The Hyvättää screens of the weekend are not necessarily enough when the WC places are distributed, writes Lassi Kuisma.
Tommi Tikka at work. PDO
Leijonat left a rather mixed image of itself in the Swedish EHT tournament, but several names from the team remained in my mind in a positive sense.
Marko Anttila is at least on the eve of his national team career, but for Ilves Tommi Tikka, 27, can be Leijoni’s next “Mörkö” of the lower chains, about whom opponents, frustrated after the game, make bitter comments.
Tikka scored points and shared Leijoni’s hardest tackles of the weekend.
Arttu Ruotsalainen and Vili Saarijärvi also gave excellent performances in the WC home games. Because of the role, it is harder to see Tikka at the games than the Swede.
Juhamatti Aaltonen, Ahti Oksanen and the only 20-year-old goalkeeper Juha Jatkola also deserve a mention.
However, the competition for admission to Leijon, the reigning Olympic and World Cup gold medallist, is so fierce that it’s tough.
The standard names of the Lions, such as Petteri Lindbohm, Niklas Friman and Jere Sallinen, formed their own category.
