“Giant failure”, “catastrophe” and “crisis atmosphere”.
The Finnish headliners didn’t hold back after the “Lions” lost 4-1 in their Olympic premiere against Slovakia.
It is an ice hockey nation with battered self-confidence and a heavily criticized national team captain in Antti Pennanen that awaits Sweden in the second group phase game.
– Of course it was a bit surprising, says Tre Kronor’s Rasmus Dahlin about the Finnish defeat.
– At the same time, there are no easy games, he adds.
His back colleague Gustav Forsling agrees:
– Not overly shocked. On the other hand, they also have a good team. It’s tight and there are no easy games.
Do you think Finland is out for revenge against you?
– Yes, that’s clear. “They’re probably frustrated and cursed, so they want revenge, especially on us,” Forsling said.
Finland suffered several injury-related setbacks before the Olympics. Most notably, Forsling’s Florida Panthers teammate, superstar Aleksander Barkov, will miss the games.
“Extremely nice,” says Forsling about not having to compete against his teammate, and at the same time underlines how much the Finn is missed in the club team.
All teams leave to the playoffs of the Olympic tournament, but only the three group winners and the best runner-up have a break and play directly in the quarterfinals. The other teams have a round of 16 coming up, and at the moment there are many indications that Finland will be one of them.
Sweden, on the other hand, has the chance of their second three in a row after their 5-2 win against Italy.
– Now we really have to change, says Rasmus Dahlin and continues:
– We know we will be a lot more in the defensive zone (against Finland). You will have more control over the puck and the game will look completely different.
The 25-year-old Buffalo captain sees it as a positive to start the tournament against the expected punching bag of the group before taking on Finland, which exits at 12:10 p.m. on Friday, and Slovakia, who face the same time on Saturday.
– Yes, it’s good that it will be something like a “preparation” for the playoffs when it matters. The next game will be incredibly important, says Dahlin.
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