Raimo Summas talks hard about Nuori Leijon

Young Lions The WC tournament was almost a jackpot. The tournament, played at the NHL arena in Ottawa, Canada, culminated in an insane thriller, which ended in overtime with the USA winning 4–3.

Nuoret Leijonat returned to the medal base with silver medals at the youth WC level after a three-year break.

Expert Raimo Summanen cheers Finland’s performance in the World Cup finals.

“From the Finnish team, the first one and a half rounds of the final were complete A-class slop. We often talk about how the World Cup finals are nerve-wracking and tense, but it was beautiful to see how hard Finland put on the first one and a half sets,” Summanen praises.

“We are playing the World Cup final in a small bowl and Finland will come out of the gates like that. It’s really hard!”

“Preparation was perfect physically, mentally and in terms of playing. There was no delay or unnecessary thinking in Finland’s playing. It was beautiful organic collaborative hockey. Awareness of international hockey in a small rink and how to play as a five-man team”, that’s what the Finnish team manifests.

According to Summanen, the Young Lions showed how the Lions should play in February’s 4 Nations top tournament in Montreal and Boston.

“There is a recipe with which Finland can beat everyone. Playing in tournaments is completely different from playing in the regular season and playoffs. You have to understand that and that’s how the competitive advantage can be taken.”

“For example, Sweden has one gold from the 2000s at the youth level (2012), although the country produces a lot of NHL bookings. There’s quite a culture of melting,” Summanen muses.

Fresh and a united Finland led the World Cup final with two goals at its best. The readings could have been higher in favor of Finland, reflecting the game events and flow.

“It seemed that men were playing against fools. Finland looked like a men’s team. Finland didn’t take the ice, the fights continued, the USA had to splash and Finland always hit the spot sharply with wild speeds. Finland had game speed and fighting power on their side”, summanen says.

According to Summanen Lauri Mikkolan the piloted team was as focused as can be.

“And it came collectively. That was some damn beautiful hockey. Finland made its own game big and at the same time the opponent’s game small. This is really a big credit to Finnish coaching. The defensive grip and movement of players without the puck were at a really tough level. Speed ​​and reason were in balance.”

“When the players are able to play like that for a game and a half, it shows that a Finnish hockey player, who is not necessarily the best in the world, is able to play at a high tournament level,” says Summanen.

USA made it into the game only in the latter half of the second period. The lucky 2-3 reduction clearly brought more faith in the Yankees bunch, and at the same time, Nuoret Leijonat became a little passive. The second half of the final was clearly dominated by the USA.

“Lätkä often struggles with how to play with few players in big matches. The Yankees dared to play with two chains at times, and they were able to skate and move “over” Finland in the latter half of the match. Hats off to the top guy in the USA.”

“This was a good indication that it doesn’t always go that way, with the stopwatch evenly sharing the responsibility, but that we dare to load the top players properly. You could jokingly say that the USA had pulled two 400-meter sprints in the first two heats, but still they dared to finish the toughest 400,” Summanen describes.

According to Summanen, this is something that should be considered more closely in Finnish ice hockey when it comes to playing in tournaments.

“In Finland, we are quite religious in numbers. The USA showed that maybe the way is that you can really load the best players at this stage of the tournament.”

At the same time, Summanen gives the USA captain a bit of a rap Ryan Leonardin in the direction of. Leonard was named the tournament’s most valuable player, but Leonard’s ice fishing efforts faded into the background.

“Leonard’s actions as captain were quite rough. This should be discussed in the International Ice Hockey Federation as well. It can’t go in such a desperate direction that we start fishing in the ice.”

Summanen highlights from the WC tournament also a significant trend related to the evolution of the game, i.e. the importance of modern defenders in the five-man game.

“In world ice hockey, it seems to be getting stronger that the teams with strong defensemen who move the puck well are successful. It’s a way to generate a game.”

On paper, Finland’s defense was not one of the team’s strengths, but during the tournament, important players emerged from the back lines.

“In this overview, Finland stood out very well Aron Kiviharju, Emil Pieniniemi and Mitja Jokinen. Finland’s game got a lot of real rhythm through these defenders. I would say that the best pair of defenders in the tournament was Pieniniemi-Kiviharju”, says Summanen.

“The USA turned the final around a lot again Cole Hutsonin and Zeev Buiumin through, not so much the attackers. Under the current rules, the value of defenders is much greater than imagined. The defenders’ demand to play has increased. Defenders have the greatest importance in determining the rhythm of the game. The importance of the centers has decreased here.”

Young Lions According to Summanen, the World Cup silver sends an important signal to the grassroots level of Finnish hockey.

In Finnish ice hockey, there are enough faults in the competitiveness of the series and at the same time there is a breakdown in the coaching side, but in recent years many clubs have done high-quality development work.

“The clubs have been doing a lot of right things for a couple of years now, and playing has been sped up a bit and certain structures have been kept in order. This team had a lot of players who participated in the under-18 games last year. A lot of good turns have already taken place in a year and a half”, says Summanen.

“In this tournament, we found a lot of players from Finland who could meet the demand for speed and make decisions with a cool head. Finland has often been in a small trough of panic. Now there was another sound on the clock.”

“Of course it helped here Petteri Rimpinenwhich still has its own chapter in this team.”

According to Summanen, who currently coaches young players, the situation in Finnish junior player production is not necessarily quite as alarming as has been talked about in recent years.

There are still plenty of talented players, but refining them to the top level is a long process.

“A tournament like this gives me faith that there is nothing to worry about in Finland, if competitive work is also done strongly among 20-28 year olds. There was a much bigger emergency in Finland 15–20 years ago,” says Summanen.

“Nowadays there are not so many Finnish “trick machines” and the top talent of NHL reserve events, but the skill characteristics of 15-year-old Finnish players are at a better level and they are more talented than 15 years ago. However, you have to understand that the development window continues and the competition is fierce. It doesn’t stop at the age of 20-22. At the age of 24-25, you can take big development steps if you have the ability to play and have sufficient sports skills.”