Antti Mäkinen was shocked by the final decision in Switzerland – "What the hell are they doing?"

The final that ended with the gold medal for the Lions left behind one major topic of discussion: why did Switzerland abandon their playing style at the most crucial moment?

Viaplay’s commentator for the World Championships Antti Mäkinen questioned in the Kimanttia podcast the Swiss tactical choice. According to him, the host nation built its success throughout the tournament on an aggressive forechecking game, but in the final, a completely different team was seen.

– I saw that playing style quite a few times up close (in the group stage). Switzerland’s playing style was based on a puckless 2-1-2 system, with extremely tight forechecking and pressure from above.

– It caused a lot of puck-handling mistakes for the Finnish defenders in the group stage game against the Lions. That’s what we were expecting in the final with the Viaplay team, and how Finland would react to it. Then they started playing a flowing 1-2-2 trap, Mäkinen marveled.

According to Mäkinen, the decision to play more passively against Finland was a fatal mistake for Switzerland.

– When you start playing a trap against Finland, it’s a bit like telling someone to eat, especially if there’s Aleksander Barkov in the team, who raises the bar in such a way that everything is ten centimeters higher than normal.

The long-time ice hockey commentator did not hide his disappointment with Switzerland’s performance.

– Switzerland, to put it bluntly, crapped their pants. For nine games, they had built a game identity that crushes everything. Then they come to the final game and throw in a 1-2-2 trap.

– I was thinking, what the hell are they doing, Mäkinen exclaimed.

NHL legend and one of the podcast hosts, Kimmo Timonen, saw a lot of similarities in Switzerland’s performance to one of the Lions’ most painful losses in history.

– It was a bit like when we had it at home against Sweden, when we crapped our pants. It was a bit like Switzerland, that we come home, there’s a terrible atmosphere and we are ready, but we still can’t finish the job, Timonen compared.

Switzerland’s agony is compounded by a harsh statistic. The team has gone scoreless in three consecutive World Championship finals.

Especially, Mäkinen felt sympathy for Leonardo Genoni. The veteran goalkeeper has only allowed one goal in three World Championship finals during regular play, yet the gold medal has remained a dream every time.