return migrants.
Olympic winner and world champion Vatanen played the previous 13 years in North America and Switzerland.
Vatanen describes the SM league as a springboard.
– That amount of work and how players are helped to develop is a good stepping stone to the NHL and everywhere else. I think the League is a good platform to move forward in your career, Vatanen estimates.
JYP is coached Petri Matikainenwho in his coaching does not emphasize the so-called rhythms of the game as much as the national team coaches.
– In Finland, things have gone really fast and NHL-like. We are going pretty hard and there are a lot of struggles.
– Yes, in Liiga, you sweat every night. You have to do things to keep up with the guys.