Kaapo Kakko: This area is something the Lions need to get in shape for against Canada and the United States
Kaapo Kakko is heading to his first Olympic tournament full of enthusiasm.
Kakko admits that being selected for the Olympics has been a major goal for a long time.
– Getting into the (Olympic) team was one of the biggest goals of this season. Last season’s event was great. It’s always wonderful to go there (to the national team), full of nice guys in the team and great games, Kakko shares his feelings about the national team in an interview organized for Finnish media.
Kakko mentions that he has discussed the tactical aspects of the Lions with head coach Antti Pennanen for half an hour over the phone. However, according to his own words, he is still unclear about his future line mates.
The Seattle Kraken forward has a clear vision based on the 4 Nations tournament about what improvements are needed for the Lions to defeat the big countries in the Milano-Cortina games.
– Those teams are really strong. We need to get the pace of play sorted out and get the puck into the offensive zone. I didn’t play against the Americans (in the 4 Nations tournament), but against Canada, it felt like we were stuck in our own zone quite a bit. I’ve never played against such a strong team, Kakko admitted.
– It’s difficult to create attacks and sometimes we end up spending long stretches in our own zone. Somehow we need to turn the game around and apply more pressure there. We also have a strong team and quality players. It should be achieved through hard work.
As the clear favorites heading into the Olympic tournament, Canada and the United States aim to take the opponents’ confidence away right from the start of the matches. According to Kakko, Finland needs to be better prepared for this than in the 4 Nations tournament.
– It feels like especially at the beginning of the Canada game, we were under a lot of pressure, Kakko recalls.
The Lions will face Slovakia in their opening match of the Olympic tournament on February 11.
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