Czechs? Dangerous and emotional. They could lose to Italy 0: 8, they write in Finland

Riga (from our rapporteur) – The Finns, who did not lose any match in the group after 60 minutes, may have expected to encounter a relatively digestible bite in the quarterfinals. It did not happen.

A team awaits them, which has several heavy calibers from the NHL in its center – offensive bek Filip Hronek, productive Dominik Kubalík or shooter Jakub Vrán.

“A very dangerous team. The Czech players have the upper hand in skill compared to the Finnish ones,” said Pekka Jalonen from the Finnish daily Iltalehti. However, he added with exaggeration to the Czechs: “They are quite emotional in nature, they can beat anyone 8: 0, but also lose 0: 8 with Italy.”

In the group, the charges of coach Filip Pešán swept the Slovaks 7: 3 and gave the Swedes four goals in a third period in a big turn. On the other hand, they almost succumbed to Denmark and Belarus.

They got eight goals more than the Finns, but they also scored eight more.

Finland struggled with poor productivity, especially at the beginning of the championship, when it gave Kazakhstan a single goal and eventually lost in raids.

A change followed that the Czechs should know about. Experienced coach Jukka Jalonen completely broke the first formation and sent Arttu Ruotsalainen’s key center to the wing with great hope to Anton Lundell, who traveled in the opposite direction – from the wing to the center of the attack. The pair was joined by Niko Ojamäki, who had not played at all until then.

“This is the most ingenious move that Jalonen made during this year’s championship,” said journalist Pekka Jalonen.

Twenty-three-year-old Ruotsalainen, the only Finnish striker from the NHL, and Lundell, who was four years younger and one of the stars of the last draft of the overseas league, scored ten points side by side in five clans, including seven goals. In addition, Finland has only seven shooters, usually single goals.

However, the Suomi national team does not need to score a lot of goals. According to Yle Juha Juujärvi, the station’s expert lies in good defense, discipline and adherence to the game system from all players.

“Jalonena can be chosen as the best coach of the tournament, he was just as great at the last champion, where Finland won gold. He has an incredible ability to build the right team and get the hockey players on his side,” wrote Mats Wennerholm of the Swedish daily Aftonbladet.

In the quarterfinals, however, they still trust the Czech Republic more: “Although my heart beats for the Finns, I think that their fairy tale will end here. The Czechs have been my favorites for gold from the very beginning.”