The Women’s Lions tournament was poorly executed from start to finish.
Finland suffered a painful defeat against Japan. Tiina Puputti / Finnish Ice Hockey Association
The Finnish women’s national ice hockey team crowned their miserable tournament by losing to Japan in the placement match of the World Cup.
Naisleijonat, who played a miserable tournament, lost 1–0 after the shootout. The result means dropping into the B-level block for next year.
The match was a perfect summation of the team that played in the lower tournament. The puck remained in possession and the game was grinded, but the result was non-existent. The shots went to Finland with a score of 59–16. The posts flickered, but no goals were scored.
In overtime, Finland celebrated the victory for a while, but Michelle Karvinen overtime hit was disallowed as offside.
Finland was close to victory even in the shootout contest, but when Japan scored two shots at the end, Finland suffered an embarrassing defeat. As a result, Naisleijonat will play in a lower level B group series next year, where the route to the quarterfinals is more difficult. The top three from the group advance.
This year, for the first time in its history, Finland, which was crumpled and played a miserable game, was left without a place in the semifinals.